FRC Communique – 26 March 2026

Communique
Communique
26th March 2026

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) met on 26 March 2026. The key matters considered and decided are outlined below:

Environmental Scan

  • Members made reflections on climate-related financial disclosure and noted that the first group of disclosers included inbound subsidiaries, with a few with US headquarters.
  • Some reporters observed differences in Australian reporting compared to international standards and believed Australian standards were more prescriptive.
  • Members also noted that the boundaries of what constitutes a legal entity for the purposes of climate-related financial disclosure is not straightforward and that separately, reconciliation needs to occur between voluntary and mandatory reporting.

AASB

International engagement

  • Australia has been the co-chair of IFASS since last year and the AASB is hosting the next international meeting in Melbourne.
  • The AASB has led engagement with Pacific jurisdictions on accounting issues, including the use of IFRS-aligned standards.

Sustainability

  • AASB have been hosting workshops around the country to help companies prepare for sustainability reporting requirements.
  • IFRS announced that the AASB was accepted as a member of SSAF.

Consultation

  • The AASB 2027‒2031 Agenda Consultation finished in late March.

AUASB

  • The majority of current work concerns sustainability assurance implementation.
  • The AUASB are considering how to influence international standards setting and have found that collaboration with other jurisdictional standard setters has improved greatly.

XRB

  • The XRB provided updates on key priorities. The NZ Sustainability Board is developing a climate reporting roadmap. As NZ’s standards are temporary, eventual transition is needed.  However, some stakeholders are opposed to transitioning prior to the post-implementation review of climate reporting in a few years’ time.
  • The NZ Accounting Standards Board is reviewing standards to assess if splits and tiers are appropriate.

Auditor Review Working Group report

  • The merger of financial reporting bodies and the removal of FRC’s audit quality function may affect future work of the Auditor Review Working Group, where issues cross many portfolios.
  • The Chair noted that formal activities of the working group are to be placed on hold.

The next FRC meeting is scheduled to be held in Sydney on 5 June 2026.