Australia’s New Climate Reporting Rules (ASRS) — What Actually Changed and Why It Matters

In September 2024, Australia quietly locked in one of the biggest changes to corporate reporting in decades.

The Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards (ASRS) were finalised and published by the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB). You’ll also see them referred to as AASB S2 – Climate-related Financial Disclosures.

This isn’t a guideline.
It isn’t ESG marketing.
It’s now part of Australia’s financial reporting framework.

What is the ASRS?

The ASRS is the practical rulebook that sits underneath Australia’s climate-related financial disclosure legislation, which became law on 9 September 2024.

The legislation says who must report.
The ASRS explains what must be reported, how it must be done, and when it starts.

From here on, climate information sits alongside revenue, assets, and liabilities in an organisation’s general purpose financial report.

Who is affected?

The requirements are being phased in, starting with Australia’s largest organisations and major emitters, then flowing down to mid-sized organisations over the next two years.

Even if your organisation doesn’t report in the first wave, you will feel this early if you:

• Supply to large companies
• Work in mining, energy, infrastructure, or construction
• Are part of a complex contractor or supplier network

Large companies will need your data to meet their own obligations.

What actually has to be reported?

ASRS reporting falls into two very different types of work.

1. Climate risk, governance and strategy (the “big picture”)

This is about how climate risk affects the business itself. It includes:

• Climate-related risks and opportunities
• Impacts on strategy, operations, and financial planning
• Board and executive oversight
• How climate risk is identified and managed

This is not an environmental science exercise.
For ASRS purposes, it is primarily a finance, executive, and general management responsibility, backed by evidence and data.

2. Greenhouse gas emissions reporting (the complex part)

This is where the heavy lifting happens.

Organisations must report:

• Scope 1 – direct emissions they control
• Scope 2 – purchased electricity and energy
• Scope 3 – emissions across the entire value chain

Scope 3 is the major shift.

It means organisations must now measure or estimate emissions from suppliers, contractors, transport providers, and sometimes customers.

For many organisations, this will be the first time they have had to:

• Ask suppliers for emissions data
• Estimate emissions where no data exists
• Build defensible, auditable calculation methods

This is new.
It is complex.
And most organisations are not ready.

The practical reality

• This is mandatory, not optional
• It is financial reporting, not ESG storytelling
• Directors and executives are accountable
• Supply chains will be pulled in early

Organisations that treat ASRS as a “later problem” will find themselves scrambling when customers, auditors, or regulators ask for data they don’t have.

The organisations that do well

The organisations that will cope best are the ones that:

• Start early
• Centralise their data
• Use consistent methodologies
• Treat climate reporting as an operational system, not a one-off report

Those that don’t will be stuck in spreadsheets, emails, and last-minute estimates.