Guidelines for corporate governance disclosure - are Australian listed companies conforming?

This study explores the disclosure of corporate governance practices on company websites by Australian listed companies. Content analysis was applied to the websites of fifty Australian companies utilising a corporate governance disclosure index (CGDI). The CGDI was developed from the guidance for disclosure on websites provided in the ASX corporate governance guidelines. The level of conformance with the ASX recommendations for disclosure on websites was then compared to the level of adoption of ASX corporate governance recommendations for annual reports (as reported by the ASX). The level of disclosure on company websites did not match the level of adoption of recommendations. The reported adoption level for annual reports was higher than the disclosure level for company websites indicating that not all corporate governance practices are being disclosed on company websites. The interest of powerful stakeholders such as regulatory agencies may influence the level of conformance on company websites however the results are not conclusive. The varying level of disclosure on company websites highlights the need for monitoring by the ASX to enhance website disclosure.