AGS featured as good corporate citizen
Following on from our win of the ACLA Corporate Social Responsibility Award in 2014, AGS was invited to be featured in the Association of Corporate Counsel's (ACC) Leading Practice Profile article, 'Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Company and legal department leading practices for aligning sustainability, corporate citizenship and business purpose' which was published on Friday 6 November 2015.
Leading Practice Profiles are publications outlining best practices to help in-house counsel across a variety of industries, situations and legal departments and include insights from in-house counsel on how their companies and legal departments have addressed a variety of issues.
AGS was featured along with multinational organisations based in the United States and Canada which covered various industries, including manufacturing, food processing and hospitality.
AGS's National Manager Pro Bono Services Geetha Nair provided insights into the 3 main aspects of AGS's CSR's initiatives ie our pro bono program, Reconciliation Action Plan and green initiatives.
We can only provide an extract of the article as the published article will only be available to ACC/ACLA members. Non-members will not be able to access the full article.
In summary, it was noted that as part of its CSR initiatives, AGS had:
- an Environmental Statement, which states AGS's commitment to implement practical, cost-effective measures to reduce waste and save on its usage of energy and other resources. It was noted that AGS has a Greening Group, composed of employee volunteers who give their time to reduce the environmental impact of AGS operations.
- a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), which focused on recognising the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as custodians of the lands in Australia through practices such as at external events, acknowledging country, inviting elders to perform 'Welcome to Country' ceremonies, screening films on Aboriginal issues, displaying Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artwork in its offices and holding events during National Reconciliation Week
- our pro bono program which is designed to assist those in the community who are most disadvantaged, but in a way that will not conflict with the Commonwealth government's interests. The article noted that, 'The exponential growth and success of the pro bono program is remarkable in light of the constraints placed on AGS as a government entity.'