Business reporting requirements

The Treasurer has commissioned the Productivity Commission to conduct an inquiry into opportunities to improve the efficiency and value of non-financial business reporting requirements in Australia. Your participation in this survey will assist the Commission’s inquiry.

Regulators have been identified for participation based on the Australian Government regulator stocktake, available at: Australian Government regulator stocktake | Department of Finance.

The survey is housed within a Microsoft Excel workbook, available for download. Completed surveys and associated documents (requested as part of the survey) can be uploaded via the portal below.

Please complete one survey per regulator covering all in-scope non-financial business reporting requirements. If the regulator on whose behalf you are responding did not administer any in-scope non-financial business reporting requirements as at 1 July 2026, please submit this form indicating this. Responses are required by Friday 13 November 2026.

‘In-scope non-financial business reporting requirements’ are requirements for businesses to provide or submit information to an Australian Government regulator, where the reporting:

• is principally non-financial in purpose and content; that is, it is not principally concerned with financial position, financial performance, taxation, solvency, prudential condition or financial reconciliation; and
• does not apply exclusively to government entities.

A reporting requirement may still be considered principally non-financial where it includes some financial or monetary information, provided that this is not the principal subject or purpose of the reporting requirement.

Examples of in-scope reporting requirements include regular or recurring reporting to an Australian Government regulator about environmental matters, workplace or public safety, governance, social matters, workforce matters, payment practices, or market and competition matters.

The following are not in scope:

• record-keeping obligations where the information is not ordinarily required to be submitted to an Australian Government regulator;
• obligations only to publish or disclose information to the public, customers, employees or other third parties, where that information is not also submitted to an Australian Government regulator; and
• financial statements and other reporting principally concerned with financial position, financial performance, taxation, solvency, prudential condition or financial reconciliation.

For the purposes of this survey, ‘businesses’ means entities that hold, or would ordinarily be eligible to hold, an Australian Business Number (ABN).

One of the survey questions asks for a list of Australian Business Numbers of entities required to report. The PC will not publish any information derived from responses to this question that identifies individual businesses unless that information is wholly publicly available.

If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact:
Lawson Ashburner
Inquiry/Research Manager (acting)
Productivity Commission
lawson.ashburner@pc.gov.au
02 6240 3263