Released 1 June 2026. Comments close 10 July 2026.
ASIC is seeking further feedback on its proposal to streamline 17 legislative instruments about financial reporting and auditing relief into two instruments as part of our ongoing commitment to regulatory simplification.
These draft consolidated instruments are:
- ASIC Corporations (Annual and Half-year Reporting) Instrument 2026/XXX (the draft Financial Reporting Instrument), and
- ASIC Corporations (Auditing) Instrument 2026/XXX (the draft Auditing Instrument).
The proposed changes will:
- make it easier for users to understand available relief
- reduce the number of legislative instruments dealing with related subject matter, and
- support ASIC’s commitment to regulatory simplification by clarifying requirements to qualify for relief.
These changes respond to stakeholder feedback received about the consolidation pilot released with Report 813 Regulatory simplification (REP 813), as outlined in Report 830 Regulatory Simplification progress report (REP 830).
We invite feedback on any further opportunities to simplify the relief in addition to the changes we propose.
See Related information for copies of the draft instruments.
Providing feedback
We invite feedback on our proposals from industry and interested stakeholders. You should send your submission to rri.consultation@asic.gov.au by 5pm AEST on 10 July 2026.
You may choose to remain anonymous or use an alias when providing feedback. However, if you do remain anonymous, we will not be able to contact you to discuss your feedback, should we need to.
We will not treat your feedback as confidential unless you specifically request that we treat the whole or part of it as confidential.
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Background
The draft Financial Reporting Instrument (Attachment 1) consolidates and replaces the following instruments:
- ASIC Corporations (Reporting by Stapled Entities) Instrument 2023/673 provides relief to allow stapled entities to present combined financial statements or consolidated financial statements of the stapled group. It also allows the stapled entities in a stapled group to present their respective financial statements together in a single financial report, and if applicable, prepare a sustainability report in relation to the stapled group as if it were a single entity.
- ASIC Corporations (Parent Entity Financial Statements) Instrument 2021/195 allows a parent entity, which is required to include consolidated financial statements in its financial report, to also include its single entity financial statements in that report.
- ASIC Corporations (Financial Reporting: Natural Person Licensees) Instrument 2017/307 provides tailored financial reporting relief for AFS licensees that are natural persons.
- ASIC Corporations (Foreign-Controlled Company Reports) Instrument 2017/204 provides relief for certain foreign-controlled companies from preparing and lodging financial reports, where certain requirements are satisfied.
- ASIC Corporations (Rounding in Financial/Directors’ Reports) Instrument 2026/183 allows eligible entities to round amounts presented in financial reports and directors’ reports to at least the nearest thousand dollars.
- ASIC Corporations (Disclosing Entities) Instrument 2016/190 provides financial reporting relief for certain disclosing entities that commence, or cease, being a disclosing entity part way through a financial year.
- ASIC Corporations (Synchronisation of Financial Years) Instrument 2016/189 provides relief to allow entities that are unable to change their financial year under the Corporations Act to synchronise their financial year with that of a foreign parent.
- ASIC Corporations (Directors’ Report Relief) Instrument 2016/188 allows some information to be transferred from a directors’ report to the financial report or a separate document accompanying the directors’ report and financial report.
- ASIC Corporations (Electronic Lodgment of Financial and Sustainability Reports) Instrument 2026/59 allows listed companies and listed registered schemes on eligible financial markets to lodge annual and half-yearly documents electronically with the relevant market operator without having to lodge the reports separately with ASIC.
- ASIC Corporations (Disregarding Technical Relief) Instrument 2026/180 allows entities to disregard certain technical relief granted by ASIC which would otherwise prevent them from relying on certain disclosure concessions under Chapter 6D and Part 7.9 of the Corporations Act.
- ASIC Corporations (Post Balance Date Reporting) Instrument 2025/437 allows the presentation of a pro forma balance sheet in notes to financial statements to explain the financial effect of material acquisitions and disposals of entities and businesses after the end of a reporting period.
- ASIC Corporations (Non-Reporting Entities) Instrument 2025/436 allows non-reporting entities to prepare their financial statements using the concessions and transitional provisions for recognition and measurement in accounting standards which apply to reporting entities.
- ASIC Corporations (Related Scheme Reports) Instrument 2025/438 enables a registered scheme to include in its financial report or concise report, the financial reports of its related schemes. It also enables a registered scheme to include in its directors’ report, the directors’ reports of its related schemes, and in its sustainability report, the sustainability reports of its related schemes.
- ASIC Corporations (Stapled Group Reports) Instrument 2025/439 enables financial statements for stapled groups to be presented in a single financial report.
The draft Auditing Instrument (Attachment 2) consolidates and replaces the following instruments, omitting requirements in section 6(i), (s) and (v) of ASIC Corporations (Audit Relief) Instrument 2016/784 (ASIC Instrument 2016/784):
- ASIC Corporations (CCIV Auditors) Instrument 2024/668 modifies section 1232R of the Corporations Act to confirm that the corporate director of a retail CCIV must lodge an approved form with ASIC within 14 days of appointing an auditor of a retail CCIV.
- ASIC Corporations (Auditor Independence) Instrument 2021/75 sets out an exemption for lead auditors from the requirement under Part 2M.3 of the Corporations Act to report certain non-material financial interests in the auditor’s independence declaration that accompanies an entity’s financial report, where certain requirements are met.
- ASIC Instrument 2016/784 provides audit-related relief for certain proprietary companies.
The consolidated instruments omit some of the relief and approvals in the consolidated pilot released with REP 813. This is because relief had become redundant or was inappropriate to make subject to the repeal provisions in the consolidated instruments. The relief in ASIC Corporations (Wholly-owned Companies) Instrument 2016/785 has also been omitted as it requires further review.
This relief may be included in the draft Financial Reporting Instrument when it is remade after sunsetting under the Legislation Act 2003 in 2026. Some of the relief proposed to be included in the consolidated instruments is contained in other legislative instruments that are due to sunset in 2026. ASIC’s usual work to review and remake legislative instruments that are due to sunset will continue whilst the consolidation proposal is being consulted on.
Under the Legislation Act 2003, legislative instruments are repealed, or ‘sunset’, after 10 years, unless ASIC acts to preserve them.