ASIC’s administration of the sustainability reporting regime
ASIC’s role in administering the regime
As Australia’s corporate, markets and financial services regulator, ASIC will play a fundamental role in administering, and where appropriate, enforcing, the mandatory climate-related financial disclosures regime.
We are acutely cognisant of the increasing materiality of both the physical risks and transitional risks and opportunities presented by climate change and the need for reliable information to support decision making on climate change adaptation and mitigation in our capital markets.
Our approach to administering the sustainability reporting regime will be guided by the underlying policy objective of fostering high-quality, consistent and comparable climate-related financial disclosures. This will support the fair and efficient operation of our capital markets and facilitate confident and informed decision making by investors and other users of that information.
ASIC’s enforcement approach during the early years of the regime
ASIC recognises that there will be a period of transition as industry continues to build capability and implements the organisational changes that will be required to comply with these mandatory climate reporting requirements.
Accordingly, ASIC will take a pragmatic and proportionate approach to supervision and enforcement as industry adjusts to the new requirements.
During this period, we are more likely to take enforcement action where we see misconduct of a serious nature, such as where we detect misconduct causing harm to investors or other primary users of the information.
Our forward work-plan
From September 2024: ASIC will consider and decide any applications for relief received from reporting entities seeking relief from one or more of the sustainability reporting requirements. For further information, please refer to the relief from sustainability reporting requirements section of the website.
From November 2024: ASIC will consult on, and issue new or updated regulatory guidance across a suite of regulatory topics impacted by the climate-related financial disclosures regime to assist stakeholders to comply with their obligations under the first year of the proposed regime. This will include specific guidance about ASIC’s approach to relief from the new sustainability reporting obligations, and the interaction of the regime with existing legal and regulatory requirements.
From 2026: ASIC will undertake its first annual climate-related disclosures surveillance program, examining the disclosures made by reporting entities in the first year of reporting under the regime. The program will be broadly modelled on our existing annual financial reporting surveillance program.
ASIC will publicly report on the findings of this review, to drive continued improvement in reporting standards. We may use our compulsory information-gathering powers to require an entity to provide us with documents and/or information to assist in our review.
For more information, see our Information Sheet 145 ASIC’s compulsory information-gathering powers (INFO 145).
From 2026: Under the sustainability reporting regime, ASIC will have a new directions power. If we consider that a statement made by an entity in a sustainability report is incorrect, incomplete or misleading, we may direct the entity to:
- confirm that the statement is correct or complete;
- explain the statement;
- provide information or documents that substantiate or support the statement;
- correct, complete or amend the statement; and/or
- publish the corrected, completed or amended statement, or give the statement to specified persons, in accordance with the direction.