Australian Government
Auditing and Assurance Standards Board
Monday, September 26, 2022
The AUASB welcomes the recent announcement from the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) of its support and encouragement for the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board’s (IAASB) work on developing standards relating to assurance of sustainability-related information. IOSCO’s statement endorses the need for a globally consistent approach to this issue being led by the IAASB, which then the AUASB are likely to review and adopt (subject to any local conforming amendments) as is the case with other IAASB standards.
At its recent September 2022 meeting the IAASB approved a proposal to develop an overarching standard for assurance engagements on sustainability, which will provide a baseline for all professional assurance providers providing assurance on any sustainability information being reported, with an IAASB exposure draft planned for the second half of 2023. However, acknowledging that many assurance practitioners are already using existing AUASB standards to perform a wide array of sustainability assurance work in Australia, the AUASB are engaging with various stakeholders, including assurance providers and other local standard setting bodies and regulators, to review what additional guidance can be developed to support audit and assurance practitioners immediately whilst the IAASB develops any new or revised assurance standards specifically for sustainability.
More detail about the AUASB’s activities on Sustainability Assurance can be found on the AUASB Website here. The AUASB welcomes any feedback or comments on this issue via our email address [email protected]