Memo · Climate, ESG & Sustainability Reporting
Mandatory climate reporting readiness memo (Group 1, 2 or 3 entity)
Advice memo telling a client whether, from when and how it must prepare a sustainability report under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act and AASB S2, with its reporting group, first reporting year, assurance phasing, liability settings and a readiness plan.
- Kind
- Memo. An internal or advice memo.
- Where it applies
- Australia
- AI use
- Red Keep AI out of the decisive steps. A lawyer does the work.
- Law stated as at
- 17 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked against the cited sources on 17 October 2026.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use for a company, registered scheme, superannuation entity or retail CCIV that prepares Chapter 2M financial reports and may meet a sustainability reporting threshold. Do not use for voluntary reporters without adapting sections 3 and 6, or for overseas regimes.
How AI may be used
Whether an entity must report, and from when, is a lawyer-led decision. AI may assemble the fact sheet (revenue, assets, employees, NGER status, year end, group structure) for the lawyer to verify and apply.
AI may
- Extract revenue, gross assets, employee numbers, year end and controlled entities from the audited accounts and registers into a fact sheet with sources.
- Map the client's existing governance, risk and emissions documents against AASB S2 headings the lawyer supplies, marking gaps.
- Draft the readiness plan timetable from dates the lawyer has confirmed.
AI must not
- Must not decide the client's reporting group, first reporting year or whether s 296B relief is available.
- Must not state which disclosures are protected statements or how the modified liability settings apply.
- Must not estimate emissions or financial effects of climate risk.
The lawyer checks
- Thresholds applied on a consolidated basis at the end of the financial year, including the effect of acquisitions or restructures during the year.
- Whether the client is an NGER registered corporation or required to apply to register.
- The first reporting year, the lodgement deadline and the assurance level for that year.
- Any announced changes (Budget thresholds, Treasury assurance consultation) checked for enactment at the date of advice.
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Official form
Open the official form. Always use the current version from the issuer.
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
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