ASIC releases draft guide on sustainability reporting
The corporate regulator has released draft regulatory guidance to help entities prepare for the new reporting regime.
ASIC has called for feedback and consultation from stakeholders on its new draft regulatory guide on the sustainability reporting regime.
The draft regulatory guide 000 sustainability reporting (Draft RG 000) includes guidance on who must prepare a sustainability report, how the regime will interact with existing legal obligations and how the regulator will administer reporting requirements.
The regulator also included specific details about how it would approach granting relief from the regime and how it would use its new directions of power.
In addition, Draft RG 000 addressed specific issues concerning the contents of the report and sustainability-related financial disclosures outside the sustainability report.
ASIC said Draft RG 000 had been opened to feedback based on the upcoming requirement for large Australian businesses to prepare annual statutory sustainability reports containing climate-related financial disclosures from 1 January 2025.
ASIC commissioner Kate O’Rourke said ASIC’s focus was to assist large Australian businesses to comply with the upcoming requirements.
“Our focus for this regulatory guide is to assist preparers of sustainability reports to comply with their obligations so that users are provided with high-quality, decision-useful, climate-related financial disclosures that comply with the law and the sustainability standards,” O’Rourke said.
“We want industry to engage with our draft guidance and what we are proposing. Their feedback will help us to ensure that we can effectively support the implementation of the sustainability reporting regime.”
The regulator’s consultation paper, 380 sustainability reporting (CP 380), sought stakeholder feedback on the draft guide to highlight whether any ASIC legislative instrument that granted relief for financial reporting or audit requirements should have been extended to sustainability reporting.
ASIC wanted clarity on any other areas where it should support the introduction of the sustainability regime.
ASIC requested feedback on CP 380 to be submitted by 19 December 2024 and urged all reporting entities to prepare for the new climate disclosure regime.
O’Rourke said ASIC would take a proportionate and pragmatic approach to supervision and enforcement during the transition period.
“We recognise that there will be a period of transition whilst entities build their capability, as reflected in the phasing in of requirements and modified liability provisions.”
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