Australia has fallen behind other major international economies by not mandating digital reporting. Australia’s capital market is rendered effectively invisible, or at best inaccurately viewed, through continued use of paper and online PDF financial reporting.

In response to this, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) has developed an exclusive report that aims to highlight the significance of digital reporting for Australian listed entities, drawing upon extensive research and stakeholder engagement.

Digital reporting enhances productivity by automating data collection, reducing manual errors, and streamlining compliance processes. It also boosts investment by increasing transparency, improving data accessibility, and enabling faster, more informed decision-making by investors. Artificial intelligence (AI) and digital reporting work together to generate meaningful insights. AI relies on structured, machine-readable data to function effectively, and digital reporting provides that essential foundation.

As corporate reporting grows more complex, digital reporting becomes increasingly essential to ensure information remains usable, accessible and meaningful for stakeholders. A digital approach enables clearer insights and efficient analysis in an increasingly intricate financial landscape.

Australian investors are demanding modern digital access to financial information, yet Australia lags most leading economies in mandating digital reporting for listed entities. As investors increasingly rely on digital sources and data for decision-making, adopting digital reporting is essential to meet expectations and align with global standards.

CA ANZ commends the Productivity Commission for leading a review of the digital financial reporting landscape in Australia. CA ANZ has also made these recommendations to the Australian Government.

• Amend the Corporations Act 2001 to require disclosing entities (i.e. listed companies and equivalent) to lodge their annual and half year financial reports in digital form.
• Adopt the XBRL digital reporting format, using the IFRS Accounting Taxonomy for Australia’s mandatory digital reporting.
• Make digital reporting data freely available, with Government investing in digital reporting infrastructure to support the transition and implementation.
• Review opportunities for Government to streamline inefficient and duplicative reporting to different agencies utilising digital reporting data.