Business reporting requirements

I, the Hon Jim Chalmers MP, Treasurer, pursuant to Parts 2 and 3 of the Productivity Commission Act 1998, hereby request that the Productivity Commission (“the Commission") undertake an inquiry into opportunities to improve the efficiency and value of non-financial business reporting requirements in Australia.

Background

As part of its productivity agenda, the Government is taking significant steps to reduce unnecessary regulatory costs for businesses in Australia, including through commissioning deep dives into areas where there may be scope to improve the efficiency of existing regulation and reporting requirements. Non-financial business reporting has been identified as an area for review.

Business reporting provides a strong foundation for a competitive economy, providing transparency around performance, risks and opportunities. Non-financial reporting is designed to make information about the operations of businesses available to stakeholders including on matters such as environmental, social and governance performance. Providing visibility of these non-financial matters enables investment to be directed towards businesses that align with the interests of stakeholders and are managing risks holistically. 

Non-financial reporting requirements have been established through a range of Commonwealth laws and regulatory instruments, including corporations and taxation legislation, workplace laws, reporting standards, and environmental legislation. These are administered by multiple regulators including the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, the Attorney-General’s Department, and others.

Australia’s reporting requirements have generally been designed to align with international best practice. As requirements have evolved over time and have generally been designed independently, this inquiry will allow an opportunity to assess the cumulative cost of reporting obligations on Australian businesses overall.

This review complements the Council of Financial Regulators (CFR), who are working together with other financial sector regulators (CFR Plus) to deliver better regulation of the financial sector through its Better Regulation Roadmap. This inquiry will therefore not consider financial reporting or continuous disclosure obligations under the Corporations Act 2001. It also complements consultation in train regarding reforms to modern slavery requirements, so will not make recommendations that are specific to the Modern Slavery Act 2018.

Scope of the inquiry

This inquiry tasks the Commission to analyse non-financial business reporting requirements to identify significant regulatory pain points and instances where the objectives of this reporting could be achieved more efficiently. 

The purpose of this deep dive is to provide insights about how each set of reporting requirements unfold in practice, including interaction between different reporting requirements.  The Commission should also consider the timing of reporting requirements including for regular reporting and reporting that is irregular or event- based.

The Commission should consider where there is scope for efficiencies in collection or reporting of data, such as a ‘tell us once’ approach. The Commission should also consider the effect of any potential increase in cost that might arise from changing established reporting arrangements.

In undertaking this analysis, the Commission should consider the balance between reducing regulatory cost of non-financial reporting obligations on different industries and firm sizes.

The Commission should consider the value of the data collected through reporting, including consideration of:

• the frequency of reporting and interaction with financial reporting requirements
• differences in data definitions and opportunities to create consistency
• thresholds for reporting requirements
• state and territory reporting requirements
• legal obligations 
• international best practices.

The Commission should consider the value of the data reported to different stakeholders, including workers, directors, investors and broader stakeholder groups and uses such as insolvency practitioners and government schemes.

The findings from this inquiry will inform further work to improve the utility of non-financial reporting and streamline reporting requirements where possible. 

Process

The Commission should undertake wide consultation, including inviting public submissions, consulting with relevant community stakeholders and Commonwealth regulators, and engaging with state and territory governments as required.

The Commission should also have regard to other regulatory reform work in this space to avoid the duplication of efforts, including in particular recent or concurrent reviews of regulatory regimes, international standards and developments, and recent and proposed Government reforms and modernisation initiatives. The Commission should also have regard to any upcoming legislative reviews to avoid duplication or pre-empting established review processes and creating unnecessary uncertainty for stakeholders.

The Commission should provide a final report to government within 6 months of the receipt of this Terms of Reference.

The Hon Jim Chalmers MP
Treasurer

[Received 24 August 2026]