Australia Proposes Measures to Reduce Climate Reporting Burden on Companies

• 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢’𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦-𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝟤𝟢𝟥𝟧, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝟣 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝟤 𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦-𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘔𝘌𝘴, 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝟥 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. • 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢’𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.

The Australian Treasury has opened a consultation on proposed measures designed to make climate-related financial reporting more efficient and reduce compliance costs for reporting companies and businesses across their value chains.

The proposals come as Australia continues to roll out its mandatory climate-related reporting regime. The framework began applying to the largest companies in 2025, with reporting requirements expanding to medium-sized entities in 2026. The government has also proposed changes to thresholds that could exclude some smaller companies from mandatory reporting.

A key area of the consultation is the assurance of climate-related disclosures. Australia currently plans to transition from limited assurance to more rigorous reasonable assurance from the middle of 2030. The government is seeking views on whether this transition should be retained, delayed until 2035, or applied selectively to more mature metrics such as Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions while less mature areas, including Scope 3, remain subject to limited assurance.

The consultation also focuses on Scope 3 emissions reporting and the information companies may request from suppliers and other value-chain businesses. Proposed guidance could establish clearer boundaries around what constitutes a reasonable information request, helping businesses-particularly SMEs-better understand the data they may be expected to provide.

The government is also considering increasing access to publicly available domestic emissions factors. More reliable secondary data could reduce the need for detailed emissions information from smaller suppliers and make value-chain reporting more practical.

Additional proposals seek to clarify how companies should apply flexibility mechanisms within the reporting standards, including requirements relating to information available “without undue cost or effort” and assessments of whether climate-related risks or opportunities are material. Further workshops and educational resources are also being considered to help businesses understand these provisions.

The consultation is open for feedback until 2 October 2026.

For businesses, the proposed reforms highlight the importance of building practical and proportionate approaches to climate data collection and reporting. Clearer expectations around supplier information, emissions factors and assurance could help organisations strengthen reporting processes while improving consistency across their value chains.

Cognitud supports organisations in strengthening ESG and sustainability strategies, developing practical reporting frameworks and improving the way sustainability data is measured and communicated. By helping businesses build structured approaches to ESG data and disclosure requirements, Cognitud enables organisations to respond effectively as sustainability reporting expectations continue to evolve.