Jefferies Australia said Thursday that 36 companies have filed reports under Australia’s new mandatory climate disclosure standards, but only 11 of those firms have provided quantified links between climate risk and earnings.
The new Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards require companies to disclose climate-related financial risks and opportunities, with those disclosures sitting under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act 2001.
In its review, Jefferies found that most companies undertake climate modelling but typically publish only summary-level findings. Few companies translate the results of that modelling into impacts on their financial statements, the firm said.
Jefferies also observed that although companies commonly disclose exposures to climate risk, actual capital allocation intended to address those risks appears limited. The report noted that such spending is rarely linked to executive remuneration or to internal carbon-pricing mechanisms.
Comparing the new mandatory reports to earlier voluntary disclosures, Jefferies concluded that recent transition plans are, in many cases, less detailed than those prepared under the voluntary regime. The analysis found that more than 80% of companies used first-year relief provisions to delay reporting Scope 3 emissions - the indirect emissions that occur across a company’s value chain.
Jefferies said companies broadly acknowledge climate risk but do not always show how that recognition is converted into corporate strategy, concrete transition plans, or business models designed for a lower-carbon economy.
Regulatory scrutiny is increasing: the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has included these disclosure shortcomings in its 2026-27 surveillance program. ASIC Commissioner Kate O’Rourke is quoted as saying that high-quality disclosure is needed to support market transparency and to enable informed capital allocation.
The mandatory disclosure regime was introduced amid heightened attention from Australia’s major superannuation funds, which are monitoring corporate climate action through stewardship programs.
Bottom line: Early mandatory filings under Australia’s sustainability rules reveal gaps between climate modelling and financial integration, limited capital allocation tied to climate action, and widespread use of relief measures to defer Scope 3 reporting. Regulators have taken note and added the issue to ASIC’s upcoming surveillance agenda.