The Centre for Sustainable Development & Corporate Social Responsibility in Business (CSDCSR) and Faculty of Accountancy and Management’s Department of Economics organised a talk titled “Economic Performance & Corporate Social Responsibility in Australia” on 3 October 2019 at UTAR Sungai Long Campus. The talk aimed to provide valuable insights into the economic culture of Australia and illuminate on Australia’s corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Invited to present the talk was Director of Economics, Finance and Property of Western Sydney University Dr Heath Spong. He presented an accessible discussion on a range of topics that introduced the audience to the Australian economy, some recent research in CSR, and the various research interests of WSU faculty.

Dr Spong’s talk mainly focused on two topics, namely “The Australian Macroeconomy in 2019” and “CSR Performance and Market Valuation in Australia”. Explaining Australia’s current economic condition, he said, “Australian economy has experienced a good run; nearly 30 years without any technical recession. However, it experienced a minor contraction during the introduction of GST in 2001 and GFC in 2008. The trend growth in Australia is identified as being about 3 per cent (2.5% - 3.5%). In general, the growth is solid, although it slowed down to “below trend” recently.”

“Australian economy has always had a significant mining or farming component and it was built on a large scale commodity production. The last 20 years of mining for iron ore and coal have been the key commodities. The most recent few years, however, have seen a shift in the mining industry. Although it was producing, the industry was no longer growing. Hence, there was a decrease in mining investment. This caused a drawback to the Australian economy. So, now the government is looking into the non-mining sector to boost the economy.”

Voicing out his concern, he said, “It is important that the non-mining sector of the economy begins to generate more investment. This has been slow to happen, although it is growing at just below trend. If this does not happen, unemployment is likely to increase. While unemployment has not increased dramatically yet, there are signs that labour demand is “soft”.” He concluded that the economy is steady, but policymakers have to be aware that non-mining investment needs to be increased before higher growth occurs.

In addition to the Australian economy, he also spoke about market evaluation and the unemployment rate in Australia. This was followed by an analysis of recent research in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility in Australia, and its relationship to financial performance.

According to Dr Spong, the Western Sydney University (WSU) Campus is situated at Greater Western Sydney, a large metropolitan area where all main economic activities are centered. He mentioned that WSU is one of Australia’s fastest-growing universities with more than 48,500 students, 6,700 international students and 170 nationalities.

Dr Heath Spong has previously held positions at RMIT University (Economics Lecturer) and the University of Iowa (Visiting Assistant Professor) and has been a Research Fellow at New York University. He has taught a large range of subjects, including Law and Economics, Public Policy and Economics, and Ethics and Economics. His research has been published in highly ranked international and domestic journals, such as Urban Studies, The Economic Record, and the Journal of Business Ethics.