Global Regulation Tomorrow

On 8 August 2025, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) published issue 1 of its reporting and audit update.

The update is a new quarterly newsletter from ASIC intended for report preparers, auditors, professional advisers, investors and consumers, and other finance professionals interested in keeping up to date with the regulatory developments affecting reporting and audit.

Issue one contains the following key takeaways:

• Voluntary climate-related disclosures reviewed. With the first round of mandatory sustainability reports due to be lodged with ASIC from March 2026, ASIC has reviewed a small sample of publicly available, voluntary climate-related disclosures. Among other things ASIC’s review of voluntary disclosures, which were generally prepared under the recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, not AASB S2 – found that disclosures were often repetitive, with key information about the management of climate-related risks sometimes obscured and scenario analysis disclosures lacked detail about the underlying assumptions and dependencies relied on in the disclosures.

• Register of sustainability reporting relief decisions. ASIC’s new register contains the decisions made under ASIC’s exemption powers in the Corporations Act that relate to sustainability reporting and auditing matters.

• Education materials to support sustainability reports. ASIC and the Australian Accounting Standards Board have partnered with the University of Technology Sydney and a Sydney-based educational design agency Studio 3 Learning to develop new educational materials. These materials will be aimed at Group 3 reporting entities that are required to prepare sustainability reports for the financial year commencing on or after 1 July 2027. It will also be of value to small and medium entities in the value chain of larger businesses and anyone who is new to sustainability reporting.

• ASIC intervenes in misleading sustainability-related claims and conduct. During 2024-2025, as a result of ASIC’s interventions, 15 companies and 4 superannuation trustees removed, retracted or revised statements about their sustainability claims and credentials across a range of disclosures, including prospectuses, websites, promotional materials and market announcements.

• Financial reporting and auditor surveillance update. ASIC is now finalising its financial reporting and auditor surveillance work for 2024–25 and will publish its findings and best practice recommendations, during September and October. The three reports will cover auditor independence and conflicts of interest findings, RSE financial reporting and audit findings, and financial reporting and auditor surveillance findings. ASIC’s focus includes the measurement and disclosure of investment portfolios and disclosure of marketing and advertising expenses.

• Newsroom highlights. Commissioner Kate O’Rourke recently gave the keynote address at the Responsible Investment Association Australasia Conference, May 2025: Addressing financial system climate risk: A view from the regulator.