Australia’s accounting education
[Thursday, 4 February 2010]

The future of accounting education in Australia is at cross roads, as leading academics decry the state of accounting education in Australia and call for improvements in the quality of institutions and its students.

The overwhelming sentiment came from a forum in Adelaide today entitled Australian Accounting Education for the Future: Possible Challenges and Strategies, an initiative of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (the Institute) and the University of South Australia.

The collaborative forum was established to investigate the contemporary challenges around accounting education, academe and the profession in Australia. The forum provided leading academics the opportunity to have an open, honest discussion on possible strategies, issues and challenges for professional accounting graduates and academia. The forum formed part of the Institute’s quality in accounting education program.

Professor James Guthrie, the Institute’s Head of Academic Relations said, “Accounting education, including its course content, is not consistent across the many education providers in this country.”


The solution, according to Professor Guthrie and many of the other academics who presented at the forum, lies in the industry working together to clearly define a universal learning and teaching framework.

“Professional recognition should go hand-in-hand with an industry consistent education framework,” said Prof Guthrie.

The timing of such a framework is timely with the federal governments review into higher learning ‘The Baird review’ due to deliver its findings later this month.

“The Institute will work closely with Bruce Baird and others, to help define and better the academic standards for accounting education in Australia,” said Prof Guthrie.

“We need immediate industry action… If we don’t then we run the risk of future regulation in this area,” added Prof Guthrie.