Glossary term
Cluster A · A22
Tier 2
ISSA 5000
Definition
ISSA 5000 General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements is the international standard issued by the IAASB for assurance over sustainability information. It applies to both limited and reasonable assurance and to any sustainability topic. Australia adopted it as ASSA 5000, which is the standard actually applied to a Corporations Act sustainability report.
IAASB
· ISSA 5000, adopted in Australia as ASSA 5000, issued 28 January 2025 and amended to July 2025 · applying to reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2025
On this page
In practice
ISSA 5000 is the first global standard written specifically for sustainability assurance rather than adapted from financial audit standards. It is profession-agnostic, meaning non-accountant practitioners can apply it, though in Australia the requirement for a registered company auditor narrows that considerably for statutory reports.
For a captured entity the name to know is ASSA 5000, not ISSA 5000. ISSA 5000 matters when comparing an Australian engagement to one in another jurisdiction, which is a live question for entities with an overseas parent applying a different regime.
What the assurer does with it
ASSA 5000 sets what the assurer must do: understand the entity and its process, identify where misstatement is likely, obtain evidence, evaluate misstatements, and consider whether other information including the financial report is materially inconsistent with the sustainability report. That last requirement is the one entities feel, because it pulls the financial statements into the climate engagement.
Commonly confused with
ASSA 5010, which is a separate and much shorter standard that only sets the phasing timetable.
Sources
1
ASSA 5000 General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements
AUASB
2
Review status
Review required
Last reviewed
15 September 2026
Editorial pass, unsigned
Reviewer required
Registered company auditor
Next scheduled review
1 July 2027
Part of
Cluster A, Assurance, audit evidence and working papers
47 terms on what an assurance provider tests, what they accept as evidence, and what a preparer has to be able to produce.
Related terms
The standard that governed emissions assurance before this regime
The general assurance standard it displaced for sustainability
The level most Australian engagements start at under it
Related questions
What does an assurance provider actually test in year one?
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In year one they test the disclosures inside the ASSA 5010 first-year scope: Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, governance disclosures, and specified strategy paragraphs on climate risks and opportunities. The work runs in a predictable order, from understanding your reporting process and your boundary, through sampling source documents and reperforming calculations, to written representations at the end.
Other terms in this cluster
ISSA 5000