Audit Quality in Australia: The Perspective of Audit Committee Chairs (2nd Report)

Monday, February 8, 2021

The Auditing and Assurance Standards Board are pleased to release the 2nd report on Audit Quality in Australia: The Perspective of Audit Committee Chairs. This report presents the results of a survey conducted jointly with the FRC to gather the perspective of Audit Committee Chairs (ACCs) on audit quality.

ACCs are an important constituency in the discussion about audit quality, as they play an integral role in aiding and assessing the performance and quality of their external auditor.

This report details the results of the survey, as well as further insights on ACCs’ perspectives on audit quality. The report aims to assist audit committees and auditors as they work together with the goal of improving audit quality, and ultimately the integrity of financial reporting.

This is the second survey of this type that has been conducted in Australia, following the first in 2018. In order to achieve a direct comparison to perceptions of audit quality in prior years, specific questions from the 2018 survey have been replicated in this survey. Furthermore, as this survey was undertaken in November 2020, it permits insights into ACCs perceptions of audit quality in a year significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.