Adapting Environmental Management Accounting Processes and the Balance Scorecard to Meet Performance Reporting Requirements in First Nation Social Enterprises: A Feasibility Study

Abstract

Research has identified the need for further work to develop modelling processes and accounting tools that are compatible with Australia’s First Peoples’ (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) worldviews and socio-economic systems. While Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) processes have been instrumental in providing a means for corporations to report on performance against environmental measures, and the sustainability or social enterprise balanced scorecard (BSC) has introduced a social dimension, there remains a gap in processes that meet the reporting requirements of First Nation Social Enterprises (FNSE). Distinguishing features of FNSE that require further consideration include communally held assets that comprise both tangible and intangible cultural heritage; access and use protocols that require extensive negotiation within and between groups; and accountability for outcome improvements in economic participation and other social and wellbeing indicators. This paper reports on early findings of an investigation into the means through which culturally and socially located indicators might be developed to facilitate an holistic approach to financial reporting to improve the sustainability of FNSE.