CAll for change

As quoted from Malcom Sparrow in the Australian Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry...."corporate behavior moves quickly to take advantage of any perceived softening. Social norms act less upon complex organizations than upon individuals".

There are a number of ways to advocate for change in order to influence corporations to invest in future generations and contacting the Board Chair is a good place to start! Below are some suggested approaches and you can find some letter templates here:

• Write to the Chairman of a company you are concerned does not provide adequate Social Investment. This may be electornically challenging as a number of companies do not list their email address for Board members. An alternative option is to write the Board Chair a letter and send it physcially to the headquarters of the company. The Board Secretary is legally obliged to pass on all correspondence to the Board Chair so be assured that your letter will be read.

• Write an open letter to the Board Chair of the company you are concerned with and send it to the media outlet of your choice. board@your.abc.net.au; australia@theguardian.com; contact@9news.com.au 

• Socials - post on your socials with #2%socialinvestment and link it to www.socialinvestment.com.au 

• Write to the Australian Institute of Company Directors who provide guidelines to Company Boards on what to include in annual reports, requesting that they provide guidance on: what constitutes Social Investment; how to report it in an annual report in a standardised way; and request that they publish a report each year on the top 200 ASX listed companies Social Investment as a proportion of Earnings Before Interest and Taxes. nsw@aicd.com.au; act@aicd.com.au; qld@aicd.com.au; sa@aicd.com.au; nt@aicd.com.au; international@aicd.com.au; vic@aicd.com.au; wa@aicd.com.au; tas@aicd.com.au 

• Write a letter to your member of the Australian Parliament requesting that they advocate for a standardised definition and annual reporting on Social Investment to be included in the Corporations Act 2001. It is important to note the Corporations Act 2001 is a piece of national legislation and as such the request needs to go to your Federal member. To get in cotact with your member find their contact details using this directory https://www.directory.gov.au/commonwealth-parliament/members-house-representatives

• Engage with your favourite organisation who provides impactful social change and help them to reach out to the Board Chair of a company. Make sure you point out their companies recently reported Social Investment as a proportion of their profits before tax. As more companies adopt a greater Social Investment portfolio they will need to donate their funds somewhere!