Glossary›Regulation, capture and thresholds / Regulation, capture and timing›ASRS (Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards)
Glossary term
Cluster B · B8
Tier 2
ASRS (Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards)
Definition
The Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards are the standards issued by the AASB that a Corporations Act sustainability report must comply with. The family comprises AASB S2 Climate-related Disclosures, which is mandatory, and AASB S1 General Requirements, which is voluntary in Australia. ASRS is the umbrella name, not a standard in itself.
· ASRS family · in force for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2025
On this page
In practice
“ASRS” is used loosely in the market to mean the whole regime, including the Corporations Act obligations. Precisely, it means the AASB’s standards. The obligation to prepare a report comes from the Corporations Act; the content of the report comes from ASRS.
For a captured entity the practical translation is short. You must comply with AASB S2. You may voluntarily apply AASB S1. Nothing else in the family is mandatory.
What the assurer does with it
The assurer’s criteria are the AASB standards, so they need the basis of preparation to name the standard and the version applied, including whether AASB S1 has been voluntarily applied and whether any Appendix C first-year relief has been taken. They reject a basis of preparation that cites “the ASRS” or “AASB standards” generically, because a generic citation does not identify the criteria against which the conclusion would be expressed.
Commonly confused with
ASSA, the Australian Standards on Sustainability Assurance issued by the AUASB. Similar acronym, different board, different job: ASRS says what to disclose, ASSA says how it is assured.
Sources
1
2
3
ASSA 5000 General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements
AUASB
Review status
Review required
Last reviewed
15 September 2026
Editorial pass, unsigned
Reviewer required
Corporate lawyer or registered company auditor
Next scheduled review
1 July 2027
Part of
Cluster B, Regulation, capture and thresholds / Regulation, capture and timing
26 terms on who has to report, when their first report is due, and what the regime is built on.
Related terms
The board that issues the standards in this family
When the mandatory member of the family applies, and to whom
The board behind the similarly named assurance standards
Related questions
Do we have to do mandatory climate reporting?
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You must prepare a sustainability report if you already lodge a financial report under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act and you also meet one of the size, NGER or funds-under-management tests in section 292A. Both gates have to be passed: with no Chapter 2M obligation, section 292A never engages however large you are. Which of the three reporting groups you fall into decides which financial year is your first.
Do we need comparatives in our first report?
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No. AASB S2 relieves first-time reporters from disclosing comparative information in their first annual reporting period, and comparatives are required from year two. That means your year-one numbers and working papers will be looked at again, so build the year-one file as if it will be re-examined.
Other terms in this cluster
ASRS (Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards)