Francesca Picciaia

Towards Integrated Reporting in the Public Sector

During the last 20 years, social, political and economic changes have impacted on the accountability concept in the public sector. In this context, public organizations are requested to improve their reporting processes, and disclose more accurate and complete information about their activities and results. In April 2013 the International Integrated Reporting Council issued the Consultation Draft of the International Integrated Reporting Framework, with the aim of contributing—among other things—to the initial integration of information regarding different forms of “capital” involved in the value creation processes of an organization. While primarily designed for private companies, the Consultation Draft can also be extended to the public sector. For this reason, in order to discuss the possibility to improve the level of accountability of public sector, this chapter intends to provide an introductory analysis on the applicability of the International Integrated Reporting Framework to public institutions.

The Case of the Auditor-General of South Africa

Recent social, political and economic changes have led to an evolution of the concept of public sector accountability. Greater awareness among citizens and the demand for greater transparency among public officers have led to new forms of reporting. Practices in use among private companies have been adapted to public organizations, leading to the spread of social, environmental, sustainability, intellectual capital reports, and more recently integrated reports. In this context, whereas the Consultation Draft of the International Integrated Reporting Framework (2013) was designed to provide guidelines on integrated reporting mainly to for-profit enterprises, it is also extendable to the public sector. This chapter examines the case of the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA), a public institution which published its first integrated report in 2012. The aim is to explore the integrated report of AGSA in light of the guiding principles and content elements provided by the Consultation Draft.