Australia's Regulatory Response to Recent Corporate Collapses and Perceived Auditing Deficiencies

This project investigates the efficacy of the Federal Government's and the Australian Stock Exchange s reforms to Australia's corporate financial reporting, auditing, and governance framework (CLERP 2003, ASX 2003). The reforms represent Australia s response to high profile corporate collapses (eg HIH, One.Tel), which cost stakeholders hundreds of millions of dollars and generated inquiries into the independence of company auditors. Efficacy is measured in terms of whether less "manipulation" of corporate earnings occurs after implementation of the reforms. The research findings will facilitate policy evaluation of the reforms against key economic principles underlying the Government's corporate law economic reform program.