How to Prepare for ASRS: A Practical Guide for Australian Businesses

Understand Your Obligations

Start by confirming whether and when your company is required to report under ASRS. Review the thresholds based on revenue, assets, and number of employees to see where you fit. Even if your company is not yet required to report, aligning early can enhance credibility, demonstrate leadership, and build trust with stakeholders.

Start with Materiality

Begin with a materiality assessment to identify the sustainability issues most relevant to your business and stakeholders. ASRS recommends a double materiality lens, meaning you consider both the financial impact of sustainability risks on your company and the impact of your business on people and the environment. Stakeholder engagement is key to validating your focus areas and ensuring your disclosures are relevant and well-grounded.

Collect the Right Data

Once you have defined your material topics, take stock of your existing data and identify where new metrics or information are needed. You’ll likely need to report on Scope 1, Scope 2, and for many, Scope 3 emissions. Alongside emissions, ASRS also calls for disclosures about governance, strategy, risk, and metrics related to climate resilience.

Establish clear data ownership within your teams, define processes for data validation, and ensure data is updated consistently across reporting periods.

Strengthen Governance and Controls

Ensure that ESG is embedded in governance structures. Boards and executive teams need to be aware of their roles in overseeing climate-related disclosures. Integrating ESG into enterprise risk management frameworks and building internal controls for sustainability data are essential for compliance and assurance readiness.

Build Internal Capability

It’s important to equip your teams with the knowledge and skills needed to understand ASRS and related standards such as IFRS S1 and S2. Training across sustainability, finance, risk, and compliance functions helps ensure your organisation can respond to reporting needs accurately and cohesively.

Use the Right Tools

Invest in technology that supports structured and efficient ESG reporting. Speeki offers a unified platform that helps businesses manage their non-financial topics, conduct assessments, align with ASRS and other global frameworks, and generate reports that meet the needs of multiple stakeholders. Its AI-powered tools enhance data accuracy, reduce manual work, and help you stay audit-ready.

Plan for Assurance

While some entities may not require external assurance right away, preparing early will put your company in a stronger position when that requirement comes into effect. Limited assurance services like those provided by Speeki Guardian offer an independent review of your reports and help build trust with regulators, investors, and the broader market.

Get in Touch

If you're preparing for ASRS or simply want to elevate your ESG strategy, Speeki can help. Our experts, tools, and platform are built to support every step of your reporting journey from materiality to audit-readiness. Contact us to see how we can support your organisation.