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This study explores the perceptions of bribery among senior public servants within Papua New Guinea’s (PNG’s) government departments. Using structuration theory, consideration is given to individual, cultural, and organisational factors influencing bribery, based on interviews with 11 senior public servants from three government departments. Findings reveal that most public servants acknowledged bribery exists in PNG’s public sector. Perceptions of and perceived reasons for bribery typically reflected prioritisation of personal agency influenced by traditional and organisational (public sector) cultural norms, rather than responsibilities and accountabilities as agents operating within formal public sector structures.

In this chapter, the changes that have occurred in the Australian government’s(Commonwealth) accounting systems and its reporting/disclosure regimes over the last 30 years and the consequential effects on accountability will be considered. Many of these changes result from a combination of several factors (Broadbent & Guthrie 1992; Ryan 1995). One of the factors proposed as being a catalyst for the changes is the emergence of the ‘new right’ and its promotion of market solutions to public sector resourcing problems (Hood 1991). Whilst the focus here is on the Australian Commonwealth government, it is also relevant to the various state governments within Australia that have adopted similar changes and to international jurisdictions since these changes have also occurred in other western democracies. As an example, accrual accounting, badged as resource accounting, was introduced in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2001 (Connolly & Hyndman 2006). There were in the UK, as there had been in Australia, concerns about the ability of accrual accounting to deliver effective accountability mechanisms (Carlin 2005).

This paper analyses financial reporting requirements applicable to charities in four jurisdictions—Australia; England; Ireland; New Zealand—using case study analysis which compares the actual financial statements of four charities operating in the same field and with similar levels of total income. The authors highlight common issues and implications in terms of the concepts underpinning not-for-profit organization (NPO) financial reporting and argue the case for harmonized international NPO accounting standards.

This paper analyses financial reporting requirements applicable to charities in four jurisdictions: Australia; England; Ireland; New Zealand, using case study analysis which compares the actual financial statements of four carefully matched charities operating in the same field and with similar levels of total income. We highlight common issues and implications in terms of the concepts underpinning not-for-profit (NPO) financial reporting and the case for harmonized international NPO accounting standards.

This study provides evidence that after several decades of fighting for equal pay for equal work, an unexplained gender pay gap remains amongst senior executives in ASX-listed firms. After controlling for a large suite of personal, occupational and firm observables, we find female senior executives receive, on average, 22.58 percent less in base salary for the period 2002–2013. When executives are awarded performance-based pay, females receive on average 16.47 percent less in cash bonus and 18.21 percent less in long-term incentives than males. The results are robust to using firm fixed effects and propensity-score matching. Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition results show that the mean pay gap cannot be attributed to gender differences in attributes, including job titles. Instead, the results point to differences in returns on firm-specific variables, in particular firm risk.

Purpose This paper strengthens our theoretical understanding of the processes through which a new regulator seeks to gain legitimacy within an existing regulatory space. We do this by investigating the case of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC). Design/methodology/approach Synthesising legitimacy theory with the concept of regulatory space, we analyse formal public discourse surrounding the establishment and operations of the ACNC. Findings Regulation is essentially a context-bound political process in which a new regulator needs to establish legitimacy to ensure its survival. It must convince its constituents that it has developed processes to operate effectively and professionally in addressing constituents’ needs, to bargain authoritatively with other regulators in establishing its operational boundaries, and to engage politically with government and constituents. Over a relatively short time, the ACNC built legitimacy, despite the political threats to its formal regulatory authority. Research limitations/implications Our conclusions are based on our analysis of one case. There is scope for further investigations of the processes by which new regulators establish their legitimacy in different contexts. Practical implications The potential for a political threat to the authority of a new regulator, and the difficulty of achieving regulatory reform, particularly in a federated system such as Australia, highlight the necessity for a new regulator to develop a compelling discourse of legitimacy. Originality/value We synthesise regulatory space and legitimacy perspectives, contributing to an understanding of the processes of regulation.

Numerous financial literacy studies have consistently identified young adults to have low levels of financial capability. Of particular concern is that many of these young people do not have adequate money skills to ride their freedom during university time which may contribute to suboptimal financial behaviours. Prior research into university students’ financial literacy and financial education in school suggests that many students are not confident about money matters with many preferring to learn about financial literacy in university . Accordingly, an initiative including workshops on basic budgeting and saving topics , and a seminar delivered by a financial guru during university orientation week was trialled. However, attendance to these workshops and the seminar were disappointingly low. The experience prompted the researchers to consider other approaches to help students improve their financial literacy. This paper provides a reflection of the orientation week initiative , as well as proposes ways to incorporate financial literacy in introductory accounting course .

Using a sample of companies from the top 500 listed firms in Australia, we investigate whether the presence of a designated nomination committee and female representation on the nomination committee affect board gender diversity. We also examine whether gender diversity on the board affects firm risk and financial performance. We find that board gender diversity is significantly and positively associated with the presence of a designated nomination committee and that female representation on the nomination committee is a significant explanatory factor of increasing board gender diversity following the release of the 2010 Australian Securities Exchange Corporate Governance Council (ASXCGC) recommendations. Further, our results support the business case for board gender diversity as we find greater gender diversity moderates excessive firm risk which in turn improves firms’ financial performance. Our results are robust after correcting for selection bias and controlling for other board, firm and industry characteristics.

This paper raises the issue of whether not-for-profit (NFP) organisations require a conceptual framework that acknowledges their mission imperative and enables them to discharge their broader accountability. Relying on publicly available documentation and literature, it suggests that current conceptaul Frameworks for the for-profit and public sectors are inadequate in meeting the accountability needs of broader NFP-specific accountability and the formulation of NFP-appropriate reporting practice, including the provision of financial and non-financial reporting. The paper thus theoretically challenges existing financial reporting arrangements and investes debate on their future direction.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to look at auditor obligations to their clients and potentially to third parties such as investors, with a focus on the quality of financial disclosure in an evolving legal framework. Design/methodology/approach – The article outlines and compares established and emerging trends relative to information disclosure and contractual performance in parallel contexts where information asymmetry exists. In particular, this article considers the disclosure regime that has evolved in the insurance industry to address the substantial imbalance in the level of knowledge possessed by the insured in comparison to the prospective insurer. Abductive reasoning is used to identify causal constructs that explain the data pattern from which the theorised potential for judicial revision of the interpretation of “true and fair” in line with “good faith” in legal regulation is derived. Findings – The authors conclude that there is little doubt that a duty of good faith in relation to auditor-company contractual dealings and potentially a broader good faith duty to third parties such as investors in companies may be on the horizon. Originality/value – In the context of stated objectives by organisations such as the International Federation of Accountants to reconcile ethical and technical skills in the wake of the global financial crisis, there is an increased need to rebuild public and investor confidence in the underpinning integrity of financial reporting. This paper offers a perspective on one way to achieve this by recognising the similarities in the information asymmetry relationships in the insurance industry and how the notion of “good faith” in that relationship could be useful in the audit situation.

The alignment of curricula with desired generic higher education learning outcomes, widely referred to as graduate attributes, has been on the agenda for some time. To be implemented widely, graduate initiatives must accommodate variations in curricular landscape between and within institutions, disciplines and programs. QUT Faculty of Business is a partner (along with University of Sydney, University of Techology, Sydney, and University of Queensland) in the ongoing Australian Learning and Teaching Council funded project Facilitating Staff and Student Engagement Graduate Attribute Development, Assessment and Standards in Business Faculties. Each project partner is implementing and evaluating strategies and tools and the extent to which students and staff can be engaged with a focus on higher level attributes, into the assessmnet procedures of units in their faculties. The paper describes the progress of this project and the use of the ReView software tool within the QUT Faculty of Business, where three distinctly different units have participated. These units include 1) a higher enrolment undergraduate first year core unit, 2) a capstone unit for students in a particular major, and 3) a graduate unit with a high percentage of international students.The adaptation of high level strategies to accommodate institutional, student and operational diversities is elaborated and discussed. A significant reflection of project staff participants has been their increased appreication of the differences between the ways curricula is structured, documented and administered in Business faculties of partner institutions, and how that impacts upon applying graduate attribute engagement strategies and tools. Also, technological tools, such as the ReView sofware application, which is being utilised across the project, must cope with varying local requirements. The differences between the three QUT units include such characteristics as numbers and profiles of students, curricular purp

The Associations Incorporation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006 was introduced into the Queensland Parliament on 28 November, 2006. The Bill follows a review and community consultation by the Office of Fair Trading of the Associations Incorporation Act. Not all of the matters identified in the review have been dealt with in the Bill and it is anticipated that another bill will be introduced to cover these matters. The Bill contains two significant reforms for incorporated associations which are: (1) changes to mandatory public liability insurance, and (2) relaxation of compulsory annual audit provisions for small associations. There are a number of minor measures included in the Bill most of which clarify ambiguities in the Act.

The emergence of new public management has been implicated in the changes that have occurred in the public sectors of western democracies. One outcome of these changes is that the public sector is expected to operate in a more commercial manner and that it be accountable not only for the money that it spends but also for the effectiveness with which it spends those funds. In response to these expectations, changes have occurred in both the accounting technologies and reporting mechanisms for the public sector. The Treasuries and Departments of Finance for each jurisdiction in Australia set accounting and financial reporting policy for the public sector. However, since the establishment of the Public Sector Accounting Standards Board in 1983, the commonwealth and state governments have shown a willingness to adopt standards issued by the accounting profession. The adoption of three specific public sector accounting standards developed by the accounting profession in accordance with the conceptual framework, mean that a financial reporting model, based on the private sector 'decision-useful model', has been adopted in the Australian public sector. The 'decision-useful model' incorporates dependent users who are reliant on general purpose financial reports to make economic decisions. The decision to adopt this model for all public sector reporting entities, did not receive unanimous support. The complexities of the public sector formed the foundation for critics to question the applicability of this model to the public sector. In addition, critics argued that the model lacked empirical substantiation. The purpose of this research is to determine the applicability of the 'decision-useful model' to the public sector by empirically identifying users of public sector general purpose financial reports and their information requirements. Prior empirical research has been piecemeal in terms of both scope and research method. As a result, it has not been cumulative. This resea

The nature of financial reporting in the public sector in Australia has undergone substantial change in the last twenty years. One result has been the promulgation of public sector accounting standards based on the private sector conceptual framework for general purpose financial reports. A central key to this framework is the existence of users and their needs. This framework emphasises the provision of information for users for the purpose of decision making. Critics of the framework as it applies to the public sector claim that it lacks empirical substantiation and ignores the complexity and diversity of public sector institutions. This paper examines and analyses the annual report distribution lists for local government authorities within Queensland and provides empirical evidence on distribution patterns. The study finds that there are user groups which fall outside the categories identified by the conceptual framework. Further, there is a wide variety in the dissemination lists of local government authorities and cross sectional differences in the distribution patterns for urban and rural local government authorities. The results of this research raise important questions for public sector accounting regulators regarding the appropriateness of assuming that there exists a homogeneous set of users for all public sector entity types.

The impact of regulation on the publication of consolidated statements by Australian listed companies is examined by reviewing evidence of the first use of consolidated statements by holding companies listed on the Sydney Stock Exchange, excluding companies incorporated elsewhere, and relating that evidence to the chronology of the development of statutory, professional and stock-exchange regulations permitting or prescribing the use of consolidated statements. The findings are that the wider adoption of consolidation accounting has been associated with changes in statutory and other forms of regulation. These findings contradict the conclusions of earlier studies (Whittred, 1986, 1987, 1988), namely that regulation was of minimal influence, and that the adoption of consolidation accounting was explainable by ‘contracting cost variables’. Major flaws identified in these earlier studies were an apparent failure to recognize that Sydney listed companies may have been subject to regulations established in other jurisdictions, and a crucial misinterpretation of the history of Australian stock exchange listing rules, which led to the misidentification of listed companies as having adopted consolidation ‘voluntarily’. The findings also underline comments made previously in critiques of other papers which have tested hypotheses incorporating agency or contracting costs. While historical analysis can assist the exercise of judgment in the classification of events, those who rely on historical evidence in the development of theories and in framing hypotheses should use that evidence with care, having regard to pertinent contextual factors.

Janet Mack was a top student of Cleveland School artist William Zorach, and her work resembles and reflects Zorach's work.