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Requiring members of professional bodies to report wrongdoing committed by other members to the relevant body could result in unintended consequences, the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board has warned.
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APESB defers decision on CA ANZ request for new reporting
27 August 2024
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The Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board (APESB) has responded to a request by Chartered Accountants ANZ (CA ANZ) to introduce a requirement for members to report wrongdoing committed by other members to the relevant professional body.
CA ANZ made the request for the new reporting requirement in July last year following the completion of its Professional Conduct Framework Review.
The accounting body said the APESB should consider the inclusion in APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants of a duty to report others’ reasonably suspected misconduct to their professional body.
In a recent letter to CA ANZ, the APESB said it had decided to defer any further consideration of the request until the outcomes of the relevant parliamentary inquiries are known. The letter was provided as part of the inquiry into audit, assurance, and the consulting industry.
The APESB has concerns about the “potential unintended consequences” on members if mandatory reporting is implemented without adequate legislative protections for whistleblowing.
Based on its research, the board said that whistleblowing protections in Australia are currently inadequate for members to be required to make these kinds of disclosures.
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“As partnerships are not covered by the whistleblowing protections under the Corporations Act 2001, not all members of a professional accounting body in Australia would be legally protected if required to make a disclosure about the conduct of other members,” said the APESB.
In its letter, the APESB said that there are parliamentary inquiries currently in progress that are considering the adequacy of the current whistleblowing provisions in Australia.
“Based on the matters raised during the inquiries, it is possible that reforms to enhance the current protections may be recommended,” the APESB said.
“Accordingly, at this stage, APESB has determined to defer further consideration of this request until the outcomes of the relevant parliamentary inquiries are known.”
In a separate letter given to the inquiry, CA ANZ noted the concerns raised by the APESB in regard to the risks for members given the lack of whistleblower protections in Australia.
The professional body said the response from the APESB highlighted the importance of having “harmonised whistleblower protections”.
CA ANZ has called on the parliamentary joint committee on corporations and financial services conducting the inquiry into audit, assurance, and consulting to give full consideration to the submissions it has made on the topic.
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