Australia's involvements with international and other domestic standard-setters are changing very quickly. Within the last year we have seen the agendas of the AASB and our New Zealand counterpart, the Financial Reporting Standards Board (FRSB), coming together, stimulated by the agreement of the countries' Prime Ministers to achieve harmonisation of outcomes from our respective accounting and auditing requirements. The Boards are now engaged in due process to remove differences in standards and are pursuing projects together.

In the region, in November 2009, we saw the formation of the Asia Oceania Standard Setters Group, a group consisting of China, Japan, India, Korea, a number of middle east countries, Australia, New Zealand and all of the major South East Asian countries, as members. This regional body is aiming to achieve leverage for its views expressed to the IASB and to counter-balance the views out of Europe and the US. The Group also has a developmental role for standard setting in the region.

Australia and New Zealand have always paid great attention to financial reporting in the public sector and are highly regarded for our work. Internationally, we have witnessed the maturing of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) of IFAC. Both countries have contributed significantly to IPSASB and both realise that the path being taken by IPSASB is similar to that taken by the predecessor of the IASB, namely the IASC, as its seeks to be the prime standard setter in the public sector. Now IPSASB is devoting considerable resources to developing a public sector specific conceptual framework. This is starting to create some tension around the transaction neutrality policies adopted until now in New Zealand and Australia. The AASB is trying to manage its involvement in IPSASB's work in a manner that sees us being very constructive technically and in terms of resources, but without committing to creating separate streams of financial reporting requirements which we believe would see us sacrifice many of the benefits we currently enjoy from an integrated model. To maintain that stance, the AASB is intent on also ensuring its own public sector agenda is active and relevant.

The above involvements are just some of the ways in which international relationships are directly impacting Australian standard setting. Global, regional and domestic standard setting are becoming very interwoven.
 

The AASB has launched a special section of the AASB website to act as a portal for updates regarding all aspects of the Differential Reporting project, including:

• project updates on the progress of the Differential Reporting Project
• Tier 2 requirements including Standards establishing Tier 2 and compiled RDR versions of Australian Accounting Standards for early adopters
• an explanation of the principles used to determine Tier 2 disclosure requirements
• an archive of consultative documents, submissions, media releases and other material relating to the Differential Reporting project

At the October 2010 AOSSG meeting, held in Tokyo, AASB Chairman Kevin Stevenson was elected Chairman of the AOSSG from November 2011 to November 2012. As such, Australia will host the next annual meeting of the AOSSG in November 2011, a critical time for the adoption and/or renovation of IFRS.
 

AASB Project Manager, Joanna Spencer, has been seconded to the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) in the UK as a Project Director for two years. She is helping to develop a Standard for Public Benefit Entities.

AASB Assistant Project Manager, Raymond Yu has returned from his secondment to ASIC. He assisted with their financial reporting surveillance program as well as checking whether the financial reports of selected companies have been prepared in accordance with the Corporations Act 2001 and Australian Accounting Standards.

In August this year, the AASB said a fond farewell to Mrs Daping Gao after her twelve month work placement organised by her employer, the Accounting Regulatory Department, part of the Ministry of Finance based in Beijing.

Daping’s work at the AASB included researching issues and preparing papers on a range of topics, including service performance reporting by not-for-profit entities, financial instruments and insurance contracts. This experience allowed Daping to learn about the Australian process where consideration of accounting standards is made in both a for-profit and not-for profit context, learn about the relevant laws and government departments established in Australia and make a comparison of hedge accounting between some Asian countries. Daping also described her experience as invaluable in giving her the opportunity to develop her English skills.

Her work on service performance reporting provided the Board with research on the practices of a range of entities, including not-for-profit entities such as charities, considerations on the scope of the project and whether the same principles should be applied to all types of not-for-profit entities. Her work on financial instruments aided the AASB in providing feedback to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on its proposals concerning the expected loss model and the presentation of the impact of changes in ‘own credit risk’ on financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss.

Now back in China, Daping continues her work at the Ministry of Finance. She is in charge of revising some of the accounting requirements in relation to IFRS annual improvements, and also enjoying being reunited with her family.

The AASB is very grateful for the contribution Daping made to helping progress a number of standard setting projects and wishes her well for the future
 

Until 15 December 2010

ED 202R Leases

Until 12 January 2011

ED 205 Extending Relief from Consolidation, the Equity Method and Proportionate Consolidation

Until 31 January 2011

ITC 24 Invitation to Comment - ITC 24 Request for Comment on IASB Request for Views on Effective Dates and Transition Methods

ED 204 Tier 2 Supplement to ED 204 Deferred Tax: Recovery of Underlying Assets (proposed amendments to AASB 112)

ED 198 Tier 2 Supplement to ED 198 Revenue from Contracts with Customers

ED 202R Tier 2 Supplement to ED 202R Leases

The AASB hosted an IASB Forum, facilitated by the IASB's Warren McGregor and Henry Rees, on 26 August 2010

The AASB hosted an Insurance Roundtable, facilitated by Kevin Stevenson on 29 October 2010