In December 2020, the College of Business and Law issued a call for expressions of interest to develop an index that could showcase the quality and real-world relevance of the research produced by RMIT’s College of Business and Law.
The objective was to create an index that would assist Australian individuals and businesses in navigating the ever-changing and complex world, offering true insights and analysis on a topic of corporate and individual interest.
In response to this call, a team in the School of Accounting, Information Systems and Supply Chain submitted a proposal to develop an index called the RMIT Sustainable Procurement Disclosure Index (SPDI). The purpose of this index was to benchmark the level of disclosure of sustainable procurement practices among the ASX 200 companies. The proposal received endorsement from the College, and in 2021-2022, funding was approved for a Proof of Concept (PoC) study to develop the index, using a sample of 60 ASX companies.
The PoC study proved successful, leading the College to continue supporting the project with a view to releasing the findings to the public. The target sample size was expanded to include all the ASX 200 companies. Data collection began in January of 2023 year and concluded in May, followed by data analysis and report writing. This all led up to the official launch of the Index in February 2024. The SPDI project is supported on an ongoing basis by RMIT’s College of Business and Law. The 2024 data has been collected and analysed with the findings available on this website.
To enhance the international impact of the initiative, the project team in Australia collaborates with colleagues at RMIT Vietnam to promote the use of the SPD Index among local small and medium-sized enterprises. RMIT has also partnered with four leading universities in Asia: Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) in Malaysia, Ningbo University in China, Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, and BINUS University in Indonesia to apply the same methodology in developing SPD indices for major listed companies in those countries. Looking ahead, the project team plans to replicate the index and its methodology in additional countries. It is the project team’s hope that this will eventually lead to meaningful international comparisons.
For more information on the SPDI please contact spdi@rmit.edu.au
