An ASRS readiness assessment is a structured review of where your organisation currently stands across the four disclosure pillars of AASB S2: governance, strategy (including climate risk), risk management, and metrics and targets. It tells you what you have, what you're missing, and what needs to happen before your first disclosure. It is the most efficient starting point for any organisation beginning their ASRS programme as well as being a fantastic way to upskill on what the regulation requires as a team..
The most common mistake Australian businesses make when approaching ASRS compliance is starting in the wrong place. They commission a full climate risk assessment before they understand their emissions boundary, or they begin measuring Scope 3 before their Scope 1 and 2 methodology is documented. They build governance frameworks before they know which governance elements are already in place.
A readiness assessment prevents that. It gives you a clear, honest picture of your current position before any work begins, so that the programme that follows is sized and sequenced correctly.
For most organisations, the readiness assessment also produces the first genuinely useful piece of information for the CFO or board: a clear answer to the question "are we behind and if so, what will it cost to catch up?"
A structured ASRS readiness assessment reviews your organisation against the requirements of AASB S2 across four areas. The questions below reflect the actual areas assessed in Trace's readiness tool.
Governance under ASRS is about demonstrating that your board and management have genuine, documented oversight of climate-related risks, not just awareness of them. Below are some examples of what a readiness assessment in this area asks:
Most organisations have fragments of the systems required in place, sitting inside existing governance frameworks. The gap is almost always documentation: the oversight exists, but it isn't captured in a way that satisfies ASRS and can be evidenced for assurance.
This is the most demanding pillar for first-time reporters, covering 14 distinct areas under AASB S2. Below are some examples of what a readiness assessment in this area asks:
The transition plan question is one many organisations overlook. ASRS does not require a transition plan in year one, but it requires disclosure of whether you have one. If you don't, that needs to be stated clearly, with context. It cannot simply be omitted.
Risk management under ASRS is not a separate framework. It is about demonstrating that climate risk has been integrated into how your organisation already identifies, assesses, and manages risk. A readiness assessment asks things like:
Organisations that keep climate risk in a separate sustainability register, disconnected from the enterprise risk register, almost always face findings in this area.
This pillar covers emissions measurement, climate-related financial metrics, and target disclosure. It is broader than most organisations expect. A readiness assessment asks things like:
The internal carbon price and executive remuneration questions are where most organisations are surprised. Neither is mandatory in year one for most entities, but both require explicit disclosure of whether they exist, and if not, why.
The output of a good readiness assessment is not just a list of gaps. It is a prioritised workplan: which gaps carry the highest audit risk, which can wait, and what a realistic programme looks like in terms of timeline and cost.
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Trace works with businesses at every stage of their mandatory reporting journey, from first emissions measurement to audit-ready ASRS S2 disclosure. Talk to our team to see how we can help.
Self-assessment: Work through the four pillars internally using a structured checklist. This is free and can be done quickly, but without specialist knowledge of what AASB S2 actually requires in practice, it is easy to miss gaps or underestimate their significance. Trace's free ASRS readiness quiz is designed for exactly this: a two-minute self-assessment that gives you an instant read on where your organisation stands, scored across each of the four disclosure pillars.
Facilitated assessment: A specialist works through the same, but more detailed, framework with your team, reviews existing documentation, and produces a written output with gap analysis and recommended next steps. This is faster, more reliable, and gives you a workplan you can take to leadership. Most specialist providers, including Trace, offer this as a structured engagement before any broader programme begins.
Embedded in a broader programme: Some organisations roll the readiness assessment into the first phase of their full ASRS programme. This is efficient if you are already committed to acting and want to move quickly from assessment to delivery.
A structured, expert-led readiness assessment typically takes one to two weeks end to end. For large or complex organisations (multi-entity groups, diverse business lines, limited existing documentation), the timeline sometimes extends due to the organisation finding all relevant materials for review. The effort on the organisation is just a few hours in a workshop so it is a highly efficient way to upskill and establish your AASB roadmap.
The self-assessment version, using a tool like Trace's readiness quiz, takes two minutes and gives you an immediate directional view, though without the depth or documented output of a facilitated assessment.
A readiness assessment should leave you with:
If the output you receive doesn't include these things, it isn't a readiness assessment. It is a scoping document designed to sell you something.
No. AASB S2 does not require you to conduct a formal readiness assessment. It requires you to produce a compliant climate disclosure.
The readiness assessment is a practical tool for making the compliance programme faster, cheaper, and lower risk. Organisations that skip it and go straight into programme delivery typically discover mid-way through that they have built in the wrong sequence, or that gaps they assumed were minor turn out to require significant rework.
For a Group 2 entity with a reporting period starting 1 July 2026, finding that out in March 2026 is a very different problem from finding it out in August 2025.
Trace's free ASRS readiness quiz gives you an instant view of where your organisation stands across the four ASRS disclosure pillars. No sign-up required. It takes two minutes and tells you immediately where your highest-priority gaps are.
If you want a more detailed picture, or if you're ready to start building a programme, book a 30-minute call with the Trace team. We'll walk through your situation and give you a clear view of what a realistic programme looks like for your organisation.
For a full guide to the steps involved in preparing for ASRS, see ASRS compliance: 9 practical steps when you don't know where to start.
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