Financial Reporting Council
Report on Auditor Independence 2007-08
© Commonwealth of Australia 2008
ISBN 978-0-642-74480-7
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8 October 2008
Senator the Hon Nick Sherry
Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Dear Minister
I have pleasure in presenting the report of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) on the performance of its auditor independence functions for the year ended 30 June 2008.
Subsection 235BA(1) of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act) requires the FRC, by 31 October each year, to prepare a report on its performance of its auditor independence functions, the findings and conclusions reached by the FRC in performing those functions, and the actions (if any) taken by the FRC in respect of those findings and conclusions.
Under subsection 235BA(3) of the ASIC Act, the report must be tabled in each House of the Parliament as soon as practicable.
Yours sincerely
SIGNED
Jeffrey Lucy AM
Abbreviations
The following abbreviations are used throughout this report:
- APESB
- Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board
- APES
- Accounting Professional and Ethical Standard
- APRA
- Australian Prudtntial Regulation Authority
- AQRB
- Audit Quality Review Board
- ASIC
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission
- ASIC Act
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001
- ASX
- Australian Securities Exchange Ltd
- ASXMS
- Australian Securities Exchange Markets Supervision Pty Ltd
- ATO
- Australian Taxation Office
- CALDB
- Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board
- CLERP
- Corporate Law Economic Reform Program
- CLERP 9 Act
- Corporate Law Economic Reform Program (Audit Reform and Corporate Disclosure) Act 2004
- Corporations Act
- Corporations Act 2001
- FRC
- Financial Reporting Council
- IAESB
- International Accounting Education Standards Board
- ICAA
- The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia
- IESBA
- International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants
- IFAC
- International Federation of Accountants
- IFIAR
- International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators
- IOSCO
- International Organization of Securities Commissions
- MOU
- Memorandum of Undtrstanding
- MOU bodies
- APRA, ASIC, ASX, CPA Australia, ICAA and NIA
- NIA
- National Institute of Accountants
- PCAOB
- Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States)
- RCAs
- Registered Company Auditors
- SEC
- Securities and Exchange Commission (United States)
- SMSF
- Self-Managed Superannuation Fund
- SRS Act
- Corporations Legislation Amendment (Simpler Regulatory System) Act 2007
- Treasury
- Australian Treasury
- UK
- United Kingdom
- US
- United States of America
Australian auditors, auditors, individual auditors, audit firms and audit companies
The ASIC and Corporations Acts use a number of terms to describe the individuals, firms and companies that may be appointed as auditor for a company or a registered scheme under Part 2M.4 of the Corporations Act.
The expression Australian auditor', which is used in Part 12 of the ASIC Act for setting the scope of the FRC's auditor independence function, is defined in section 5 of that Act to mean an individual auditor, an audit firm or an audit company.
In the Corporations Act, the terms individual auditor', audit firm' and audit company' are used to describe the manner in which the requirements of the Act apply to the different structures under which an audit practice may be conducted: sole trader, partnership and company.
For purposes of consistency and to simplify drafting, this report uses the expression audit firm to refer to all three structures.
Contact officer
The contact officer for this report is the Financial Reporting Council Secretary, who may be contacted at:
- Post:
- Secretary
Financial Reporting Council
c/- The Treasury
Langton Crescent
PARKES ACT 2600 - Telephone:
- 02 6263 3144
- Facsimile:
- 02 6263 2770
- Email:
- frcsecretary@treasury.gov.au