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A ‘Sustainability Playbook’ was recently published by the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) with information and practical guidance on:

• importance of sustainability and the role of accounting professionals
• strategies to build capability to help prepare for the mandatory climate-related disclosures effective 1 January 2025 for those entities reporting under the Corporations Act 2001, including learning opportunities and resources
• examples of sustainability in action.

From the standard-setters perspective, both the accounting and auditing standards boards have released new guidance material to help implement climate-related disclosures:

• the Australian Accounting Standards Board published the guidance about Disclosing information about anticipated financial effects – applying AASB S2 ‘Climate-related Disclosures’
• the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board also released guidance to provide information on sustainability reporting and assurance requirements, including links to implementation, guidance and education materials on sustainability assurance.

The NSW Department of Customer recently released AI agent usage and deployment guidance to support NSW agencies’ use agentic AI in a safe and responsible manner. In an area that is relatively new, yet moving at a rapid pace, this guidance will help agencies to ensure privacy, confidentiality and security are at the heart of the implementation and use of technology, with specific factors to consider such as:

• defining a policy position
• identifying potential use cases
• setting clear ownership and guardrails before launch
• running safe pilots and plan carefully when scaling to production
• understanding the unique risks of this emerging technology.

With the expanding use of AI across both private and public sectors, the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board has released a Technical Alert on The ethical use of artificial intelligence by professional accountants to remind professionals about their obligations to ensure the fundamental principles of integrity, professional competence and due care and confidentiality are upheld when using AI in accordance with APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including Independence Standards).

Members in professional practice and business must ensure that AI use is appropriately supervised, outputs are critically assessed and verified, and the use of AI is transparently disclosed when it contributes to professional services or reports.

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) recently released its report on the results of its financial reporting and audit surveillance program for the period 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025 for companies, registrable superannuation entities and their auditors. The report highlights:

• findings from company financial reporting and audit surveillances
• enforcement and compliance actions against registered company auditors
• outcomes relating to company financial reports
• observations on auditor reporting and on voluntary sustainability reporting to assist preparers of mandatory sustainability reports
• observations on auditor reporting to ASIC.

For the 2025–26 surveillance program, ASIC will:

• increase the number of audit files reviewed to enhance the way audit files are selected for review by including a mix of risk-based and random file selections
• review sustainability reports for the year ended 31 December 2025 and share observations with the market to assist preparers
• continue to use its full range of regulatory tools to enhance audit quality and take enforcement or compliance action where appropriate.

Local Government Code of Accounting Practice and Financial Reporting 2025/26 

The Office of Local Government (OLG) has released the final Local Government Code of Accounting Practice and Financial Reporting (the Code) for 2025/26.

The Code must be used by local councils, county councils and joint organisations to prepare their annual financial statements in accordance with the Local Government Act 1993 and the Local Government (General) Regulation 2021. 

The 2025/26 Code is available on the OLG website and includes the:

• General Purpose Financial Statements (Section 1)
• Joint Organisations Supplement (Section 2)
• Special Purpose Financial Statements (Section 3)
• Special Schedules (Section 4)
• Appendices (Section 5)
• Summary of Key Changes to the Code 2025/26 (provides an overview of the topics, options and changes the Code Working Group considered during the development of the 2025/26 Code). 

Notable changes to the Code for 2025/26 include:

• changes to emphasise that only material information should be disclosed in the financial statements. OLG has also provided two examples of a ‘decluttering’ exercise to demonstrate the removal of immaterial disclosures from council financial statements. The examples are available on the Council Portal.
• additions to the appendices to provide guidance on materiality, revenue recognition of development fees, and prior period errors.

Circular 25-23 'Local Government (General) Regulation Review'

The Office of Local Government (OLG) has issued circular 25-23 ‘Local Government (General) Regulation Review’ to advise that OLG is undertaking a statutory review of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2021 (LG Regulation).

The statutory review will occur in stages and will see the LG Regulation split into three stand-alone instruments:

• Local Government (Elections) Regulation (LG Elections Regulation), (the subject of the current review)
• Local Government (Council Governance and Operations) Regulation (LG Council Governance and Operations Regulation)
• Local Government (Approvals) Regulation (LG Approvals Regulation).

Splitting the legislation into three parts will make the regulations easier to apply and allow them to be reviewed and remade more regularly. Feedback from councils, other stakeholders and the wider community will be undertaken. The first consultation relating to the elections provisions closed 12 December 2025, with subsequent consultations occurring in 2026 as a result of subsequent provision reviews.

The Australian Accounting Standards Board published Exposure Draft ED338 in October 2025 and seeks input from stakeholders on proposals to amend the application of AASB 18 Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements (AASB 18) and AASB 107 Statement of Cash Flows for superannuation entities and not-for-profit (NFP) public sector entities who prepare tier 1 general purpose financial statements (GPFS).

ED338 proposes to provide superannuation entities and NFP public sector entities (general government sector, whole-of-government and NFP public sector entities controlled by these governments; and local government entities) with relief from applying most of the new requirements from AASB 18 when it was introduced in June 2024, such as:

• classifying income and expenses into operating, investing and financing categories in the statement of comprehensive Income
• new disclosures required for management performance measures (MPMs) communicated outside the financial statements
• requiring dividends and interest received to be classified in the investing category and interest paid in the financing category of the statement of cash flows.

While ED338 does not propose relief for for-profit public sector entities, the ED invites views:

• from universities on whether any modifications from AASB 18 or AASB 107 are necessary
• around the application of AASB 18 to the statement of cash flows of for-profit public sector entities.

The effective date of AASB 18 to for-profit public sector entities will be from 2027-28 and to NFP public sector entities from 2028-29, with retrospective application. Once effective, AASB 18 will replace AASB 101 ‘Presentation of Financial Statements.

Affected stakeholders are encouraged to provide feedback to the AASB, comments are due to the AASB by 27 February 2026.

TPG 25-11 ‘Valuation of Physical Non-Current Assets at Fair Value’

NSW Treasury has released TPG 25-11 ‘Valuation of Physical Non-Current Assets at Fair Value’ on a provisional basis. Its commencement is subject to updating the existing TD 21-05 ‘Valuation of Physical Non-Current Assets at Fair Value’. The updated TD is expected to be approved imminently and released in early 2026.

Subject to the update of TD 21-05, TPG 25-11 is a mandatory policy applicable to reporting GSF agencies (excluding universities and their controlled entities), setting out requirement to use the State’s valuation office (Value NSW) as the external valuer for comprehensive and interim valuations, with an exceptions process.

The policy replaces:

• TPP21-09 ‘Valuation of Physical Non-Current Assets at Fair Value’ (previous version of TPG 25-11)
• TC 21-11 ‘Timetable for Agency Asset Valuation’
• TPG 23-09 ‘Guidance when performing valuations of physical non-current assets’
• Treasury Factsheet: Guidance on the application of AASB 2022-10 Amendments to Australian Accounting Standards – Fair Value Measurement of Non-Financial Assets of Not-for-Profit Public Sector Entities.

Key updates within TPG 25-11 are summarised below:

1. Centralised Valuation Model (refer section 9)
   1. Mandatory centralised valuation services model for all reporting GSF agencies utilising the State’s valuation office, Value NSW (VNSW), on a phased basis.
   2. Agencies with active contracts may continue their current arrangements until expiration, after which they will transition to the centralised model.
   3. Agencies may apply to NSW Treasury for an exemption if they are able to justify that application of the requirements would be detrimental to their agency.
2. Frequency of comprehensive revaluations (refer section 8.1)
   1. Transition to a uniform 5-year revaluation cycle for all asset classes, replacing the previous cycles of 3 and 5 years.
3. Performing management assessments whether there is any indication that an asset’s carrying amount differs materially from fair value in interim years and interim revaluations (section 8.1.3 and Appendix E)
   1. A four-step quantitative assessment introduced for assets valued using the current cost approach or the market approach. This process evaluates whether the difference between an asset’s carrying amount and its indicative fair value (i.e. indexed carrying amount) is material to trigger the requirement for an interim formal revaluation.
4. Measurement of assets under construction (Section 7.8 and Appendix F)
   1. Requires agencies to apply the rebuttable assumption that the cost of assets under construction approximates their fair value, with factors provided that may challenge the rebuttable assumption.

TPG 25-14 ‘Acceptance of Guarantees from Financial Institutions by Government Agencies’ 

NSW Treasury has released TPG 25-14 ‘Acceptance of Guarantees from Financial Institutions by Government Agencies’ to ensure that financial institutions that provide guarantees to agencies have the appropriate capacity, and willingness, to pay in the event of an agency needing to call on those guarantees. Agencies may require a guarantee to protect against the failure of a counterparty to perform its contractual obligations. 

Agencies may accept a guarantee from a financial institution, where that financial institution:

• is regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA), and
• satisfies the Credit Quality Test in this policy, 

OR

• has been pre-approved by the Secretary (a Treasury Approved Guarantor), as listed in Schedule A.

Where a financial institution does not satisfy either of the two criteria above, an agency must seek the Secretary’s (or delegate’s) approval to accept a guarantee from that financial institution.

This mandatory policy, effective from 1 January 2026, applies to general government sector agencies and public financial and non-financial corporations. The policy replaces TC 14-01 ‘Acceptance of Performance Bonds or Unconditional Undertakings by Government Agencies’. 

TPG 25-10d 'Final Financial and Annual Reporting' 

NSW Treasury has released TPG 25-10d 'Final Financial and Annual Reporting' which sets out the requirements for final financial and annual reporting and the requirements for former reporting GSF agencies under TPG 25-10 ‘Framework for Financial and Annual Reporting’. 

Consistent with Treasurer’s Direction TD 25-06 ‘Financial and annual reporting by former reporting GSF agencies’, the policy exempts the following former reporting GSF agencies from preparing final financial statements and annual reporting information:

• a former reporting GSF agency that ceased to a reporting GSF agency because it meets one of the exemption criteria (an ‘excluded GSF agency’) outlined in Division 2 Part 5 of the Government Sector Finance Regulation 2024 (i.e a group 3 agency)
• a former reporting GSF agency that ceased to be a reporting GSF agency because it was abolished or dissolved by machinery of government (MoG) change and its functions, assets, liabilities or staff were transferred to another agency (an ‘abolished or dissolved agency’).

This mandatory policy applies to:

• former reporting GSF agencies and the accountable authorities for those former reporting GSF agencies
• transferee agencies affected by MoG changes and the accountable authorities for transferee agencies
• ceasing group 3 agencies (group 3 agencies that cease to be a GSF agency that are not an abolished agency for the purpose of the TPG) and the accountable authorities for those ceasing group 3 agencies.

Consultation on proposed disposals governance framework 

NSW Treasury is consulting on a proposed disposals governance framework, to ensure the appropriate authorisation of disposals of government property and related governance considerations. 

The new disposals governance framework will:

• support stewardship of public assets and strategic resource allocation
• enable agencies to correctly identify how to manage various types of disposals
• allow proportionate rules to be set around governance and reporting, which support agencies in managing disposals efficiently, effectively and ethically
• limit the administrative burden on agencies
• encompass the key elements of the existing Treasurer’s Directions Sale or Lease of Government Assets (TD92/2), and replace elements of the existing gifts framework, to produce a single, consistent framework. 

The Consultation Paper – Regulating Disposals of Government Property, Including Gifts:

• proposes a disposals governance framework that incorporates and improves on the current policy settings that support section 5.6 of the GSF Act, and addresses the overlapping policy areas of the sale and lease of government assets and section 5.6 gifts of government property
• seeks feedback on the proposed future disposals governance framework
• seeks feedback from the sector on considerations associated with implementation of the proposed future disposals governance framework.

The consultation is open for feedback until 16 March 2026. All feedback submitted must use the Disposals Governance Framework Questionnaire.

Topics discussed included:

AASB Meeting Highlights – 15 December 2025

• Climate-related financial disclosures

AASB Meeting Highlights – 20-21 November 2025

• Post-implementation review – AASB 1059 Service Concession Arrangements: Grantors
• Climate-related financial disclosures
• Public sector climate reporting – research update
• Not-for-profit (NFP) private sector framework (Tier 3)
• Service performance reporting
• Sustainability reporting – horizon scanning
• International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) enhancing the SASB Standards.

AASB Meeting Highlights – 7 October 2025

• Post-implementation review – IFRS 16 Leases
• Conceptual framework – NFP amendments
• NFP private sector reporting framework (Tier 3)
• Presentation and disclosure in financial statements of superannuation and NFP entities
• Climate-related financial disclosure implementation and amendments.

Latest news, accounting standards and work-in-progress documents from the AASB included:

^#For more information refer to Hot Topics section.

Topics discussed included:

IASB Meeting Highlights – 8-11 December 2025

• Financial instruments with characteristics of equity
• Business combinations – disclosures, goodwill and impairment
• Statement of cash flows and related matters
• Provisions – Targeted improvements.

IASB Meeting Highlights – 17-18 November 2025

• Equity method
• Intangible assets.

IASB Meeting Highlights – 29-30 October 2025

• Rate-regulated activities
• Equity method
• Business combinations – disclosures, goodwill and impairment
• Statement of cash flows and related matters
• Provisions – Targeted improvements.

Latest news from the IFRS Foundation included:

Topics discussed included:

IPSASB Meeting Highlights – 2-5 December 2025

• Natural resources
• Sustainability: Climate-related disclosures
• Strengthening linkages between IPSAS standards and Government Finance Statistics Manual (GFSM)
• Presentation of financial statements
• Making materiality judgements
• Measurement – Application phase: Current Operational Value in IPSAS 31
• Improvements to IPSAS standards.

IPSASB Meeting Highlights – 30 October 2025

• Natural resources
• Sustainability: Climate-related disclosures
• Strengthening linkages between IPSAS standards and GFSM.

Recent news from the IPSASB included:

IPSASB has recently issued:

Topics discussed included:

AUASB Meeting Highlights – 17 December 2025

• Amendments to ASSA 5010 regarding directors’ declaration and legislation for voluntary reporting under the Corporations Act
• Illustrative Corporations Act Sustainability Assurance Reports

AUASB Meeting Highlights – 4 December 2025

• Revision of ISRE Review of Interim Financial Information Performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity
• Audit evidence and risk response
• Inventories, external confirmations and sampling.

AUASB Meeting Highlights – 12 November 2025

• Revised GS 011 Access to documentation
• AUASB 2025-9:
  • Narrow scope amendments – ‘publicly traded entity’
  • ASA 570 Going Concern amendments
• Amendments to other standards: ‘publicly traded entity’
• AUASB 2025-8 – Amendments to ASRE 2410 and other standards
• Amendments for AASB 18
• Withdrawal of GS 21 Engagements under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme, Carbon Pricing Mechanism and Related Schemes
• GS 015 Audit Implications for Investment in Associates project plan.

AUASB Meeting Highlights – 27 October 2025

• Exposure Draft – ASSA 5000 Corporations Act specific Illustrative Assurance Reports.

AUASB Meeting Highlights – 14 October 2025

• Exposure Draft – Amendments ASSA 5010 on Sustainability Assurance Phasing
• Exposure Draft – ASSA 5000 Corporations Act specific Illustrative Assurance Reports
• Amendments to ASSA 5000 regarding separate auditors for financial and sustainability reports
• Guidance Statements update
• Revised ASA 240 Fraud and amendments to ASA 101 Preamble to AUASB Standards
• AUASB 2025-9:
  • Narrow scope amendments – listed entity definitions
  • ASA 570 Going Concern amendments
• Amendments to other standards from listed entity definitions
• AUASB 2025-8 – Amendments to ASRE 2410 and ASA 101 Preamble

Latest news from the AUASB included:

Topics discussed included:

IAASB Meeting Highlights – 8-11 December 2025

• ISA 540 (Revised) Post-Implementation review
• Audit evidence and risk response
• ISRE 2410
• Sustainability reporting
• Technology quality management
• Financial reporting
• IESBA – Firm culture and governance
• Targeted Standards in ISA 500 Series

Topics discussed included:

APESB Meeting Highlights – 4 December 2025

• Project update on conformity with sustainability reporting standards
• Update on project to review APESB pronouncements for sustainability and AI
• Update on proposed revised APESB guidance on audit partner rotation
• Update on IESBA firm culture and governance project
• Update on ASIC auditor independence report.

Latest news and media releases from the APESB included:

Topics discussed included:

IESBA Meeting Highlights – 8-12 December 2025

• Strategy and Work Plan 2028-2031
• Firm culture and governance
• Collective Investment Vehicle
• Technology.

IESBA Meeting Highlights – 24 October 2025

• Firm culture and governance.

Latest news and publications from the IESBA included:

Treasury’s recent releases and other guidance included:

^#For more information refer to Hot Topics section.

The Premier released the following memos and circulars:

OPSC released the following circulars and memos:

DCS released the following circulars:

NSW Procurement Board’s recent Directions included:

Inquiries and Reports tabled in NSW Parliament included:

Inquiries and Reports tabled in NSW Parliament included:

Recent publications included:

Recent IPART papers and reports included:

Recent news and media releases included: