Why research on Audit and Assurance services?

Without high quality financial reporting to capital markets, capital providers are reluctant to make capital investments. This affects the capacity of Australian businesses to attract both foreign and domestic investment, which affects Australia's ability to compete in global economic markets. Audit and assurance services play a crucial role in enhancing the quality of financial reporting. Recent corporate collapses such as HIH Insurance in Australia, and Enron and WorldCom in the US have focussed attention on the importance of the audit and assurance function in maintaining investors' confidence in capital markets. It is quite clear that the quality of audit and assurance services has a significant impact on an economy and its share markets. Understanding the audit process and the role it plays in capital markets is a very important research area. There is a need for Australian research that:

• contributes to improving the quality of audit and assurance services
• contributes to the identification of fraudulent financial reporting
• contributes to implementing policies that enhance auditor independence
• contributes to improving the quality of judgements and decisions made by auditors
• contributes to improving the ethicality of decisions made by auditors
• contributes to improved financial reporting by Australian companies
• leads to increased confidence that Australian capital markets are safe to invest in