18 April 2008 
 
 
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (the Institute) announced today the winner, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and runner up Australian Community Support Organisation (ACSO) of the inaugural Australian PwC Transparency Awards.  
 
The Awards, recognises and encourages ongoing improvement in the quality and transparency of reporting in the not-for-profit (NFP) sector. 
 
Rick Millen, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Partner says, “PwC received strong support from the NFP sector for the concept of introducing the Awards in Australia to help set measurable accepted benchmarks and consistency in reporting across the sector.”  
 
Graham Meyer, the Institute CEO says, “There are more than 700,000 NFPs in Australia and partnering with PwC for the Transparency Awards continues the thought leadership work we are doing to provide guidance for NFPs on the latest reporting standards.” 
 
Rick Millen continues, “The quality of reporting in the NFP sector in Australia is highly variable. Some organisations produce good quality, transparent reporting, but the general standard needs improvement in order to meet the information needs and expectations of all stakeholders.” 
 
The Jury found while NFPs annual reports are well presented with clear reporting of strategy and results, there was often insufficient information provided about how performance against strategy is being, and will be, measured. 
 
The Jury reported that governance reporting by NFPs is an area needing greater articulation, in particular reporting the structure and processes of Boards and governing bodies. 
 
Organisational risk management policies and procedures are areas warranting greater attention, as is stakeholder reporting because of inconsistencies in the level of detail provided for major stakeholder groups. 
 
The winner of the Awards, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), demonstrated clear, well written and easily accessible reporting with the inclusion of a five year strategic plan on their website, allowing readers to understand the future plans of the organisation. 
 
A clear strength of JDRF’s reporting relates to the information provided to stakeholders. Stakeholder’s opinions are sought and their input provided into the shaping of the organisation’s strategic plans and research program. 
 
It was also noted by the Jury that JDRF’s reporting on fundraising activities is outstanding. Detailed explanations of income and expenditure for specific fundraising activities were provided, as well as defining expenditure, and disclosing direct, indirect and total expenditure as a percentage of gross income. Coupled with the position statement re responsible allocation of funds provided on the website, donors have transparent view of how their funds are applied by the organisation.  
 
Graham adds, “The runner-up, ACSO, clearly demonstrated their intention to be transparent and provided very comprehensive and readable information that is easy to access.” 
 
Rick concludes, “The final decision by the Jury was very close and it was impressive to see the commitment to transparent reporting by the NFPs involved.”