Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Audit quality - what is the current status?

On 5 March 2010, the Chairman of the Financial Reporting Council, Mr Jeffrey Lucy AM, released a Treasury consultation paper Audit Quality in Australia: A Strategic Review.

The Treasury paper identifies the key drivers of audit quality in Australia and assesses whether any measures should be taken to address any real or perceived threats to these drivers of audit quality. The paper itself is an extensive piece of work (26 findings in total) and is drawn from a range of sources, in particular the UK Financial Reporting Council's paper on Promoting Audit Quality.

The key findings of the Treasury paper include
  • Australia's audit regulation is robust and in line with international best practice
  • Australia's audit regulation framework appears to be functioning effectively during the current economic conditions
  • ASIC's investigations into recent corporate failures may highlight areas where audits can be generally improved.

These findings align with the views and public messages the Institute has expressed regarding the auditing profession, in particular they mirror those expressed in our thought leadership paper, The benefit of audit - A guide to audit quality.

I'm interested to hear what you think of Treasury's paper and the 26 findings. You can contact us at techsubmissions@charteredaccountants.com.au