The Role of Internal Audit in Australian Local Government Governance: A Step in The Right Direction

While the functions of local government are many and varied, the primary role is to provide effective performance which arguably will coincide with good governance for its municipality. Internal audit and relevant controls play a key role in ensuring that good governance. The introduction of accrual...

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Main Author: Pilcher, Robyn
Format: Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2178213
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29685
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author Pilcher, Robyn
author_facet Pilcher, Robyn
author_sort Pilcher, Robyn
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description While the functions of local government are many and varied, the primary role is to provide effective performance which arguably will coincide with good governance for its municipality. Internal audit and relevant controls play a key role in ensuring that good governance. The introduction of accrual accounting in local government certainly has added complexity and additional risks, with cases of fraud, corruption and high risk investments in several Australian local councils being reported periodically by the media. Those cases have been accompanied by proposed governance reforms including the introduction of an internal audit function to address the issues raised. Although seen as an essential part of the governance process, the results here suggest there is still some confusion as to the role of the internal audit and its perceived effectiveness in Australian local government.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-296852018-12-14T00:59:51Z The Role of Internal Audit in Australian Local Government Governance: A Step in The Right Direction Pilcher, Robyn accrual accounting internal audit local government agency theory Australia governance While the functions of local government are many and varied, the primary role is to provide effective performance which arguably will coincide with good governance for its municipality. Internal audit and relevant controls play a key role in ensuring that good governance. The introduction of accrual accounting in local government certainly has added complexity and additional risks, with cases of fraud, corruption and high risk investments in several Australian local councils being reported periodically by the media. Those cases have been accompanied by proposed governance reforms including the introduction of an internal audit function to address the issues raised. Although seen as an essential part of the governance process, the results here suggest there is still some confusion as to the role of the internal audit and its perceived effectiveness in Australian local government. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29685 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2178213 Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. restricted
spellingShingle accrual accounting
internal audit
local government
agency theory
Australia
governance
Pilcher, Robyn
The Role of Internal Audit in Australian Local Government Governance: A Step in The Right Direction
title The Role of Internal Audit in Australian Local Government Governance: A Step in The Right Direction
title_full The Role of Internal Audit in Australian Local Government Governance: A Step in The Right Direction
title_fullStr The Role of Internal Audit in Australian Local Government Governance: A Step in The Right Direction
title_full_unstemmed The Role of Internal Audit in Australian Local Government Governance: A Step in The Right Direction
title_short The Role of Internal Audit in Australian Local Government Governance: A Step in The Right Direction
title_sort role of internal audit in australian local government governance: a step in the right direction
topic accrual accounting
internal audit
local government
agency theory
Australia
governance
url http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2178213
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29685