Australia’s new mandatory climate disclosure regime (via AASB S2) places huge new demands on preparers and auditors. Two of the key accounting and finance bodies—CPA Australia and Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (CA ANZ)—are already mobilising guidance, training, and member support. But there are meaningful gaps, and a big discrepancy between what’s needed and current capability.
Professional bodies’ guidance: common ground & differences
What they agree on / common themes
- Need for early preparation: Both bodies emphasise that entities should start readiness work now—data systems, climate risk assessment, governance, scenario analysis.
- Materiality and judgement: Both underscore that climate disclosures will require more than ticking boxes—they demand judgment, especially around material climate risks and opportunities. CA ANZ has published a two-part guide to materiality in disclosures. (Chartered Accountants ANZ)
- Bridging the knowledge gap: Both view the climate disclosure regime as a bridge between financial reporting and non-financial risk practice; members must develop new skills.
- Practical guidance for finance teams: The guides feature roadmaps, templates, illustrative examples to help practitioners sequence work. CA ANZ’s “Practical Roadmap” guide is explicitly about preparing for S2 in Australian context. (Chartered Accountants ANZ)
Differences & emphasis
- Depth vs breadth:
- CPA tends to produce broader primers (climate risk in financial reporting, general guidance) aimed at all accounting professionals. For example, CPA offers a “Climate change & financial reporting guide” which bridges climate risk and mainstream reporting. (CPA Australia)
- CA ANZ’s recent guides are more modular and technical (e.g. materiality, scenario analysis, transition planning). Their “Information Guides” series targets specific disclosure challenges. (Chartered Accountants ANZ)
- Training offerings:
- CA ANZ has launched a Certificate in Climate-Related Disclosures (27 CPD hours) covering risk assessment, emissions accounting, scenario analysis, and disclosures. (CA ANZ Education Store)
- I couldn’t find a similar dedicated certificate from CPA Australia specific to S2 (yet). CPA provides extensive climate/ESG resources and reports, but appears more focused on guides and readiness rather than full certification for climate disclosure. (CPA Australia)
- Focus on audit / assurance readiness:
- CA ANZ’s guidance often highlights the role of assurance, auditor judgment, and how audit practitioners should start understanding requirements now. (Chartered Accountants ANZ)
- CPA’s guidance tends to lean more toward preparing financial teams for climate risks in standard financial statements and linking to assurance, rather than detailed assurance pathways. (CPA Australia)
Skills & capacity gap: the looming challenge
- Right now in Australia, only registered greenhouse & energy auditors (about 80) plus their direct associates are authorised under schemes like NGER to do assurance on emissions reporting.
- But S2 will require many more accountants and auditors to step into climate disclosure work—and skills around emissions measurement, scenario modelling, transition planning, and forward-looking judgment will be in demand.
- The mismatch is stark: many practitioners have financial audit experience, but few have deep climate technical skills, carbon accounting, or understanding of climate science & scenario analysis.
- CA ANZ’s certificate is a positive step, but scaling that training to thousands of accountants will take time.
- The bodies will need to collaborate with universities, consultancies, and firms to build capacity.
What this means in practice (for private sector firms)
- If your company is becoming subject to S2, you should look at which professional body your auditors or advisors belong to, and whether they have climate disclosure credentials.
- You should begin training your finance, audit, risk, and sustainability teams now—and perhaps require certification or external training (e.g. CA ANZ’s certificate) as part of your recruitment or upskilling plan.
- Don’t expect that most accounting firms already know how to do full S2 assurance; your first audits may be slower, more iterative, or underqualified if not planned carefully.
- Be realistic: initial assurance might be limited in scope until practitioner capacity catches up.
Official sources & further reading
- CPA Australia “IFRS S1 & S2: a brief” (primer) (CPA Australia)
- CPA Australia: Climate risk & audit guide, and climate / ESG resources page (CPA Australia)
- CA ANZ: Information guides on climate disclosures (materiality, roadmap) (Chartered Accountants ANZ)
- CA ANZ: Certificate in Climate-Related Disclosures course (CA ANZ Education Store)
- KPMG summary of the new Australian sustainability reporting standards (S1/S2) (KPMG)
