The Top 10

In the 2021-22 financial year the top 10 Australian companies generated approximately $127,963,561,000 in profits before tax. In the same period, these companies social invested approximately 0.7% of total profits before tax. If they collectively socially invested 2% of total profits before tax then an additional $1,714,051,171 would go to making the world a safer, better, more productive place for future generations.

The descriptions of Social Investment in the Annual Reports of each of the companies that are listed in the table vary considerably. The following examples don't pass the pub test and are not considered direct Social Investments by a company. 

Some companies report on indirect funding, where their employees have donated to money and/or time to charities, or where they have enabled customers to provide donations. Some companies include taxes and royalties in their Social Investment reports. And some companies include Foregone Revenue in their Social Investment reporting which is another way to say that they dont charge fees for welfare recipients, low-income earners and charities.

There is no standardised way of reporting or defining what is Social Investment is. In the absence of an accepted corporated defintion it is no surprise that all manner of claims of Social Investment are made by companies with Social Responsibility and Social Investment often confused. A proposed definition for Social Investment to form the basis for debate may be:

The donation or allocation of funds to external organisations that deliver positive social outcomes.

Positive social outcomes may be further defined by the Millennium Development Goals or focused towards decreasing gaps in social outcomes for vulnerable populations.

It should be noted that the above proposed defition explicitly does not include:

• employee (volunteering or donations);

• enabling customer contributions (donations);

• the calculation of the dollar value of services provided as part of operations (foregone revenue); or

• the procurement of goods and services from specific companies or countries.

Whilst there is a movement for companies to report on environmental impacts, gender, and cultural diversity metrics these are considered to be part of the broad term of Social Responsibility, which is thought to encompass the term Social Investment.

*All values for the table and graph were taken from each of the respective companies Annual Report or Social Responsibility Report. BHP, WDS, and FMG reported Net Profit Before Tax and/or Social Investment in USD, and as such values were converted into AUD using the Australian Taxation Office Foreign Income Conversion Calculator using the average annual rate of exchange. The value of the Total Profits Before Tax is reported as Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) where possible. Where a company provided a distinction between indirect , foregone revenue and direct funding, only the direct funding amount was used in the table and graph. Whilst every endeavour was made to ensure that the information in the table and graph are accurate, this may not have be possible. Consequently the website owner disclaims all responsibility and all liability (including without limitation, liability in negligence) for all expenses, losses, damages and costs which may be incurred as a result of the information in this table or graph being inaccurate or incomplete in any way, and for any reason.