Australia

Recent activities

27 January 2012 – PWYP Australia, along with other PWYP members, sent submissions to the Australian Stock Exchange calling for stronger reporting measures for extractive companies.

16 December 2011- Oxfam Australia and Publish What You Pay Australia have released a joint briefing, The Australian Securities Exchange: extractive industry companies and payment disclosure. The briefing gives an overview of payment disclosure listing rules for mining, oil and gas companies and how the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative complements such rules. It also makes recommendations to the ASX, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and the Australian Government, that rules requiring payment disclosure from extractive industry companies on a country-by-country and project-by-project basis be introduced in Australia.

27 October 2011 – the Australia government announced that it would initiate a pilot of the EITI (go here for more information). In an article for Business Day , executive director of Oxfam Australia Andrew Hewett stated that implementing EITI would “allow Australians to access information on the value of our natural resources. The more those affected by mining, such as indigenous communities, know about payments made to governments, the greater the likelihood they can negotiate equitable benefit-sharing agreements.” Read the article in full here.

20 September 2011 – PWYP Australia issued a press release congratulating the US’ decision to join EITI. Read it here or here (PDF).

On 29 August 2011, PWYP Australia released their first press release calling on the Australian government to sign up to EITI, you can view it here or in its PDF format. Two members of PWYP Australia were also interviewed on the subject by Australian radio station The Wire.

10 June 2011 – a wide range of civil society organisations gathered in Melbourne for a PWYP information and strategy development workshop. Hosted by long time PWYP member Oxfam Australia, sessions included an introduction to PWYP, examination of national coalition case studies and a strategy brainstorm for the future of the campaign in Australia.