At a glance
- ESG questionnaires from large corporates are creating a significant compliance burden for SME suppliers
- Purpose Bureau is Australia’s largest ESG directory, providing risk monitoring and supply chain insights
- Accountants can expand advisory services by helping clients respond strategically to corporate compliance demands
When former economist Nick Kamper started Purpose Bureau in 2021, he had a clear prediction about where Australia’s regulatory landscape was heading.
“Businesses will need the same systematic approach to gather environmental, social and governance (ESG) data on their counterparties in the same way they have traditionally used credit information.
When a company applies for a bank loan, a credit report will get pulled on them as part of the decision criteria from an independent credit bureau. Our thesis is that the same function and transaction will emerge in the ESG market,” he said.
Four years later, that prediction is proving accurate.
The trickle-down effect
From 1 January 2025, new mandatory climate-related financial disclosures started to roll out, initially hitting companies above $500 million in revenue. The reporting requirements will apply to all public and large proprietary companies required to provide audited annual financial reports to ASIC that meet specific size thresholds.
Other climate-related obligations businesses now face include Scope 3 Emissions Reporting and annual Modern Slavery Statements. These don’t just impact larger corporates.
Kamper explains these regulations require detailed supply chain reporting, pushing compliance demands down to smaller suppliers and customers.
“The largest 2,000 Australian companies now have to prove they’re managing modern slavery in their supply chain – if you’re a supermarket retail chain with 20,000 suppliers, that’s a significant job. The amount of data these companies need to collect from suppliers is increasingly comprehensive and prescriptive.
“Traditionally, larger businesses have tackled this by sending out very long self-assessment questionnaires to their suppliers and only getting a few responses back. It doesn’t work – the corporate is left with inaccurate, incomplete data, and SME suppliers are often overwhelmed and confused about what’s required of them. The danger is the information captured will not help the larger players fulfil their reporting obligations,” Kamper says.
A modern solution
Rather than adding to the questionnaire burden, Purpose Bureau works with some of the world’s largest organisations to streamline the process and independently verify the information gathered.
The company has built infrastructure to monitor businesses in all global economies, collecting climate reporting information from public sources including business registrations, environmental licensing and modern slavery reports. Kamper explains his team helps corporate clients understand their suppliers’ ESG credentials in a more efficient, targeted way.
“Thanks to our third-party data, we know which suppliers corporates need to engage with and on what specific data points, which saves them a lot of resources. We reach out to suppliers, educate them on what certifications and initiatives are best in class for their sector, region and size, ask if we’ve missed initiatives or control measures they already have in place, and find out what improvements they’re willing to commit to so they can better respond to future ESG requirements from their corporate customers,” he says.
But Purpose Bureau’s longer-term vision goes beyond providing corporates with supplier data. From September 2025, all Australian businesses can access the company’s platform free of charge and verify and update their profile.
“We’ve launched a landing page to let business know where to go to register their interest in accessing their own ESG profile – the same profile being used by banks, insurers, and business customers to assess their organisation,” Kamper says.
“Risk assessment is evolving beyond just financial metrics, driven by regulatory pressures and market expectations.”
Nick Kamper, Founder and CEO, Purpose Bureau
“ESG profiles give visibility into how a company is being viewed across the financial and corporate landscape. We want to give SMEs a good understanding of what ESG initiatives matter in their sector and eliminate the overwhelm they experience when a corporate client demands 150 answers in a self-assessment questionnaire.
“This platform will be an educational data exchange where SMEs can verify and update their profile so it’s accurate and get guidance on what ESG initiatives and controls are best in class for their industry,” Kamper says.
The opportunity for accountants
As an accounting professional, when Purpose Bureau’s platform rolls out in September, you’ll be able to search for your clients and see what ESG information is recorded on their profile – the same information corporates can access. This could open up new advisory opportunities.
Suppose you can show a construction client that they lack the environmental certifications required to work with larger corporates or help a manufacturer understand why they’re losing contracts due to missing modern slavery documentation. You could guide them on targeted investments rather than generic ESG initiatives.
The platform could also reveal whether you have ESG blind spots worth addressing.
Looking ahead
Purpose Bureau’s approach has earned industry recognition, winning the APAC Australian Enterprise Awards 2024 for its “distinctive environmental, social, and governance (ESG) bureau and advanced analytic capabilities”.
For Kamper, the award reflects a broader shift happening across Australia.
“In our view, risk assessment is evolving beyond just financial metrics, driven by regulatory pressures and market expectations,” he says.
As compliance obligations expand and more companies demand ESG transparency from their supply chains, the question isn’t whether comprehensive climate data collection will become routine. It’s how quickly businesses will adapt.
