Accounting Standard AASB 2026-4 Amendments to Australian Accounting Standards

The Australian Accounting Standards Board has issued AASB 2026-4 Amendments to Australian Accounting Standards, registered on the Federal Register of Legislation as F2026L01162 and dated September 2026. The standard provides targeted relief for superannuation entities and not-for-profit public sector entities, other than higher education providers, in how they apply AASB 18 Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements and related amendments to AASB 107 Statement of Cash Flows. It also clarifies operating cash flow reconciliation requirements and makes consequential and editorial amendments to AASB 1039 Concise Financial Reports, AASB 1049 Whole of Government and General Government Sector Financial Reporting, AASB 1054 Australian Additional Disclosures and AASB 1056.

The amendments specify how AASB 18 and the related changes to AASB 107 are to be applied by superannuation entities and not-for-profit entities, and add a definition of higher education provider to both AASB 18 and AASB 107 so that institutions in that category are excluded from the targeted relief. The amendments to AASB 1039 and AASB 1054, which deal with the starting point for the operating cash flow reconciliation, apply more broadly to for-profit entities other than superannuation entities.

The standard applies to annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2028, except that the AASB 1039 and AASB 1054 amendments relating to the operating cash flow reconciliation apply earlier, to annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027. Earlier application of the standard as a whole is permitted. Entities preparing general purpose financial statements under the Corporations Act, particularly superannuation funds and not-for-profit public sector entities, will need to factor the relevant commencement date into their financial reporting timetables.