Bodies In Australia Research Articles

Fidelity, Faith and Openness

Despite the theoretical critiques made of observational films in recent decades, the genre is currently gaining good audiences and strong institutional support from government film funding bodies in Australia. In an attempt to explain audience attraction to observational documentary films it is posited that viewers endow the observational style with presenting a greater fidelity to real states of affairs than other documentary modes. Secondly, the recognisable codes of observational film set up a filmmaker/audience contract; a viewer faith in seeing what the filmmaker believes is close to unmediated reality. Thirdly, because of the use of the extended take, loose structure and the refusal to fix meaning, observational films exhibit an openness and invite greater audience involvement in the construction of meaning.

Why do Unions form Peak Bodies? The Case of the Barrier Industrial Council

Despite the long history and continuing importance of peak union bodies in Australian industrial relations, there have been very few attempts to analyze, let alone theorize about, their development. This omission in the literature is particu larly striking in relation to the origins of such bodies. Those rare treatments that do examine the formation of peak union bodies are unsatisfactory; most either assume that such forms of unity are inevitable or point to external causes in a rather mechanistic way. We propose a model of peak union formation that com bines internal and external processes, emphasizing the connection between them. We argue that for any group of unions to form a peak body, a state of internal equilibrium must exist between the unions concerned, and that these unions must also be presented with a clear external threat or opportunity. The model is used here to explain the origins of one of the oldest continuous local peak bodies in Australia, the Barrier Industrial Council, but we suggest that the model has a general applicability.

AUDITOR PREFERENCES FOR LIABILITY LIMITATION

AbstractDebate over statutorily limiting auditor civil liability has implicitly assumed auditors are homogeneous in their preferences for capping liability. This study examines the preferences of auditors for limiting auditor liability and investigates reasons for the preferences. The study uses an Australian setting in which there has been a persistent debate for a decade or more over regulatory intervention in this area. The study provides a background to the debate over this issue and addresses the effects of two factors suggested by the extant literature, namely auditor size and the business risk of an auditor's client portfolio. These factors are argued to affect the expected costs of litigation facing auditors and therefore their preferences on capping liability. Using the submissions by audit firms on an Australian Companies and Securities Law Review Committee Discussion Paper on limiting auditor liability, the study finds larger audit firms that have greater capacities to lobby and greater expected costs of litigation from unlimited liability than smaller firms, dominate the respondents on the Paper and tend to be more supportive of liability limitation than smaller audit firms. Within the array of possible methods of capping liability canvassed by the Discussion Paper, the study documents evidence of diversity in preferences among audit firms. Larger audit firm size is associated with a preference for a group of methods that provides such firms with opportunities to benefit from the capping at the expense of the smaller audit firms. The method most preferred by the larger audit firms is the multiple of fee with a prescribed minimum. Perhaps not surprisingly, this is also the preferred method of the professional accounting bodies in Australia. As to the effect of the riskiness of the client portfolio on preferences for methods of limiting liability, the study finds that higher business risk in an auditor's portfolio is associated with a preference for methods that give greater control over their liability exposure. The study has implications for the impact of regulation of capping liability on competition in the audit services market.

GreatExpectations: PublicPerceptionsOfTheAuditor'sRole

The professional accounting bodies in Australia have undertaken a study of the “expectation gap” in perceptions of the auditing role and concluded that the public's image of the auditing profession will be enhanced if the differences in attitudes can be minimised. This paper analyses the views of auditors and financial report users about what the role of the auditor and the nature of an audit should be. The most significant differences between the auditors and the user groups relate to whether the auditor should be responsible for preventing and detecting fraud, detecting illegal acts, reporting whether the company is a reliable debtor or loan prospect and reporting the degree of confidence he or she has that the correct audit opinion has been issued. Where the differences represent “deficient standards” or “unreasonable expectations”, the professional bodies should consider changing auditor responsibilities or attempting to change users' attitudes.

Applying quality assurance principles to food control: Andrew Green describes the Australian experience

The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) is the major food control body in Australia. AQIS has been promoting an alternative to traditional inspection of food products for export since 1987, whereby client companies document and implement quality assurance systems which are approved by AQIS. Instead of inspecting each consignment, AQIS periodically audits the company quality systems to provide a basis for issuing certification and meeting its regulatory obligations. AQIS has recently developed additional quality-assurance-based inspection options tailored to meet specific needs in the food industry, or to satisfy certain quarantine requirements. These options are briefly outlined and some of the difficulties faced and experience gained in fostering a quality assurance approach to food and quarantine inspection in Australia are explored.

Standardization Procedures Involving Moderator Variables—Some Theoretical Considerations

Much of the research initiated by examining bodies in Australia has concerned the standardizing of marks and grades to achieve comparability when different methods of assessment are used to evaluate the same course objectives and between subjects whose candidatures are not homogeneous. The procedures employed raise theoretical issues, some of which (the interpretation of grades, meaning of comparability and use of moderator variables) are discussed in this paper. It is shown that although no numerical transformation can make measurements of different skills comparable, performances can be compared, in a relative sense, by reference to a standard population. Scaling, then, is seen as the process by which the grade relative to this population is estimated from the raw mark. Two procedures which employ moderator variables are examined and their characteristics noted.

Australian Wage Fixation and a Change in its Method

Describes the evolving methods and concepts of wage fixation by public bodies in Australia since the beginning of the century. Objectives relevant to the article; Basic wages allowed by the court; Criticism of wage fixation. (Abstract copyright EBSCO.)