2024 ARA Handbook

In this section

Welcome

ARA Patron

Chair’s Remarks

Chair’s Commendations

ARA Awards Sponsors

About the ARA

The 2024 ARA Handbook

Welcome to the 2024 ARA Handbook which records the results of the 2024 ARA Awards and draws attention to the upcoming 2025 Awards year being a milestone 75th year of achievement for ARA, worthy of special celebration as a ‘Diamond Jubilee’ year. After the disruptions caused by the Covid 19 pandemic, the ARA Awards Presentation Dinner will return to Melbourne in 2025 to celebrate this special occasion.

The Awards have changed substantially since they were first introduced in 1950 to encourage organisations to improve the standard of their annual reporting, and hence their communication with stakeholders. The Awards have provided organisations with a way to benchmark the quality of their annual reports against world best practice criteria to find out how good they are, and to obtain constructive feedback from the ARA adjudication team on how to improve their reporting.

Over time, regulatory changes and changing community expectations have placed increased demands on organisations to disclose more and more about their activities, performance and future prospects. Despite such demands, the ARA Awards have seen the number of Gold Awards increase from less than ten per year prior to 2000 to 70 or more in recent years indicating many organisations now have a very strong interest in improving and maintaining the quality of their annual reporting.

ARA Directors believe ARA has made a significant contribution to this transition.

“*The ARA is something I look back on as an outstanding example of seeking to enhance transparency in the very best manner for each sector of the community.”*
*Hugh Morgan AC*

ARA Patron

After 20 years as ARA Patron, Hugh Morgan AC, has stepped down from that role. Hugh has been involved with the ARA for many years going right back to his time as CEO of Western Mining long before he became ARA Patron. He took a strong interest in the preparation of the annual reports, and due his interest, Western Mining achieved a number of Gold Awards and won the Report of the Year Award.

Hugh is quoted as saying that he thinks the annual reporting process is a good management tool for bringing the silos within an organisation together and for building a responsive corporate culture.

Hugh has always been a strong supporter of ARA, ready to give advice and guidance and to share his thoughts on the value to be gained from improving annual reporting. His knowledge and wisdom will be missed.

On behalf of everyone involved with the ARA, I want to extend our sincere appreciation and gratitude to Hugh, for the service he provided as ARA Patron over the past 20 years.

Alan Colegate, ARA Chair

Chair's Remarks

It is always good to come together with like-minded people to recognise the effort that goes into the creation and development of an annual report, and truly celebrate the achievements of those that have excelled.

This year marked 74 years of ARA activities designed to encourage and help organisations to achieve transparency and excellence in reporting. More than 70 organisations received a Gold Award this year compared to only ten 20 years ago which demonstrates ARA has made a significant contribution to improving the standard of annual reporting.

This year I was very pleased to recognise four organisations with the Chair’s Commendation to acknowledge their extraordinary achievement of ten consecutive Gold Awards. Congratulations to Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, City of Stirling, Department of Transport and Main Roads and Sanford Limited. Each of these organisations have not only met the challenge of achieving Gold Award excellence but continued to focus on improvement to maintain a high level of transparency and accountability.

ARA again recognised the best reports in each industry sector with Awards to seven organisations for outstanding reporting above and beyond achieving a Gold Award. The Report of the Year was chosen from the Best of Industry Sector winners. I was very proud to present this Award to Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation which received this award for the third time in four years.

To our sponsors and supporters, a huge thank you for your ongoing participation and support. Thanks also to our Patron, Hugh Morgan AC, and my fellow directors for their support and their significant contributions to ARA.

It was fitting that the Awards were held during National Volunteer Week which had the theme ‘Something for everyone – recognising the diverse passions and talents everyone brings to the act of volunteering’. On behalf of the Board, I extend a huge thankyou to our dedicated volunteer Coordinators and Adjudicators. They make an enormous contribution in terms of giving their time and sharing their expertise. Without them, we could not have an ARA.

Congratulations to everyone who entered the 2024 ARA Awards. By entering you have demonstrated your commitment to excellence in annual reporting.

Entries for the 2025 Awards will open in October.

I look forward to seeing you all again at the 75th ARA Awards Presentation dinner in May next year when we will make a much-anticipated return to Melbourne.

Alan Colegate, ARA Chair

Chair’s Commendations

The Chair’s Commendation was introduced in 2017 to acknowledge organisations that have demonstrated a long-term commitment to excellence in reporting. To receive this Award an organisation must achieve ten consecutive Gold Awards.

ARA Directors believe that the regular independent benchmarking obtained by entering successive ARA Awards makes organisations better able to adapt to regulatory requirements and changed circumstances, maintain a very high standard of reporting to their stakeholders, and more fully address community expectations.

This year, four organisations achieved a tenth consecutive Gold Award and became eligible to receive the Chair’s Commendation.

Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission
City of Stirling
Department of Transport and Main Roads
Sanford Limited

These organisations have consistently achieved very high standards in reporting. This year the City of Stirling won the Best of Sector Award in the Public Administration–Local Sector and Sanford Limited won the Best of Sector Award in the Resources and Production Sector.

Amelia Grace, ACIC Director Internal Governance and Reporting, accepted the Award from ARA Chair, Alan Colegate.

Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC)

Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission is part of the Attorney-General’s portfolio and a member of the National Intelligence Community. Its purpose is to protect Australia from serious crime threats by collecting, assessing and disseminating intelligence and policing information to combat the threats Australia faces from transnational and organised crime.

City of Stirling

City of Stirling is a thriving cosmopolitan, multicultural and predominantly urban area located 8 km north of Perth’s CBD covering about 100 square kilometers. It has an incredibly diverse population and is the largest local government area by population in Western Australia.

Tracey O’Bryan, TMR Deputy Director-General Corporate, accepted the Award from Alan Colegate

Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR)

Department of Transport and Main Roads is committed to ensuring Queensland’s transport system contributes to people’s quality of life, a vibrant economy, and a sustainable environment. It is responsible for planning, managing, and delivering a single integrated transport network across road, rail, air, and sea to move and connect people, places, goods, and services safely and effectively.

Stuart Houliston, Sanford’s General Manager Finance, accepted the Award from Alan Colegate.

Sanford Limited

Sanford is New Zealand’s oldest and largest seafood company. It harvests, processes and sells a wide range of New Zealand seafood to diverse global markets. It is committed to developing new and sustainable solutions to maximise value for its stakeholders while safeguarding the environment.

Chair’s Commendation Honour Roll

    
                Year of Award
                Organisation
                Consecutive Gold Awards (to date)
                Report of the Year
            
                2017
                Australian Broadcasting Corporation
                21
                2016 & 2018
            
                2017
                Watercare Services Limited
                17
                
                2018
                Glen Eira City Council
                16
                
                2018
                Legal Aid NSW
                15
                
                2019
                Audit Office of New South Wales
                15
                2014 & 2017
            
                2017
                Woodside Petroleum
                14
                2013 & 2015
            
                2020
                City of Ryde Council
                14
                
                2020
                Judicial Commission of NSW
                12
                
                2021
                Main Roads Western Australia
                13
                2023
            
                2022
                Civil Aviation Safety Authority
                11
                
                2022
                Electoral Commission of Victoria
                12
                
                2022
                Bridge Housing
                10
                
                2023
                CLP Holdings Limited
                11
                2014
            
                2023
                Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation
                11
                2020, 2021  & 2024
            
                2020
                Marlborough Lines Limited
                10
                
                2024
                Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission
                10
                
                2024
                City of Stirling
                10
                
                2024
                Department of Transport and Main Roads
                10
                
                2024
                Sanford Limited
                10

2024 Chair’s Commendation for Adjudication

Stephen Varady accepted the Chair’s Commendation Award from ARA Chair, Alan Colegate.

This Award was presented to Stephen Varady CSM for distinguished service in the challenging role of Chair of the ARA Awards Committee. Stephen has been actively involved in ARA for many years: initially as a very successful entrant with Gold Coast City Council then as an Adjudicator (from 2008); a Coordinator (from 2012); and as Chair of the Awards Committee and an ARA Director since 2015.

About the ARA

The ARA Awards are administered by Australasian Reporting Awards Limited, an independent not-for-profit organisation run by volunteer professionals from the business, government and not-for-profit sectors, with support from organisations concerned with the quality of business and financial reporting. They all have considerable experience in annual reporting and they also participate in the Awards adjudication process as Coordinators or Adjudicators.

The ARA directors for the 2024 Awards year were:

Alan Colegate, DipAcc, GCert(Bus)	Chair
Bronwyn Wellings, BEc, FCPA, FFTP, GAICD	Deputy Chair
Ray Lane, BCom, MPA, FIPAA, FAIDC, MIIA	Company and Board Secretary
Maria Balatbat, BSc, MCom, PhD, FCPA, CA	Director
Sylvia Bell, BSc, MA(Comm), MRes, GAICD	Director
Andrew Crawford, MBA, BEc, FCPA, FCA, FAICD	Director
Tulip Penney, BA, BPsych(Hons), MBA	Director and 2024 Chair ARA Awards Committee
Stephen Varady, CSM, MA(PublicSectLead), GCert(PubSecMgmt)	Director