ASIC has made two new instruments that consolidate reporting and auditing relief, supporting our ongoing commitment to regulatory simplification.
ASIC Corporations (Annual and Half-year Reporting) Instrument 2026/468 and ASIC Corporations (Auditing) Instrument 2026/469 bring together 17 existing relief instruments covering financial and sustainability reporting and auditing requirements.
The consolidated instruments do not introduce substantial policy changes, but improve clarity, consistency and ease of use by bringing the relief into a more streamlined framework.
The instruments originate from ASIC’s regulatory simplification initiative outlined in Report 813 Regulatory simplification (REP 813) and Report 830 Regulatory simplification progress report (REP 830). ASIC will also update relevant forms and regulatory guidance to reflect the new instruments.
ASIC consulted on the draft consolidated instruments in CS 54 Proposed consolidation of financial reporting and auditing instruments. For a summary of the feedback ASIC received, see Consultation feedback and ASIC’s response.
Background
The Reporting Instrument consolidates relief relating to annual and half-year reporting obligations for companies, registered schemes, registrable superannuation entities, retail CCIVs and disclosing entities under the Corporations Act 2001.
It combines the following 14 existing reporting instruments into a single instrument:
- ASIC Corporations (Reporting by Stapled Entities) Instrument 2023/673 (2023 stapled entity instrument)
- ASIC Corporations (Parent Entity Financial Statements) Instrument 2021/195
- ASIC Corporations (Financial Reporting: Natural Person Licensees) Instrument 2017/307
- ASIC Corporations (Foreign-Controlled Company Reports) Instrument 2017/204
- ASIC Corporations (Rounding in Financial/Directors’ Reports) Instrument 2026/183
- ASIC Corporations (Disclosing Entities) Instrument 2016/190
- ASIC Corporations (Synchronisation of Financial Years) Instrument 2016/189
- ASIC Corporations (Directors’ Report Relief) Instrument 2016/188
- ASIC Corporations (Electronic Lodgment of Financial and Sustainability Reports) Instrument 2026/59
- ASIC Corporations (Disregarding Technical Relief) Instrument 2026/180
- ASIC Corporations (Post Balance Date Reporting) Instrument 2025/437
- ASIC Corporations (Non-Reporting Entities) Instrument 2025/436
- ASIC Corporations (Related Scheme Reports) Instrument 2025/438
- ASIC Corporations (Stapled Group Reports) Instrument 2025/439 (2025 stapled entity instrument).
As part of the consolidation, we removed duplicative relief that overlapped between the 2023 and 2025 stapled entity instruments. We also amended paragraph 31(2)(b)(ii) and section 32 to reflect that this relief is now consolidated in a single part of the Reporting Instrument.
The Audit Instrument consolidates the three existing auditing relief instruments listed below into a single instrument:
- ASIC Corporations (CCIV Auditors) Instrument 2024/668
- ASIC Corporations (Auditor Independence) Instrument 2021/75
- ASIC Corporations (Audit Relief) Instrument 2016/784.
As part of this process, ASIC didn’t incorporate paragraph 6(i) of ASIC Instrument 2016/784.
