Review of Requirements for the
Registration and Regulation of
Company Auditors

Report of a Working Party of the
Ministerial Council for Corporations

July 1997

Commonwealth of Australia 1997

ISBN 0 642 26108 3

This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the Director Publishing and Marketing AGPS. Inquiries should be directed to the Manager, AGPS Press, Australian Government Publishing Service, GPO Box 84, Canberra ACT 2601.

Produced by Pirie Printers

CONTENTS
Abbreviations	iv
Glossary of Selected Terms	v
Chapter 1	Introduction	
Chapter 2	Summary of Issues, Conclusions and Recommendations	
Chapter 3	Company Auditing in Australia	
Chapter 4	Undertaking the Registration and Supervisory Functions	
Chapter 5	Pre‑Requisites for Registration	
Chapter 6	Post‑Registration Supervision	
Chapter 7	Appointment and Independence of Auditors	
Chapter 8	Discipline	
Chapter 9	Other Corporations Law Issues Affecting Review	
Chapter 10 	Implications of Review for  Other Legislation	
Chapter 11	Resource Implications	
Appendix A	Submissions Received by Working Party	
Appendix B	Australian Accounting Bodies	
Appendix C	Distribution of Auditors within each State and Territory	161
Appendix D	Application for Registration as an Auditor 	
Appendix E	Triennial Statement of an Auditor 	
Appendix F	Other Reporting Requirements for Auditors	

ABBREVIATIONS
AARF	Australian Accounting Research Foundation	
AAC	Authorised audit company	
AAT	Administrative Appeals Tribunal	
AGM	Annual general meeting	
AICD	Australian Institute of Company Directors	
AICPA	American Institute of Certified Public Accountants	
ARB	Auditors Registration Board	
ASC	Australian Securities Commission	
ASCPA	Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants	
ASX	Australian Stock Exchange	
ATMA	Association of Taxation and Management Accountants	
AUP 32	Statement of Auditing Practice AUP 32 – Audit Independence	
AuSB	Auditing Standards Board	
CALDB	Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board	
CPA	Certified Practising Accountant	
FRRB	Financial Reporting Review Board	
ICAA	The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia	
ICANZ	Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand	
ICAO	Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ontario	
MINCO	Ministerial Council for Corporations	
MOU	Memorandum of Understanding	
NCSC	National Companies and Securities Commission	
NIA	National Institute of Accountants	
NZSA	New Zealand Society of Accountants	
PY	Professional Year	
RCA	Registered company auditor	
RQB	Recognised qualifying bodies	
RSB	Recognised supervisory bodies	
SCAG	Standing Committee of Attorneys‑General	
SEC	Securities and Exchange Commission	
UIG	Urgent Issues Group	

GLOSSARY OF SELECTED TERMS

authorised accounting body	is an accounting body that meets the criteria listed in recommendation 4.2 and which registers and supervises company auditors under a delegation from the Australian Securities Commission	
accounting profession	includes individuals with accounting qualifications who hold themselves out as providing public accounting services, whether or not they are members of an accounting body	
registering body	the organisation or organisations responsible for the registration and supervision of company auditors