The corporate landscape in Australia is undergoing major transformations. Activities that used to be operational compliance silos—environment, cybersecurity, safety, and governance—are now integrating under the umbrella of ESG reporting. Although emissions and social impact issues have dominated the conversations around ESG, one important pillar continues to be neglected: information security.
This is where the value of the ISO 27001 consultant goes beyond the purely technical. In 2025 and beyond, they will be far more than control implementers and audit preparers: they will be protecting organizational reputation, building trust of investors, and sustaining the very integrity of the ESG disclosures.
It is time for ISO 27001 consultants to be out of the server room and into the board room, because in the cyber economy, data security is ESG.
Cybersecurity Is a Governance Risk, Not a Purely Technical One
Today, all government suppliers, NDIS providers, universities, and multinationals need to focus on disclosing their ESG performance. And they need to do ESG performance reporting real-time, transparently, and publicly. But what if that reporting data is unreliable, compromised, or subject to ransomware cyberattacks?
The systems that collect, store, and safeguard the information within an ESG report will determine an organization’s credibility. The standard for information safeguards is ISO 27001. Yet, a great number of Australian organizations cyber neglect the incorporation of safeguards into their IT systems and treat cybersecurity as an isolated “IT problem.”
ISO 27001 consultants – especially those who do internal audits or risk assessments – need to redefine their contribution as more than ‘system certifiers’ to ‘assurance providers on ESG integrity.’
ESG Metrics Are Based on Risky Data
Australia’s new climate disclosure regulations, modern slavery reporting, and sustainability-linked financing all require evidence-based metrics. These metrics often come from multiple disparate data sources like cloud platforms, supplier portals, emissions calculators, or third-party software.
Each of these systems is cyber risky. If you don’t have access controls on your Scope 3 data pipeline, your human rights tracking tool is unencrypted, or your ESG assurance reports are sent via unsecure channels, you jeopardize your entire ESG claim.
An ESG reporting architecture consultant ensures reporting frameworks are flexible. They analyze where sensitive data is stored, how data is accessed, how long data is stored, and the extent of modification permitted on the data. In short, they defend the substance and the reputation of the ESG disclosures.
ISO 27001 Under the ESG “G” Component is Myopic
ISO 27001 is too frequently focused on under the “G” (Governance) part of ESG. The fact is, ISO 27001 affects all 3 parts.
Environmental (E): ISO 27001 is also essential in protection sensitive environmental performance data such as: energy consumption trends, audit results, and emissions model. Data tied directly to carbon disclosures should be protected against unauthorized access and modification.
Social (S): Data subject access rights, employee monitoring, digital surveillance, and cyberbullying are issues that exist in the intersection of human rights and information security. Implementing ISO 27001 frameworks associates these consultants directly with the digital ethics policies that need to be developed from the social perspective.
Governance (G): Of course, ISO 27001 enhances the governance of information by assigning control and management, audit trails, and oversight Ga. Most importantly, decision-makers must base their decisions on verified and risk assessed data in the current ESG reporting environment, which is non-negotiable.
The ESG Assurance Market Is Expanding—And So Should the 27001 Skillset
With Australia’s investors, regulators, and financiers needing external validation, the ESG assurance requirements becoming more demanding. Entities will be looking for proof that the ESG data is secure, accurate and protected.
For these reasons, ISO 27001 consultants need to transition. Performing gap analyses or suggesting Annex A controls is no longer enough. They need to start:
– Partnering with ESG reporting teams during design of the reporting and performance tracking systems.
– Assessing data flows between sustainability applications and core business systems.
– Certifying the security of management and investor reporting ESG dashboards.
– Consulting on risk registers that incorporate ESG data vulnerability or manipulation.
In doing so, ISO 27001 practitioners will no longer be relegated to the role of an IT consultant, but will actively participate and influence ESG compliance and trust from stakeholders.
The New Mandate for ISO 27001 Consultants
With the transition to integrated reporting and responsible governance, the need for explicit CI cyber security controls is no longer optional—the CI is ESG-critical infrastructure. There is no other consultant who can claim and <<insert actionable reward>> that is necessary to be both confident that the systems are compliant, and that the sustaining data is protected, secure and will meet future requirements.
The best ESG reports are not just well-designed—they are well-protected.