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Accenture in Australia 2012-2013 Corporate Citizenship Report

1 | 2012–2013 Accenture in Australia Corporate Citizenship Report

Table of Contents

Letter from Our Leaders 4

Corporate Governance 7

Skills to Succeed 9

Environment 17

Our People 19

Supply Chain 23

The Path Forward 25

About this report

Accenture in Australia is pleased to share this report with you, which highlights the impact the company made in corporate citizenship globally in fiscal 2012 and in Australia through fiscal 2013. Accenture’s fiscal year is 1 September-31 August.

Front cover image

Mahlia, a Year 10 Yalari scholar from Warren in central New South Wales, pictured at Yalari’s Year 10 camp at Trinity College in Melbourne. Accenture is funding the Yalari Post School Pathways Program, which is directly helping Yalari scholarship students successfully transition from school to further study or employment. Photo by Matt Plant.


Corporate Governance, Skills to Succeed, Environment, Our People and Supply Chain

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Letter from Our Leaders

In developing this overview, we reflected on Accenture’s ongoing corporate citizenship journey and what stands out most is our continuing resolve to make a measurable and sustainable difference to the world in which we work and live. We believe that a company’s business purpose is more powerful when it aligns with potential for greater social impact. At Accenture, as we help our clients achieve high performance, we also leverage our core competencies to focus on our people and our communities.

Corporate citizenship is fundamental to Accenture’s character and the way we run our business, and it is anchored in our core values and our Code of Business Ethics. Ultimately, it is reflected in the actions of our people whose passion, experience and commitment fuel our environmental stewardship efforts and contribute to our global Skills to Succeed goal of equipping 500,000 people with the skills to get a job or build a business by 2015.

In the following pages, we highlight the impact we are having in Australia across the five key pillars of our corporate citizenship strategy: Corporate Governance, Skills to Succeed, Environment, Our People and Supply Chain.

We hope this report provides a sense of the vital, energising role that corporate citizenship plays in our business. We are truly inspired by the achievements of our people and our nonprofit partners and will continue looking for innovative ways to positively impact our communities, our people and the environment in fiscal 2014 and beyond.

Jack Percy

Chairman & Managing Director Accenture in Australia

Robert Hohnen Managing Director—Corporate Citizenship Accenture in Australia

2015 2015

250,000

500,000

CDP Global 500

B

2009 2013


Accenture publishes a global corporate citizenship report every two years, with supplemental updates in interim years, which complements our annual reporting to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the FTSE4Good Index. We use Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 Guidelines as a foundation for our reporting approach.

We submitted our fourth consecutive Communication on Progress to the UNGC on 29 March 2013. This report details our progress against the UNGC’s 10 principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anticorruption. It highlights our global corporate citizenship goals, progress and challenges during fiscal 2012.

Notable achievements highlighted in the report include:

Did you know?

• Exceeding our original Skills to Succeed goal of equipping 250,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business. As a result – and to increase its impact in communities worldwide – the company has set a higher goal: by 2015, it will equip 500,000 people globally with these workplace and entrepreneurial skills.

• In 2013, Accenture was included, for the fifth consecutive year, among the CDP Global 500 – the largest companies by market capitalisation included in the FTSE Global Equity Index Series – receiving a score of 92 out of 100 and a performance score of B.

• Meeting our fiscal 2012 target of reducing our per employee carbon emissions approximately 30 per cent from our fiscal 2007 baseline, achieving a more than 33 per cent reduction, and setting a new target of 35 per cent by the end of fiscal 2015.

2012 2015

30% 35%

Training and professional development

52 hours

>US$850

90,000 women

• Investing more than US$850 million, for an average of 52 hours per person, in employee training and professional development.

• Launching our new global women’s theme “Defining success. Your way.” to help inspire more than 90,000 Accenture women to define their personal approaches to success.

Additionally, Accenture has been a signatory to the UNGC since 2008 and is an inaugural member of the UNGC LEAD program, a group of approximately 50 companies committed to raising sustainability performance.

6


Corporate Governance

Globally, Accenture believes strong corporate governance is critical to long-term value creation, and we strive to make certain that every aspect of our business operates according to the highest standards of ethics and integrity.

guide

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Anchoring Guidelines and PrinciplesOur core values—Client Value Creation, One Global Network, Respect for the Individual, Best People, Integrity and Stewardship—form the foundation of every aspect of our corporate Ethics & Compliance programs and are essential to our success as a high-performance business, a corporate citizen and a global employer.

Our core values align well with the 10 universally accepted principles of the United Nations Global Compact UNGC), the world’s largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative. We have been a UNGC signatory since 2008.

We treat business ethics, corporate governance and operational transparency as top management priorities and our Ethics & Compliance program aims to foster the highest ethical standards among our people. In fact, 2013 marked our sixth consecutive year on Ethisphere’s “World’s Most Ethical Companies” list in the Business Services category.

Accenture Code of Business EthicsOne visible aspect of our Ethics & Compliance program is our Code of Business Ethics, with which all our employees are required to comply. Currently available in 16 languages, the code emphasises critical areas particular to our organisation and business model, and highlights aspects of conduct that are imperative for all employees.

Our Code is built on a foundation of our core values, illuminated by “action statements.” We have enhanced our Code with a revised set of 58 action statements that describe a broad spectrum of behaviors for our people to put the core values in action. Action statements describe the behaviors we seek and “key ideas” provide concise examples of how these action statements apply to everyday work at Accenture. Our Code also includes guidance from leadership and our Ethical Fitness® Decision-making Model – the Five Cs.

Corporate Citizenship GovernanceAccountability to advance corporate citizenship at Accenture starts at the top, with our CEO and our Executive Chairman, and is cascaded through our business, including through performance objectives relating to corporate citizenship.

A dedicated subcommittee of our Global Management Committee, our most senior management group, governs Accenture’s corporate citizenship and environmental strategies. It guides the work of the Corporate Citizenship Council, a group of Accenture Leaders from multiple disciplines and geographies who implement policies and supporting programs across our 15 geographic units, and the Environment Steering Group.

The Corporate Citizenship Council and the Environment Steering Group make strategic recommendations on our sustainability initiatives, and our leadership approves and acts on these recommendations, taking responsibility for driving our objectives through the organisation.

Corporate Citizenship Governance in AustraliaGovernance of our corporate citizenship strategy extends to the local level. In Australia our leadership team meets at least twice a year to review our program’s progress. Grant proposals from nonprofits are regularly reviewed and considered, always with the outcome in mind: where can Accenture’s efforts generate the greatest community impact as the end result?


Skills to Succeed

Skills to Succeed draws on one of Accenture’s core competencies—training talent—to help address the need for skills that open doors to employment around the world. At the same time, Skills to Succeed harnesses the powerful combination of our financial support, and the pro bono contributions of time and Accenture employee skills to make a difference in our communities.

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We launched Skills to Succeed in 2009 and the following year set an overarching goal for our efforts: by 2015, Skills to Succeed initiatives will equip 250,000 people around the world with skills to get a job or build a business. By the end of fiscal 2012, we had surpassed our goal by equipping more than 320,000 people with workplace and entrepreneurial skills. As a result, we increased our goal to equip a total of 500,000 people globally by 2015, or an additional 180,000 people.

How we deepen our impact Our model for working with strategic nonprofit partners in Australia

Result: greater impact on the community

Build capability

and efficiency through pro

bono

Strategic advice on

setting up new programs

Funding for key Skills to Succeed programs

Contribute to program

delivery through volunteers

“In Australia our Skills to Succeed program focuses on four impact areas: Indigenous Australians; at-risk youths; women in need; and the long-term unemployed, including new migrants and refugees. We also work to improve the capacity of our strategic nonprofit partners.”

Julie Long, Corporate Citizenship Lead, Accenture in Australia


Strategic Partners

Accenture has built a broad-reaching relationship with Beacon, a national nonprofit working in more than 130 Australian secondary schools, reaching around 14,000 students each year. Beacon has an established track record of helping inspire and motivate students to either stay in school and increase their educational engagement and attainment, or choose a positive pathway that enables successful transition to employment, further education or training.

Between fiscal 2010 and 2013, Accenture committed to the provision of AUD$330,000 in cash grants and more than AUD$210,000 of pro bono work, to equip almost 2,500 students with employability skills. Accenture employees from all five of our Australian locations have donated hundreds of hours of volunteer mentor time. Most recently we’ve extended our involvement through Beacon’s Real Futures Generation project, an initiative that places Australian students in real, entry-level jobs and traineeships. Accenture has developed an online portal that is equipping students with employability skills. The portal provides resources such as a resume creation tool and a career path identifier tool. As at June 2013 the project had succeeded in placing 40 students into employment.

Alidad Aliyawar, an unaccompanied minor refugee from Pakistan, has turned his life around through Beacon’s Real Futures Generation program. Ali was selected as one of eight young workers to join the team at Hilton Manufacturing in Melbourne’s south east.

Beacon

Skills to Succeed

“Supporting the Beacon Foundation and the Real Futures Generation project helps bring to life Accenture’s commitment to building skills. Together we can make a significant, lasting impact on the long-term economic vitality of these students.” Robert Hohnen, Managing Director-Corporate Citizenship, Accenture in Australia

“All 14,000 students working with the Beacon Foundation will now be able to use the web tools to get practical advice and develop crucial skills to navigate life beyond school. With Accenture’s help, we are able to expand our reach and provide mentoring and training to more students, including those in remote communities.” Anthony Garnham, Project Director, Real Futures Generation

Accenture is also helping Beacon increase its effectiveness by incorporating technology into its business processes.

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Many Rivers is a not-for-profit microenterprise development organisation that helps Indigenous and other Australians establish small businesses through business support and the provision of microfinance loans. They help individuals who are motivated to establish a productive and sustainable income-generating enterprise, but who find it difficult – for a variety of personal and economic reasons – to access support and guidance from mainstream services.

Many Rivers has 16 field officers that work in metropolitan, regional and remote regions of Australia, mentoring potential business owners. They assist clients to develop their business plan and provide start-up capital of up to $5,000, if needed. This enables clients to purchase income- generating assets, stock, insurance or other essentials required to get their business off the ground.

Cherie McAdam, from Kununurra in far north Western Australia, received a business loan as well as mentoring support in the areas of business planning and marketing. This enabled her to print 400 copies of her first book ‘Money Bird’ and expand her business ‘Bird Wrangler’. Cherie’s field officer worked with her to understand her passion and goals, and provided continual support on her personal journey to making her business idea a reality. Cherie now has three Money Bird books that teach Aboriginal people about education, gambling and money management by relating human traits to different birds and their characteristics, and through her business Cherie provides money management workshops based on the Money Bird concept.

Many Rivers

Accenture and Avanade – a joint venture between Accenture and Microsoft – implemented a customer relationship management software solution for Many Rivers, enabling them to capture and track the ‘client journey’ right from the initial meeting, through the business growth phase, and then to business launch. The system is also improving the efficiency of Many Rivers as an organisation, meaning they can increase the number of small businesses they support.

“Moving forward, Accenture will continue to work with Many Rivers to help its clients build sustainable businesses, providing day-to-day support as the organisation extends its work with Indigenous communities.” Druvaan von Drehnen, Senior Managing Director, Resources Lead-Asia Pacific, Accenture

“The team from Accenture is amazing to work with and we are privileged to have their support.” Leigh Coleman, Chief Executive Officer, Many Rivers


Senior students at a Yalari orientation camp on the Gold Coast, Queensland.

Skills to Succeed

Yalari

In 2013 Accenture entered into the second year of its three-year AUD$150,000 partnership with Yalari: a nonprofit organisation dedicated to educating and empowering Indigenous children from regional, rural and remote Australian communities, to bring about generational change. Accenture has funded the establishment of the Post School Pathways Program, a long-term initiative that, in its first three years, will directly help 95 Yalari scholarship students successfully transition from school to further study or employment.

The program is impacting senior students at Yalari’s 33 partner schools throughout the country. Students include those currently studying or hoping to study at tertiary institutions, those seeking trade qualifications or general employment, or those planning to start their own business.

“I’m really excited to oversee Accenture’s involvement with Yalari and this program. Our involvement means Indigenous students will receive mentoring, skill building opportunities, advice on subject choices and careers, assistance with tertiary and scholarship applications and potential work opportunities. We’re filling a real need for these students and Yalari.” Russell Smyth, Client Service Group Lead-Communications, Media, Technology, Accenture in Australia and New Zealand

“The skills developed and enhanced through the Post Schools Pathways Program are helping students to be more confident, organised and prepared to apply for employment and then maintain employment once secured. The program is also helping them know where to access relevant information and support networks, present themselves in a professional manner and network effectively.” Waverley Stanley, Founding Director, Yalari

Dress for Success Sydney helped Tina secure her first job in Australia. Tina attended four skill-building workshops offered through their Careers Support program, and received one-on-one job coaching.

Dress for Success

Accenture has a close working relationship with nonprofit Dress for Success, a global organisation that promotes economic independence for women and men in need by providing professional clothing, a network of support and career-development tools. Each beneficiary receives a full outfit, shoes and accessories for job interviews and more clothing when they find work. In Australia, Dress for Success operates in Sydney, Melbourne (Wear for Success) and Brisbane (Suited to Success).

Accenture in Australia provided funding for the establishment of the Accenture Careers Centre in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and also gives funds for the ongoing delivery of the Careers Support program, which helps beneficiaries build skills that prepare them for employment. Accenture employees developed the course curriculum for the program and regularly deliver the training. They also donate interview-appropriate clothing and high-quality casual wear to the beneficiaries. Additionally, Accenture has completed a pro bono project to implement a cloud-based solution to manage participant booking, administration and reporting processes.

With Accenture’s help, Dress for Success and its Australian affiliates have helped 551 people transition to employment during Accenture fiscal 2013.

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Accenture is a long-standing partner of The Smith Family, a national children’s charity helping disadvantaged Australian children get the most out of their education so they can create a better future for themselves. Through workplace giving and Accenture dollar matching, Accenture employees funded scholarships for 14 Learning for Life students in each of fiscal 2012 and 2013, assisting the students complete their tertiary education. In recent years, more than 100 Accenture employees have also volunteered their time as mentors through either the iTrack online mentoring program for Year 10 students or the tertiary mentor program, and have run skill-building workshops that are helping senior students transition to work.

“What I enjoy most about the program is getting the opportunity to interact and have a positive impact on a student’s life. Also the training that The Smith Family provided has prepared me for almost any situation that could arise during our online chats.” David Gillespie, Accenture employee and iTrack mentor

The Smith Family

Accenture has been working with Mission Australia since 2007, providing funding and volunteers for a number of programs. Mission Australia provides family, community, employment, housing and early learning services to people facing hardship throughout Australia. Through workplace giving and Accenture dollar matching, Accenture employees contribute funds towards Mission Australia’s “Steps to Employment” program, which helps people from refugee and migrant backgrounds develop their employability skills and obtain work. In addition, Accenture employees regularly deliver skill-building training to both beneficiaries and staff of Mission Australia.

Mission Australia

The Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) is a national nonprofit committed to improving the learning outcomes and life chances of young Australians. Accenture provides FYA with a cash grant and volunteers for its “Worlds of Work”’ (WOW) program. Over one intensive week, WOW builds the skills and aspirations of at-risk students so that they can make a successful transition into life beyond school. WOW events are held regularly throughout the year at Accenture offices in Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, with hundreds of Accenture employees volunteering as mentors since 2008.

“Thank you for sharing your experiences and knowledge. I’ve had so much doubt in myself and sometimes give up, however hearing that I can succeed if I continue to believe in myself, I can conquer anything. From now on, I will never give up on my goals and dreams.” Mawite, Melba College student and WOW Participant

The Foundation for Young Australians

Accenture has provided cash grants and volunteer mentors to help fund Save the Children’s “Glebe Pathways Program” in Sydney, which assists Indigenous youths who are not in mainstream education to find pathways to education, training or employment. The project is a collaborative initiative of Save the Children, Sydney University, Sydney Secondary College, Glebe Youth Service and the City of Sydney.

“The funding that Accenture contributes to the program provides much-needed resources that enable us to deliver this innovative and successful program of education for young people who would have otherwise become completely disengaged from mainstream education.” Dr. Gareth Jenkins, Youth Engagement Coordinator, New South Wales, Save the Children Australia

Save the Children


Through an extensive residential health, development and leadership program, the Esther Foundation provides intensive support for young women facing life-controlling struggles. Accenture provided a cash grant that helped the Esther Foundation expand its social enterprise—CaterGirls—which provides training and employment to at-risk girls in Perth. Trainees receive a certificate in food handling and work experience which helps them transition to the workforce. In addition, Accenture employees have helped the foundation with marketing-related projects.

Esther Foundation

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World Education Australia and Good Return

Specialising in microfinance, financial literacy and livelihood development programs, World Education Australia is part of the global World Education network, which has had a presence in over 60 countries. Their main focus is on Good Return, a microfinance portal that provides small loans to people in the Asia Pacific who want to start or expand a small business, grow their income, and change their lives for the better.

The Accenture Australia Foundation, in collaboration with World Education Australia, developed the Skills for Life project. Through funding of AUD$1 million (over three years) that is being made in addition to our Skills to Succeed goal, this program has helped 25,851 people in rural communities in the Philippines, Nepal, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Cambodia and China fight poverty and environmental degradation. The project provides technical skills training—vocational, business management and literacy/numeracy—increases knowledge and awareness of environmentally sustainable farming practices and provides access to finance for individuals to start businesses or purchase equipment to support income generation.

Accenture in Australia has completed a pro bono IT strategy project for World Education Australia, and Accenture’s Australian employees are directly impacting the program and the lives of the Skills for Life borrowers through workplace giving, donating funds through Good Return. The Accenture “Good Return Committee” meets monthly to lend the pooled workplace giving funds that Accenture matches dollar for dollar. Since the committee’s inception in 2010, Accenture and its employees have given more than AUD $70,000 in microfinance loans, providing more than 600 loans to disadvantaged women.

Apsara Timalsina of Nepal, who is now financially secure thanks to training and microfinance from the Skills for Life project.


Environment

sustain

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Commitment to Environmental Stewardship Our strategy to foster environmentally sustainable growth for Accenture and our stakeholders comprises four areas: running efficient operations, working sustainably, enabling client sustainability and providing insights to advance sustainability.

We met our global fiscal 2012 target of reducing our per employee carbon emissions approximately 30 per cent from our fiscal 2007 baseline, achieving a more than 33 per cent reduction. Our efforts to encourage the adoption of virtual-collaboration technologies continue to help us manage air travel, even as we have expanded into growth markets and significantly increased our global employee headcount. We remain focused on improving our performance and have set a new target: by the end of fiscal 2015, we plan to reduce our per global employee carbon emissions 35 per cent against our fiscal 2007 baseline. Additionally, across our locations, we invest in energy management and resource-conservation programs including optimising our operations, installing Remote Energy Monitoring technologies in our offices and procuring office electricity from renewable-energy sources.

Accenture has a global Environmental Responsibility Policy, is a signatory of the UN Global Compact and has achieved global ISO14001 certification—the world’s most recognised standard for environmental management systems. Here in Australia, our Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney offices are officially ISO 14001 certified.

Accenture has launched initiatives such as the Eco Challenge and Eco Toolkit, and encourages the adoption of positive environmental practices at our clients’ sites. Our people have enthusiastically embraced environmental stewardship and embedded it into our internal and external activities

Most recently, Accenture launched an Environmental Action Group in Australia, driven by our employees. This group connects the dots between the different areas of our business that work in the environmental space. It provides a forum for sharing ideas and promotes positive environmental activity.

Left to right: employees can view the carbon emissions generated through their air travel through My Travel Summary, and are encouraged to use collaboration technology, such as TelePresence, as an alternative to flying; on World Environment Day 2013, Accenture in Australia launched this step-by-step guide for implementing positive eco initiatives; Accenture in Australia employees volunteer regularly at FareShare, a Melbourne-based nonprofit which rescues food from ending up in landfill, instead turning it into nutritious meals for the homeless.


Our People

We have set a high bar for what we expect of our people, and they raise that bar every day—stretching to take on new professional roles, contributing to the community and growing with the company.

achieve

20

Our Human Capital Strategy At the core of our business are the skills, abilities and knowledge of our people—our human capital. The source of our competitive differentiation both today and in the future, our people enable us to meet current business needs and position ourselves for ongoing market competitiveness and growth.

Our multi-year Human Capital Strategy paints a comprehensive picture of what our talent, leadership and culture will look like in the future. Our goal is to have the right capabilities, in the right places, to support the needs of our clients and ensure our future growth.

Inclusion and Diversity Accenture is authentically diverse: our workforce spans countries, cultures, languages, generations, perspectives, backgrounds and educational experiences. We are recognised as a great place to build a career in nearly every major country in which we operate, and globally we receive more than 2 million resumes annually.

We take the widest possible view of diversity and are committed to creating and providing an inclusive, open and equitable environment for individuals with different backgrounds, lifestyles, needs and expectations. This allows us to give our clients access to a rich range of talent. Additionally, our wide variety of employee resource groups connects individuals who wish to strengthen their support networks. These interest groups include those focused on sexual orientation, persons with disabilities and women. In recent years, we have expanded support for our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees.

As local regulations permit, we have introduced policies to ensure the equal treatment of employees regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. We also seek to provide assistive technologies and workplace accommodations for our persons with disabilities.

Accenture Development PartnershipsAccenture Development Partnerships collaborates with organisations working in the international development sector or looking to new markets for growth, to deliver innovative solutions that truly change the way people work and live. It does this by making Accenture’s core capabilities—its best people and strategic business, technology and project management expertise—available on a not-for-profit basis. Our services are accessible to those clients with the greatest need in part by a voluntary salary cut of participating Accenture consultants.

As we strive to achieve impact for our clients and the communities they serve by bringing private-sector thinking and innovation to their programs, we also offer a competitive and exciting leadership development opportunity for our high performing employees who gain exposure to emerging markets and senior level client relationships. Australian Accenture employees have participated in the Accenture Development Partnerships program and worked in locations ranging from Kenya and Ghana to Switzerland and Sri Lanka.

Left to right: the Honorable Michael Kirby, Accenture employee Ashley Anderson-Buick, former Australian rules football player Jason Ball, Accenture employee Angela Walsh and media personality Bob Downe at the AWEI Luncheon at the Ivy Ballroom in Sydney on 17 May 2013.

Accenture Australia was named Employer of the Year for 2013 in the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI).


In partnership with Beacon, our Sydney employees are mentoring students from James Cook Boys’ High School.

Accenture employees in Perth join forces with Chevron employees to restore Lake Claremont, a Conservation Volunteers initiative.

Accenture employees from Melbourne and Sydney Cook for a Cause with OzHarvest, preventing food from ending up in landfill.

The Accenture City2South team raised funds for The Smith Family in Brisbane.

“Reaching the summit was a brilliant achievement, and seeing how Tanzanians live was an eye-opening experience. I raised more than AUD 7,000 and am so glad I did it.”

- Wern Wong, Accenture Australia employee and Kilimanjaro Trekker

Our People

Supporting our people and giving back to the community Accenture employees regularly give back to the community, and we help them maximise the impact of their personal contributions by providing channels to offer time, services and financial assistance to help those in need.

Each Accenture Australia employee receives one day’s paid leave for volunteering per year, and wherever we provide a monetary grant to a nonprofit partner we seek to have volunteer opportunities so our people can also get directly involved. Our employees volunteer for both our strategic partners and other causes close to their hearts, and we’ve launched an online volunteering tool—myCorporateCitizenship—to make volunteering easier, more accessible and more engaging for our employees

Additionally, Accenture matches all or part of the funds our employees donate to charity through our workplace giving program, and through our employee donation matching scheme.

Accenture also partners with global nonprofit VSO to provide our people with the opportunity to raise funds and trek to Everest Base Camp or Mt Kilimanjaro for VSO’s Skills to Succeed initiatives.

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Each year our Canberra employees form a team in the Hartley Lifecare Ability Cycle Challenge.


Supply Chain

reach

24

Nurturing Supplier Sustainability As we strive to improve the sustainability of our own operations, Accenture also seeks to use our knowledge, experience and technologies to encourage our suppliers’ sustainability efforts.

Since 2007, we have asked all new suppliers in our global Procurement process questions about their environmental performance. Further, we expect our suppliers to comply with our Supplier Standards of Conduct, which include environmental criteria and are now part of our sourcing and contracting process. We are also committed to helping our suppliers comply with these standards and, in turn, expect our suppliers to apply these standards to their own suppliers.

In addition, we have been corporate members of the Carbon Disclosure Project’s Supply Chain program since 2010, which enables us to take a strategic, standardised approach to communicating with our most critical suppliers on their climate-change strategies.

Advancing Supplier DiversityWe believe we can make a powerful difference by creating marketplace opportunities for enterprises that have historically experienced barriers to participation. Through our Supplier Diversity Program, Accenture demonstrates our commitment to unleashing entrepreneurial potential and promoting economic growth in the communities in which we do business. We continually strengthen our ability to find, develop and work effectively with small and medium-sized enterprises.

Our supplier inclusion and diversity programs in India, Canada, Europe and Asia Pacific are the pillars of our expanding global commitment. Our activities in these geographies focus on marketplace advocacy for supplier diversity, including small and medium-sized enterprises in our sourcing events wherever possible—and encouraging our prime suppliers to do the same—accelerating growth of our programs via internal and external collaboration.

Accenture in Australia has become a member of Supply Nation, a direct business-to-business purchasing link between corporate Australia, government agencies and Indigenous-owned businesses.

As a Supply Nation member, Accenture meets the requirements of the Australian Government’s Indigenous Opportunity Policy, and receives access to an online database of Supply Nation-certified Indigenous business suppliers, who we are able to meet with and mentor. We are also involved in regular networking events to exchange and share information on supplier diversity with like-minded companies, corporate social responsibility managers and procurement specialists.

Adding to our demonstration of inclusion and diversity values, Accenture in Australia has taken a leading position as an advocate for women in business by becoming a founding corporate member of WEConnect Australasia: a business enterprise network connecting female entrepreneurs in developed and emerging markets to multinational corporations.

Accenture’s leadership and commitment to drive a more inclusive and diverse supply base by providing equal procurement opportunities to minority-owned small- to medium-size enterprises means Accenture plays an active role in creating, developing and promoting asset ownership, wealth creation, esteem and knowledge exchange in local economies.


Corporate citizenship is an ongoing journey for Accenture, and we are committed to making a sustainable, measurable difference in the world in which we work and live. In the pages of this report, we highlighted some of the impact we have made globally in fiscal 2012 and in Australia through fiscal 2013 across each of the five pillars of our corporate citizenship strategy: Corporate governance, Skills to Succeed, environment, our people and supply chain.

Looking ahead, building stronger relationships with our strategic nonprofit partners will remain a priority, and we will seek new ways to collaborate with clients to deepen our impact and bring innovation to our Skills to Succeed focus.

Our commitment to environmental stewardship will continue to see us work closely with our employees, clients and suppliers on our journey toward more sustainable operations and a smaller environmental footprint.

Providing a diverse and inclusive environment for our people, and ensuring that each individual has the opportunity to reach his or her full potential, will remain focus areas. We will strive to have more women and ethnic minorities in leadership roles, while continuing to welcome diverse employees. Our attention to customised training will build employee expertise and ensure we have the right skills and people to help Australia’s leading businesses and governments with their challenges.

The Path Forward

26

We will further our investment in our supplier inclusion and diversity programs and increase our reach, strengthening our supply chain and supporting our commitment to more inclusive and sustainable business models.

Together with our people, our strategic partners, our suppliers, our clients and our other stakeholders, we can make an incredible impact in the years to come.

About AccentureAccenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 275,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions,

and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$28.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2013. Its home page is www. accenture.com.

Tell us what you think!We welcome your feedback at [email protected]

For additional information, please also visit:www.accenture.com/corporatecitizenship

About this report

Accenture in Australia is pleased to share this report with you, which highlights the impact the company made in corporate citizenship globally in fiscal year 2012 and in Australia through fiscal 2013.

Copyright © 2013 Accenture All rights reserved.

Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture. 13-3308

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