b'GOVERNANCE| LEGAL SECTOR| 2021SUSTAINABILITY INSIGHTSUSTAINABILITY REPORTING Forty-eight percent of firms provided additional sustainability reporting during the year and a further 9 percent were preparing to do so. This reporting is generally collected, communicated and published by the firms themselves. There has been significant growth in the number of firms collecting and publishing additional standalone reporting of their sustainability and corporate citizenship this year from 31 percent to 48 percent. This is likely to reflect both the increasing demands from customers for sustainability information and also the maturity in firms sustainability programs and data collection. Additional reporting undertaken for external programs this year includes reporting of greenhouse gas offsetting, modern slavery commitments, the UN Sustainable Development goals and the NSW Sustainability Advantage program.Challenges and Opportunities It is becoming more and more important to be able to justify and demonstrate a law firms sustainability commitments. The rapid rise of sustainability information being sought by law firm customers provides a significant challenge to internal systems that are not prepared to capture and report this information consistently, flexibly or efficiently. The sources of required information is spread across the functions of the firm which requires a greater emphasis on the importance of this information for planning and reporting processes. In addition to the interest in this information there is also growing attention being paid to the rigor of sustainability information. Organisations, their management and boards are being held to account for both the accuracy of reporting and also the adequacy of reporting which will bring greater internal scrutiny on sustainability claims.AusLSAs voluntary report is designed to allow a common approach to reporting that is appropriate to a wide range of different firm types and sizes. This approach sometimes constrains the level of detail and depth that can be provided across all the areas covered. AusLSA members should use this report as a basis for the expanded collection and reporting of information in the different sustainability programs and initiatives undertaken. This provides additional depth of information that is tailored to their specific priorities of firms and their audiences. Some firms already choose to do this by developingstandalone corporate social responsibility style reports but increased information can also be simply incorporated throughout relevant sections of their own website.AusLSA member law firms have increased the scope, depth and communication of their sustainability reporting through the AusLSA annual Sustainability Insight over the last four years. The AusLSA report is carefully compiled and designed to suit a diverse audience of stakeholders. However, only half of member firms have taken advantage of this by publicly promoting the sustainability commitment s and performance. All firms have their own communications including promotion on their websites or communications with customers or employees that would be effective in raising the profile of their sustainability commitments. Celebrating this information in the public sphere will help to reinforce the value of compiling their reports and to increase the benefits from their public sustainability reporting.76'