Auditing Standard ASA 240 The Auditor's Responsibilities Relating to Fraud in an Audit of a Financial Report (October 2025)
Main FeaturesMain Features
Start here
Get a plain-English read of Main Features
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Auditing Standard ASA 240 The Auditor's Responsibilities Relating to Fraud in an Audit of a Financial Report (October 2025).
Main Features
This Auditing Standard represents the Australian equivalent of ISA 240 (Revised 2025), The Auditor’s Responsibilities Relating to Fraud in an Audit of Financial Statements and will replace the current ASA 240 issued by the AUASB in October 2009 (as amended to 27 April 2022).
This Auditing Standard contains differences from the ISA 240 (Revised 2025), which have been made in the Application and Other Explanatory Material and Appendices to reflect Australian regulatory requirements.
AUTHORITY STATEMENT
The Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB) makes this Auditing Standard ASA 240 The Auditor's Responsibilities Relating to Fraud in an Audit of a Financial Report (October 2025) pursuant to section 227B of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 and section 336 of the Corporations Act 2001.
This Auditing Standard is to be read in conjunction with ASA 101 Preamble to AUASB Standards, which sets out how AUASB Standards are to be understood, interpreted and applied. This Auditing Standard is to be read also in conjunction with ASA 200 Overall Objectives of the Independent Auditor and the Conduct of an Audit in Accordance with Australian Auditing Standards.
Dated: 14 October 2025 D Niven
Chair - AUASB
Conformity with International Standards on Auditing
This Auditing Standard conforms with International Standard on Auditing ISA 240 (Revised 2025), The Auditor’s Responsibilities Relating to Fraud in an Audit of Financial Statements issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB), an independent standard‑setting board of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).
Paragraphs that have been added to this Auditing Standard (and do not appear in the text of the equivalent ISA) are identified with the prefix “Aus”.
The following application and other explanatory material is additional to ISA 240:
For an audit engagement under the Corporations Act 2001 (the Act), the possibility of withdrawing from the engagement or resigning from the appointment as an auditor can only be made in accordance with the provisions of the Act, including in certain circumstances, obtaining consent to resign from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). (Ref: Para. Aus A175.1).
Legislation may require the auditor or a member of the audit team to maintain the confidentiality of information disclosed to the auditor, or a member of the audit team, by a person regarding contraventions or possible contraventions of the law. In such circumstances, the auditor or a member of the audit team may be prevented from communicating that information to management or those charged with governance in order to protect the identity of the person who has disclosed confidential information that alleges a breach of the law. In such circumstances, the auditor may consider obtaining legal advice to assist in determining the appropriate course of action and may need to consider the implications for the audit engagement. (Ref: Para. Aus A195.1).