Sustainability Assurance - Education materials

Updated: January 2026

See Sustainability Assurance Homepage for background and copyright information.

Materials available and under development

The education and related materials listed below are designed to assist auditors in building capability on the basics of assurance over information in sustainability reports under the Act and ASSA 5000. Hyperlinks are provided to available materials and will be added for other materials as they are developed and made available.

General

1.1 ISSA 5000 Implementation Guide (issued 27/1/25 and amended 7/7/25)

1.2 AUASB Sustainability Assurance Key Messages

1.3 ASSA 5000 versus ASAE 3000

1.4 AUASB Sustainability Assurance FAQs

1.5 AUASB and IAASB illustrative sustainability assurance reports

1.6 AUASB ASQM 1 Quality Management for Firms that Perform Audits or Reviews of Financial Reports and Other Financial Information, or Other Assurance or Related Services Engagements

1.7 IAASB ISSA 5000 in Focus Webinar Series:

1.8 IAASB ISSA 5000 Basis for Conclusions

1.9 IAASB Sustainability Assurance FAQs

1.10 IAASB Sustainability Assurance FAQ Video Series

1.11 ASIC FAQs: Review or audit of sustainability reports

1.12 APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including Independence Standards) (compiled as at July 2025)

1.13 Joint IAASB/IESBA FAQs on Sustainability Assurance and Ethics

References for topic areas in ASSA 5000, etc

No.	Topic	ASSA 5000 requirement paragraphs	ASSA 5000 application material paragraphs	IAASB Implementation Guide paragraphs (see 1.1 above)	AUASB FAQs (see 1.4 above)	Other references
ASSA 5000, etc
2.1	Acceptance and continuance	26-29	A58-A67	138-210	FAQ 1	ASIC FAQs (see 1.11 above) Illustrative engagement letters are under development
2.2	Preconditions for engagements	75-84	A184-A218, A331, A338-A342	171-210
2.3	Terms of the engagement	85-88	A219-A224			Illustrative engagement letters are under development
2.4	Firm-level quality management	30	A8-A11, A68-A74	60-69		ASQM 1 (see 1.6 above)
2.5	Engagement-level quality management	31-63	A75-A161	70-74
2.6	Relevant ethical requirements	Aus 18.3, 26(a), 33(b), 34-37, 50(a), 74(a), 186(a), 190(d)(iv)-(v)	A5-A7, A58-A64, A84-A86, A163-A165	91-98	FAQ 1 – lines 11 to 13 of table	APES 110 (see 1.12 above) IAASB/IESBA FAQs (see 1.13 above)
2.7	Competency and capability	41-45, 50(b), 56(a)	A96-A110	75-79	FAQ 6 FAQ 1 – lines 5 and 9 of table	AUASB Key Messages – Capacity and capability building (see 1.2 above) APES 110 (see 1.12 above)
2.8	Planning; understanding the entity, its environment and controls	95-102	A277-A312	274-286, 367-430
2.9	Materiality and evaluating misstatements	153-161	A470-A498	287-320, 482-490	FAQ 2 FAQ 3
2.10	Risk identification and assessment	103L-125	A313-A419	321-325, 431-447
2.11	Responding to risks of material misstatement	126l-152	A420-A469R	448-477
2.12	Evidence	89-94	A225-A276	99-112
2.13	Limited vs reasonable assurance	Throughout, including - 9, 16-17,18 (definition of ‘assurance engagement’), 18 (definition of ‘risk assessment procedures’), 22, 80(a), 103L-151R, 190(c)(vi),190(i)	Throughout, including – A232, A314-A316, A357L-A467L, A542, A561-A565L	41-52		AUASB Key Messages – Limited assurance ‘myths” for preparers and auditors (see 1.2 above)
2.14	Suitable criteria and description of applicable criteria	162	A499-A501	328-359
2.15	Group engagements, value chains			211-238
2.16	Using the work of others (other auditors, internal and external experts)	50-58	A123-A154		FAQ 1 – lines 6 and 9 of table FAQ 7
2.17	Internal audit	18 (defines ‘Internal audit function’), Aus 18.2 (defines ‘engagement team’), Aus 42.2, 59	Aus A29.1, A152-A154
2.18	Professional scepticism and professional judgement	18 (definitions), 38-40, 190(h)(iii)		53-59
2.19	Fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations	64-67	A162-A165	126-133, Appendix 2	FAQ 1 – line 14 of table
2.20	Subsequent events	163-164	A502-A505
2.21	Written representations from management and TCWG	165-170	A506-A507			Illustrative management representation letters are under development
2.22	Other information	171-177	A508-A518	517-519	FAQ 1 – lines 7 and 8 of table
2.23	Supervision and review	46-49	A111-A122
2.24	Documentation	69-74	A171-A183	134-137, Appendix 1
2.25	Communication with those charged with governance (TCWG)	68	A166-A170		FAQ 1 – line 4 of table
2.26	Concluding	178-187	A519-A536	478-493
2.27	Reporting	188-212	A537-A602	494-516		Illustrative Assurance Reports (see 1.5 above): · Corporations Act · ASSA 5000 Appendix 3 · IAASB Supplement
Other Australian specific matters
2.28	Assurance phasing					ASSA 5010
2.29	Governance (AASB S2)				FAQ 4
2.30	Strategy (AASB S2)				FAQ 4
2.31	Scope 1 and 2 emissions (AASB S2) and NGERs				FAQ 5
2.32	Metrics and targets (AASB S2)				FAQ 4
2.33	Disclosure of auditor’s fees				FAQ 1 - line 17 of table
2.34	Questions at AGMs				FAQ 1 - line 15 of table

Webpages covering 3.1 to 3.9 below are currently under development.

Assurance over mandatory climate disclosures

3.1 Strategy – risks and opportunities

3.2 Climate resilience assessments / Scenario analysis

3.3 Transition plans

3.4 Risk management

3.5 Scope 1 and 2 emissions

3.6 Scope 3 emissions-financed emissions

3.7 Scope 3 emissions-other

3.8 Climate-related metrics and targets

3.9 Year 1 assurance