ESG Compliance Recruitment Trends in Australia (2025): What Risk & Legal Teams Need to Know
ESG Compliance Recruitment Trends in Australia (2025)
What Risk & Legal Teams Need to Know
In 2025, ESG has graduated from a well-intentioned side note to a legal requirement for many Australian businesses. The Treasury Laws Amendment Bill, passed in 2024, mandates climate-related financial disclosures for large corporations starting January 2025, with reporting obligations phased in through 2027.
This move supercharges the expectations on compliance teams, as suddenly, offering ESG credibility isn’t optional, it’s essential.
Regulators like ASIC are reinforcing this push. In fact, ASIC’s Chair, Joseph Longo recently described a “pragmatic approach” to the rollout, but made it clear that the era of voluntary sustainability statements is over.
When Compliance Needs Sustainability, Skill Sets Must Evolve
2025’s compliance leaders aren’t just experts in regulatory frameworks, they’re expected to navigate ISSB-aligned standards, climate risk metrics, modern slavery legislation, stakeholder reporting, and assurance readiness. This is a whole new layer of technical and ethical complexity.
Yet, there's a gap. ESG professionals remain scarce, a challenge echoed across industries. In Australia, the ESG talent race is underway, as demand far exceeds the qualified supply of candidates capable of interpreting ESG risks, deploying disclosure frameworks, and driving accountability. For organisations operating in fast-moving sectors, being reactive, or relying on generalist recruiters is simply not enough.
Context Doesn’t Come From Templates: Sector-Specific Expertise Wins
ESG isn’t a single roadmap for all. Energy companies must grapple with emissions accounting and biodiversity; banks face scrutiny over greenwashing and ethical investment disclosures; infrastructure firms are judged on sustainability-linked finance and Indigenous engagement.
As a result, hiring briefs are becoming finely tuned. Employers aren’t just looking for “ESG-capable”; they need candidates who have applied ESG principles within their sector’s regulatory context. Someone who’s worked on Scope 3 emissions in a mining environment. Or someone who’s scoped climate scenario planning in a listed financial services firm.
These nuanced mandates underscore why compliance recruitment needs precision. The industry isn't wondering if ESG matters anymore, it needs compliance professionals who have already walked that path.
The Talent Crunch Is Real, And Generic Recruiters Can’t Bridge It
Here’s where things get tricky. The compliance function now demands patience, depth, and niche knowledge, but the market doesn’t always deliver.
Contingent or broadly focused recruiters often lack the depth needed to fill these roles. Shortlists under such models tend to skew toward available rather than qualified candidates. Placements stall, teams remain under-resourced, and risk builds.
That’s why the retained search model that we champion is increasingly necessary. It enables proactive talent mapping, allows for deep market engagement, and opens doors to passive candidates who aren’t visible in job portals or moving from firm to firm. When clients transition their searches to Day One’s more strategic, retained approach, the shifts can be dramatic: deeper pools, stronger alignment, and hires who can actually meet the complex demands of modern ESG-compliance mandates.
One example comes from a Day One Recruitment client seeking a senior ESG compliance lead. The appointment was critical to their ability to meet new reporting obligations, but traditional recruitment methods had delivered surface-level candidates without the specialist experience required. Through our retained search model, we unlocked access to passive talent and secured a leader who had driven sustainability reporting across the APAC region. The result was transformative. That single hire reshaped the client’s compliance function, creating the structure and expertise needed to navigate complex ESG demands with confidence.
What Smart Hiring Looks Like in 2025
Redefining role requirements to reflect specific ESG pressures is the starting point. But execution also matters. Relying on generalist recruiters rarely delivers the calibre needed for ESG-integrated roles, and often leads to delays and compromises. Proactive hiring, led by recruiters with true legal and compliance specialisation, is no longer optional. It’s the only way to stay ahead.
Final Reflection: ESG Isn’t a Trend. It’s a Required Capability.
The compliance landscape in 2025 has fundamentally changed. This isn’t about adding a checkbox to a hire, it's about embedding ESG fluency at the heart of corporate risk and governance functions. And that requires a thoughtful, expert-led hiring approach.
Looking to strengthen your compliance team in 2025?
Partner with Day One Recruitment for access to ESG-literate, sector-specific legal and compliance professionals, hired strategically, not hastily.