Senator the Hon Nick Sherry, Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law, has welcomed the passage through Parliament of the Governance Review Implementation (AASB and AUASB) Bill 2008.
The Bill improves the existing governance arrangements of the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) and the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB).
The Bill transfers both boards from the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (the CAC Act) to the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (the FMA Act) from 1 July 2008.
The Bill also establishes the Office of the Australian Accounting Standards Board and the Office of the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, to support the operations of the AASB and the AUASB. The Chairs of the AASB and the AUASB will hold the position of Chief Executive of each respective Office.
"This governance structure is well suited to the AASB and AUASB and will improve the existing accountability and governance arrangements. Under the new framework, the Chief Executives will be directly responsible to Parliament."
"The Bill will not change the current statutory functions of the AASB and the AUASB with respect to development of accounting and auditing standards. Both the AASB and the AUASB perform a valuable role as standard setters," said Minister Sherry.
The Financial Reporting Council will maintain its important strategic oversight role with respect to both Boards. Consequential changes will be made to the FRC's functions in relation to approval of financial and administrative matters.
"The Bill will ensure that the FRC's critical role in Australia's financial reporting system will continue," said Minister Sherry.