On 28 January 2025, the Australian Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB) approved ASSA 5000 General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements, which is the Australian equivalent of international standard ISSA 5000.
ASSA 5000 applies to sustainability assurance engagements on sustainability information reported for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2025.
The AUASB also approved ASSA 5010 which outlines the extent to which information in sustainability reports prepared under the Corporations Act 2001 for financial years commencing 1 January 2025 must be assured. For further details of the phasing of assurance requirements please refer to our article here.
Key concepts of the standard
- Overarching standard: ASSA 5000 will act as a stand-alone sustainability assurance standard that includes requirements and application material for all aspects of a sustainability assurance engagement.
Relationship with existing standards: ASAE 3000 (Revised) continues to apply to all other assurance engagements (i.e. on non-sustainability related subject matters). ASAE 3410 will be phased out by 2026 (refer below for details).
Framework neutral: ASSA 5000 is reporting framework neutral and can be used for assurance engagements on sustainability information prepared using suitable framework criteria, entity-developed criteria, or both.
Applies to all sustainability matters and topics: ASSA 5000 can be applied to all sustainability topics (e.g. environmental, social) and aspects of such topics (e.g. risks and opportunities, governance).
Limited and reasonable assurance: ASSA 5000 addresses both limited and reasonable assurance engagements with requirements and application material clearly differentiated between the two.
- Group engagements: ASSA 5000 applies to both single entity and group sustainability assurance engagements, with various definitions and requirements within the standard addressing group specific considerations.
Australia specific considerations
- Internal Audit: ASSA 5000 prohibits the use of direct assistance from internal auditors in sustainability assurance engagements. This is consistent with an equivalent prohibition of direct assistance from internal auditors on audits of financial reports under the Australian Auditing Standards.
- ASAE 3410 Assurance Engagements on Greenhouse Gas Statements will continue to apply until reporting periods commencing 15 December 2026 for separate emissions reporting where required under Australia's National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007.
Want to know more?
A comprehensive overview of ISSA 5000 and an explanation of substantial changes to the final standard compared to the Exposure Draft can be accessed on PwC Viewpoint.
Contact us
Caroline Mara
Partner, Assurance, Sustainability Reporting and Assurance Leader, PwC Australia
