Accountability for environmental performance of the Australian Commonwealth public sector.

In this article, exploratory approach to the development of an environmental accountability framework for application in the Australian Commonwealth public sector three interrelated strands of literature are examined. First, the notion of accountability is considered and the key institutional "stakeholders" in the Commonwealth public sector are identified; second, literature related to recent transformations in the public sector is synthesized; and third, the burgeoning literature on environmental accounting and reporting is reviewed and linked to the concept of environmental accountability. In the process of developing the characteristics of an environmental accountability system for the Commonwealth public sector, the article draws on this literature and explores the interrelationships between three characteristics of environmental performance at the federal level in the Australian public sector. The aim of the "environmental performance accountability framework" is for the various stakeholders to understand the actions of Commonwealth public sector organizations, and consequences of those actions, for ecological systems; to become familiar with the trends and changes in trends in public sector environmental performance; and to place stakeholders in a position to promote change when performance is not acceptable.