Country deep dive
There is still no general B2B mandate in Australia — but the federal government has quietly built out a genuinely demanding internal compliance regime for its own agencies.
Both governments agree a common approach to e-invoicing — the foundation for the shared PINT A-NZ specification both countries use today.
Federal agencies must be able to receive Peppol e-invoices, following Peppol format and communication standards.
The updated Peppol International specification for Australia and New Zealand supersedes the earlier A-NZ Peppol BIS Billing extension.
All users must exchange PINT A-NZ — it becomes the only supported specification for sending and receiving invoices and credit notes on the network.
The Australian Taxation Office announces that e-invoicing becomes the default invoice exchange method for Non-Corporate Commonwealth Entities, as part of a broader strategy to cut administrative overhead and speed up payment cycles.
Non-Corporate Commonwealth Entities must process at least 30% of received supplier invoices through e-invoicing — a concrete, measurable milestone on the way to full automation.
NCEs must automate the processing and sending of e-invoices, with quarterly progress reports submitted to the Australian Peppol Authority (APA).
PINT A-NZ is a shared specification — build once, and you're compliant in both Australia and New Zealand.
PINT A-NZ also aligns with newer Peppol markets like Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan — a genuine step toward wider Asia-Pacific interoperability, not just an Australia/NZ-only exercise.
Every mandatory ATO invoice data field is carried in a standardised structure any Peppol-connected accounting system can process automatically — no manual re-keying.
Same underlying data model as standard PINT A-NZ billing, but with sender/receiver roles reversed — check with your Access Point whether they support it before relying on it.
The BER lets an eligible business request e-invoicing capability from trading partners — a nudge mechanism rather than a legal mandate, and worth knowing about if a customer asks you to switch.
A textbook four-corner Peppol implementation — no clearance authority, no central government platform for B2B.
Every invoice passes through the same sequence:
Message Level Responses (MLRs) provide structured status notifications — accepted, rejected, delivered, or failed — giving full traceability across the exchange.
The ATO's role here is regulatory oversight of the network, not operating a clearance platform — it never sees your invoice content directly.
If you supply Australian federal agencies, expect them to actively push toward Peppol adoption over this period — faster payment terms are the practical incentive on offer.
Don't assume a single national state-level rule — check your specific state government customer's own e-invoicing requirements alongside the federal framework.
There's no mandate to register for yet outside government supply — but the onboarding path is identical whether you're preparing voluntarily or supplying a federal agency.
Select a certified provider — many mainstream Australian accounting platforms already include this connectivity built in.
This makes you discoverable on the network so any Peppol-connected trading partner can route invoices to you.
Test against the current v1.1.2 specification — anything still targeting the old A-NZ BIS 3.0 profile will no longer be accepted anywhere on the network.
Expect active encouragement (and faster payment incentives) to move onto Peppol as NCEs work toward their 30% target.
If you supply state government customers, confirm their own adoption program timeline alongside the federal one.
No statutory penalty framework exists for B2B, since there's no B2B mandate — but the trajectory is clear.