Don't Mention It - Coode Island and Environmental Disclosure Strategies in the Australian Chemicals Industry

A destructive chemical explosion and fire in 1991 at a chemical storage facility close to Melbourne, Australia, led to massive evacuation of city buildings to escape lifethreatening fumes. Legitimacy theory argues that in response to such environmental incidents, companies will change their social and environmental disclosure practices in an effort to legitimise their activities, and a 21-year longitudinal study has revealed a large increase in environmental information provided by the Australian chemicals industry at this time. The purpose of this study is to analyse the very different disclosure strategies in the 1991 to 1993 annual reports of the two largest chemical companies and test the propositions of legitimacy theory in relation to six legitimacybased disclosure strategies. The findings strongly support legitimacy theory arguments and, more importantly, the method adopted and the attempt made to categorize the disclosures extends previous CSR reporting studies by providing specific evidence of potential legitimising behaviour.