Stewardship policies

ACSI members have endorsed a gender diversity target and expect that at a minimum 30 percent of the board positions in ASX listed companies be occupied by women.

ACSI expects companies to establish processes from the very initial stages of project planning that will facilitate constructive engagement with First Nations people whose lands, communities and cultural heritage are impacted by a company’s operations, and obtain their free, prior and informed consent before commencing operations.

ACSI engages with companies to understand their approach to managing the climate-related risks and opportunities material to their business, the challenges they face, and to clearly communicate our expectations.

Investors recognise that poor corporate culture represents a material risk to the value of their investments. Ultimately, responsibility for good culture rests with the board. Companies should articulate and disclose their values to assist in setting the behavioural expectations of employees, contractors, suppliers and other partners.

Companies should actively engage with employees, customers, supply chains and other stakeholders to understand and assess human rights impacts and avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts.

Companies should recognise that they rely on a range of stakeholders to operate and succeed. We expect companies to articulate how they take into account the views of various stakeholders, the level of social risk they are willing to accept and the action they take to manage social risk.

Boards must demonstrate accountability for their companies. This includes a preparedness to seek the right information, challenge management, and take appropriate remedial action when things go wrong. We expect directors to be adequately informed about key business issues and properly equipped to oversee management’s delivery of the company’s strategy.

ACSI members expect at least 30 per cent of the board positions in ASX-listed companies to be held by women. We believe that companies should also set targets to achieve gender balance in their boards, within a reasonable specified time period.

Our members expect that companies will disclose their tax policy and strategy, tax-related risks, material tax incentives, governance and risk management processes and their tax-related performance (such as country by country activities and any current tax-related disputes). We encourage companies to adopt the Board of Taxation’s Voluntary Tax Transparency Code.

Executive remuneration is key to aligning management with company strategy and performance.