Balanced, transparent reporting
This is Manaaki Whenua's fifth consecutive report that integrates all dimensions of our performance-it is both our sustainable development report and our annual report. We remain committed to fully-integrated, open reporting, with transparency being the over-arching principle for how we report on our activities. We endeavour to present a complete and balanced picture covering all the research and sustainability issues relevant to our business, our science, key stakeholders and our target audience.
Key stakeholders and report readers
We recognise that our reports are now being read, in New Zealand and around the world, by many non-science organisations with an interest in sustainability reporting, even though these organisations are not Manaaki Whenua stakeholders. Hence, we believe we have a responsibility to ensure clarity in our report for all our readers. Report contents and acronyms have been included to make the report easier to navigate and read.
We have strong partnerships and good dialogue with our key stakeholders, as the previous sections of the report show. While we did not actively interview stakeholders and readers about our report, we have had a variety of feedback. For example, the considerably expanded discussion of governance issues is a direct response to feedback from some reporting stakeholders-the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand and the Australasian Reporting Awards organisation. More information about stakeholder feedback on our report can be found in the supporting information section of this report.
Assurance processes
As in previous years, we have had all sections of our report audited. We have a statutory obligation to have our financial performance independently audited, and we contract Audit New Zealand to provide this service. There is no such requirement to have non-financial performance externally audited. Nevertheless, we believe an independent audit provides assurance to all our external readers, our staff, managers and Board, that Manaaki Whenua is reporting in a complete, balanced and transparent manner and is following best practices.
The non-financial audit process assesses whether we have reported on the most material aspects of our activities, and whether our reporting is a balanced representation of all dimensions of our performance, with appropriate coverage of both the good and the not-so-good news. All non-financial indicators are fully documented and are comparable to previous years. The auditors review these indicator documents and also interview most of the people who provide the indicator data and information in the report to verify that it is fair and accurate.
An explanation of our accounting policies for non-financial indicators is included in this section, and we have also included a Statement of Management Responsibility for the non-financial sections of the report.
Materiality
We use the following to decide what issues, activities and performance are relevant and material, i.e., what should be included in the printed report:
- illustrates how our science and activities are making a difference for a truly clean, green New Zealand
- raises awareness of future environmental issues
- demonstrates excellence in our science or activities
- demonstrates leadership in sustainability reporting
- provides evidence of significant stakeholder engagement
- acknowledges controversial issues where stakeholders could in?uence our capacity to do research
- covers issues and incidents where non-compliance could result in financial liability
- meets our statutory reporting responsibilities under the CRIs Act, including ful?lling or exceeding client / owner expectations, and that we are performing as well as peer organisations
- provides evidence of good governance
- exemplifies our planning for the organisations future viability and leadership, including our ability to attract and nurture world-class talent.
