The interface between internal and external audit in the Australian public sector

This study seeks to answer the research question ‘using reliance as the pivotal consideration, what factors determine the efficient and effective interrelationship between internal and external audit?’, within the context of the Australian public sector. A qualitative approach, framed within agency theory, was adopted using a case study and structured interviews. Findings included factors supporting prior literature as well as some unique to the research described here. As a result, this article makes a contribution to the literature examining public sector internal and external audit interrelationships as well as the literature on police audit and performance. It also has practical implications for both the case study site and similar organisations throughout the world

The Auditor-to-Client Revolving Door: A Structured Literature Review

This study analyses the under-explored research area of audit revolving door (ARD). The analytical framework categorised the reviewed articles by author & article information, citation, research theme, motivational event, jurisdiction, nature of research, regional focus, organisational focus, research method, data analysis, literature focus and findings. Our analysis highlights that no particular aspect can be held true or generalised about the ARD phenomenon. The ARD literature is USA dominated, organisationally based and focused on post-departure issues, employing quantitative approach with obvious lack of perceptions of stakeholders. We call for more qualitative research that critiques pre- and post-ARD, addressing the ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions, soliciting perceptions of various stakeholders. To frame directions for future research, we refer to three areas: threats, benefits and safeguards of ARD. Our findings are relevant to research students reviewing the auditing literature to find their own research and to academic auditing researchers looking for appropriate research outlets

Self or other: Directors’ attitudes towards policy initiatives for external board evaluation

Recurrent crises in corporate governance have board practice and created policy pressure to assess the effectiveness of boards. Since the 1990s boards have faced calls to undertake regular, formal evaluation. Since 2010, the UK Corporate Governance Code has urged large corporations to engage outside parties to conduct them at least every three years, a move that other jurisdictions have copied. Despite this policy importance, little research has been conducted into processes or outcomes of board evaluation. This study explores the attitudes of directors on evaluation, whether self-administered or facilitated by others. We find acceptance of the principle but reservations about the value and even honesty in questionnaire-based approaches. We find scepticism about, but also acknowledgement of, the benefits of using outside facilitators, especially for their objectivity and because their interviewing elicits insights into board dynamics. As this practice expands beyond listed companies to non-listed ones, charities, and even governance branches of government, our findings point to a need to professionalise outside facilitation

What we might learn about fraud and corporate governance from NAB's 'annus horribilis'

This article responds to the recent paper by Carolyn Cordery, “NAB's ‘Annus Horribilis’: Fraud and Corporate Governance” (Australian Accounting Review 17, 2: 62–70). Cordery's paper, while a useful addition to other explorations of the NAB case, merely touches on the many complex aspects of the corporate governance debate without exploring in depth the unique features of the NAB fraud. This article acknowledges the important role of corporate governance structures as argued by Cordery. However, these conditions alone are not sufficient, and organisations need to manage dysfunction of cognitive biases in order to create a culture in which trust, respect, candour and open-constructive dissent are the norm.6 page(s

Greenhouse gas emissions reporting and assurance : reflections on the current state

Purpose – Global climate change has become a major societal issue providing the impetus for governments to legislate policy in order to manage and mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To assess whether the use of biomass can reduce GHG emissions requires accounting, reporting and assurance methods and procedures. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate key challenges of GHG reporting and assurance with the example of the Australian framework. Design/methodology/approach – This viewpoint, discussing GHG emissions reporting and assurance, critically analyses some of the key issues arising in practice, including the current state of organizations' systems and controls, the changing nature of governance structures as well as measurement challenges being experienced by companies regarding GHG reporting. Findings – The paper finds that more rigorous governance frameworks and management systems are likely to evolve around GHG reporting given the recent introduction of the carbon pricing mechanism and its nexus to companies' financial performance as well as increased risks associated with inaccurate reporting. Practical implications – The paper contains an overview of the current regulatory environment and key issues surrounding GHG reporting and assurance. Originality/value – The management of GHG-related issues has significant implications for organisations. The paper provides both practitioner and academic perspectives on the current issues and challenges within the GHG reporting context.8 page(s

Ethics and the professional accountant

17 page(s

Article review : 'Seeking legitimacy for new assurance forms : the case of assurance on sustainability reporting'

Review of the article titled "Stakeholders’ Influence and Contribution to Social Standards Development: The Case of Multiple Stakeholder Approach to ISO 26000 Development" by Michaela A. Balzarova and Pavel Castka. Journal of Business Ethics, 2012, DOI 10.1007/s10551-012-1206-92 page(s

Case studies in auditing & assurance

Provides a practical approach to teaching auditing, suitable for both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The fourth edition has been updated to include the latest changes to the Australian Auditing Standards.227 page(s)4th ed

Driving audit quality

3 page(s

Investigation of the impact of an ethical framework and an integrated ethics education on accounting students' ethical sensitivity and judgment

This research is motivated by the criticism levelled at the academic community for its failure to incorporate sufficient ethics education into the accounting curriculum (Earley and Kelly, Issues in Accounting Education 19(1):53–71, 2004; Madison and Schmidt 2006). The inclusion of ethics decision-making frameworks (frameworks) by professional bodies in their codes of conduct (IFAC 2012; APESB 2010) or as a standalone tool (AICPA 2012) and the encouragement of their use as a part of ethics education to help students to identify (ethical sensitivity) and think through ethical issues (ethical judgment) in a business context (AACSB 2004) has been subject to very limited research to date. The aim of this study is to provide evidence of the impact of providing a framework on its own and providing a framework as part of a comprehensive integrated ethics education component of a first-year unit of study, on accounting students’ ethical sensitivity and judgment. Results indicate that providing students with a framework only does not increase students’ ethical sensitivity but does support their ethical judgment. In contrast, the integrated ethics component does increase student’s ethical sensitivity, however, an unexpected finding of this study is that increases in students’ ethical judgement are greater if they have not been previously exposed to the framework. Taken together, our findings suggest that it is the framework that has a significant impact on students’ ethical judgment, while an integrated ethics education can expose students to a range of ethical issues and thereby improve their ethical sensitivity, a critical component which initiates the ethical decision-making process.15 page(s