ARA 2024 Awards
Your annual report should provide a clear,
big picture view of where your organisation
is, and where it plans to go.
Criteria applicable to all entries in the ARA General Award
(Amended 1 July 2019)
Eligibility
An annual report may be comprised of one or more documents that include full audited annual financial statements. For some reporting entities, an audit review may satisfy auditing obligations.
Submission Guide
Annual reports should be clear and concise, with material in a logical order. ARA assesses annual reports against the criteria, and looks for:
a. A report with clear communication objectives and a narrative that helps tell a story about the organisation’s performance
b. Both financial and non-financial information and metrics
c. Reader friendly layout, using visuals to enhance understanding
d. Clear, transparent disclosures
e. Evidence to support claimed performance
f. Balanced reporting, including acknowledgement of success and challenges
g. Easy to navigate structure and cross-references or links to supporting information
h. Concisely written text, in plain English where possible.
Copyright
Entrants are reminded to consider copyright in the preparation of annual reports. Even sharing clippings from websites or other publications internally with colleagues or externally with advisors, requires copyright permissions. ARA urges reporting organisations to have the right licensing endorsements in place. Copyright compliance is good governance and fairly supports the creators of the content you rely on.
Criteria
Reports entered for an ARA General Award are assessed against six criteria:
1. Overview/Objectives/Highlights
| The early pages of the report should cover: |
| 1.1 An explanation of objectives for/purpose of the report |
| 1.2 A summary review of the year by the Chair and CEO (may be combined) |
| 1.3 The organisation’s history and profile |
| 1.4 Vision/mission/purpose/values |
| 1.5 Objectives and key strategies |
1.6 Overview of the year, including:
|
| 1.7 Important events that impacted during the year |
| 1.8 High level performance measures and indicators, key financial (capital and operating) and non-financial features covering performance over two years and percentage changes, accompanied by clear statements explaining performance. |
2. Review of Operations or Activities
This criterion has two parts:
Reporting on the organisation as a whole and
Reporting for each significant division/service/location
| The organisation as a whole |
| Describe the operations or activities as a whole, with comparisons, which should include: |
| 2.1 Discussion and analysis of financial and non-financial results, including a concise financial report with relevant commentary and cross-referencing and supporting charts and/or tables |
| 2.2 Outline of the organisation's operating environment, including strategic risks (e.g. political, economic, environment, climate, social and technology risks, competition, demand, economic conditions) and how this is changing over time |
| 2.3 Discussion of social, economic and environmental impacts of operations during the year, and actions taken to improve performance |
| 2.4 Details of significant continuous improvement, organisation transformation or quality management programs/standards adopted, external reporting frameworks used, including comment on financial and non-financial benefits or outcomes achieved |
| 2.5 Key issues for research and development and technology and innovation |
| 2.6 Comment on impact of significant changes to government policies |
| 2.7 Discussion of social, economic and environmental impacts of operations, and actions taken to improve performance |
| 2.8 Disclosure of allied organisations including subsidiaries, other related entities, formal partnerships and joint ventures |
| 2.9 Strategic outlook for the organisation, including internal and external factors expected to impact products, services, results, stakeholders in the next reporting period and the future |
| 2.10 Stakeholder/shareholder information and engagement, including description of key stakeholders, stakeholder engagement strategies and significant changes |
| 2.11 Comment on significant media coverage of the entity, including the top issues attracting the most coverage, the organisation’s view of the coverage and any impacts or changes as a result of the coverage. |
| Major divisions /services/locations |
| Information provided should include: |
| 2.12 A summary of key information and performance for each division or major service or location and outlook for the future. |
3. Governance and Ethics
| Disclosures in this category should cover: |
| 3.1 An overview of the governance framework, policy and practices, including committee structures, audit committee membership and summary of findings for the year, codes of ethics/conduct, risk management, disclosure of governance performance, including a statement as to any breaches and/or corruption |
| 3.2 The legal form of incorporation/legislative basis for the organisation including key statutes under which the organisation operates e.g. company laws, environmental laws, fundraising laws, special tax concessions, etc. |
| 3.3 The Board of Directors/governing body - including photos, experience, qualifications, terms of appointment, and commentary on board diversity and development |
| 3.4 Senior executives - including individual or collective photos of executives, their experience, responsibilities and qualifications and key changes in roles or personnel during the year |
| 3.5 Measurement and disclosure of all forms of remuneration and benefits to members of the governing body and senior executives of the entity as well as related parties |
| 3.6 The organisation or corporate structure |
| 3.7 Approach to and activities undertaken for developing, monitoring and reviewing corporate strategy and culture |
| 3.8 Results or progress commentary addressing investigations into the governance or conduct of the entity |
| 3.9 Privacy practices and data handling, including applicable legislation, the number and type of breaches and corrective actions taken |
| 3.10 Project governance for major projects, including comment on frameworks used, applicable standards and internal/external oversight |
| 3.11 Approach to human rights and how the organisation identifies, prevents, mitigates and redresses adverse human rights impacts. |
4. Human Resources Management (HRM)
| Disclosures under this criterion should include: |
| 4.1 Key HRM strategies implemented by the entity (diversity and inclusion, productivity, recruitment and retention, bullying and harassment, continuous employee training and development) and comment as to their effectiveness |
| 4.2 Workforce statistics (covering permanent/temporary/ casual and contracted staff) including headcount, EFT, diversity data, remuneration by level/classification/gender, explanation of significant changes in data |
| 4.3 Extent of fulfilment of legal obligations including equal employment opportunity, wages and superannuation, and national employment standards/awards/enterprise agreements as applicable |
| 4.4 Workplace health and safety (WHS) governance arrangements and performance, including comprehensive injury and illness data, disclosure of most significant and frequently occurring hazards and approach used to manage the hazards and comment on the effectiveness of those approaches |
| 4.5 Volunteers, including the number, their contribution, impact and strategies to engage and recognise them. |
5. Financial Performance and Financial Statements
ARA looks for two distinct but related components of financial information:
Comprehensive financial discussion, preferably early in the report that provides useful financial information for stakeholders to allow them to judge the organisation’s financial performance [as required under criterion 2.1].
Full formal Financial Statements that comply with legislative requirements, International Financial Reporting Standards and appropriate equivalent accounting standards.
| Coverage should include: |
| 5.1 A balance sheet |
| 5.2 A statement of financial position as at the end of the period |
| 5.3 A statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income for the period |
| 5.4 A statement of changes in equity for the period |
| 5.5 A statement of cash flows for the period |
| 5.6 Notes, cross referencing the statements and comprising significant accounting policies and other explanatory information, conforming with Accounting Standards appropriate to International Financial Reporting Standards or Australian or New Zealand equivalents |
| 5.7 Signed statements from the governing body and key executives |
| 5.8 A signed auditors report, as applicable |
| 5.9 Statistical summaries including key financial performance indicators and ratios, with explanations, covering at least five (5) years, where possible. |
6. Presentation, Communication and Navigation
| The report should include: | |||||||||
| 6.1 A table of contents and an index | |||||||||
| 6.2 A table of definitions and/or a glossary of terms | |||||||||
| 6.3 Design features that help readers engage with and understand the report (regardless of whether the report is submitted in hardcopy/PDF/HTML) such as graphics, charts, font size, white space and identifiable sections | |||||||||
| 6.4 The locations of major activities - include maps (where appropriate), physical addresses, full contact information including telephone, email and social media | |||||||||
| 6.5 A calendar of major events | |||||||||
| 6.6 General conformance to the ARA Submission Guide (see above) | |||||||||
| 6.7 How to obtain the report or further information through alternative and accessible means | |||||||||
6.8 Effective navigation and presentation if the report is entered in PDF or HTML formats:
|