Sustainability disclosure patterns of South Australian local councils: a case study

This article investigates the types of sustainability information disclosed by four South Australian local councils in the absence of any mandatory sustainability reporting guidelines. The findings suggest that even though standardized sustainability reporting guidelines are not in use, elements of these guidelines are reported as sustainability issues in annual reports. Our study also reveals that in the absence of any prescribed requirements, multiple overlapping guidelines based on contemporary sustainability philosophies are in use. A need for local centric guidelines is suggested, not just for the context of this study but also for other local governments, nationally and internationally.