New Australian Accounting Body Governance Insufficient, Pros Say

Accounting professionals and business groups are calling for stricter controls on the governing board of Australia’s proposed accounting, audit and assurance standards body.

Submissions closed March 27 on the proposed bill to merge the bodies responsible for writing and approving accounting, audit and assurance standards into a single entity. The Senate economics committee will report on the bill inquiry on April 24.

The proposed entity, External Reporting Australia, would combine the functions of the Accounting Standards Board, Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, and the Financial Reporting Council. It would comprise a governing board and several technical standard-setting boards.