One of Australia’s largest accounting lobby groups has urged caution against placing more red tape on business structures amid concerns over alleged misconduct in auditing and consultancy firms.
A parliamentary inquiry will hold a hearing on Friday into allegations of misconduct at major consulting, audit and accounting firms.
The inquiry was prompted by the PwC tax leaks scandal, where the consulting giant leaked secret government information to clients on how to dodge taxes.
In a submission, CPA Australia said professional service firms used structures that were legitimate.
“We caution against placing constraints on business structures without due consideration of the impacts on the public, consumers and other market participants, particularly smaller firms,” the statement reads.
CPA Australia wrote its primary concerns related to firm structures are associated with reporting and disclosure requirements.
They back the introduction of improved and disclosure requirements for larger accounting firms not currently required to report.
The Governance Institute of Australia said it would continue to advocate for the strengthening of whistleblower protections.
“Australia still lacks a comprehensive whistle-blower protection mechanism and is therefore far behind the rest of the world,” it said.
“Our members consider there continues to be a need for a stand-alone, general whistleblower protection regime in its own act (applicable to the private sector).”
The institute wrote given the complexities involved in whistleblower protections, there was a need for an independent whistleblower protection authority, which was previously recommended by a senate committee almost 30 years ago.
The committee will hand down its report by mid-2024.