Our latest insights

On 3 November 2021, the High Court of Australia handed down a landmark decision, ruling that the “backpacker tax” imposed on a UK national who was deemed to be an Australian tax resident was in breach of the non-discrimination clauses in the Australia-UK Double Tax Agreement.

The deadline for applications for Director Identification Numbers (DIN’s or Director ID’s) for existing Directors has been set.

The office of Local Government has proposed new minimum standards for risk management and internal audit.

With the implementation of the Director Identification Numbers (DIN’s or Director ID’s) growing imminent, it will be important to understand the new obligations for those operating in the capacity of a Director, as failure to apply for a DIN within the required time frame will leave you open to both criminal and civil penalties.

Following the recent Parliamentary Inquiry into class actions and public debate around regulatory settings during COVID-19, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has announced his intention to legislate permanent reform to continuous disclosure laws.

In the words of Richard Olswang, Prudential Global IFRS 17 Actuarial Lead, IFRS 17 has the potential to be bigger than Solvency II and with APRA seeking an industry update as early as August, it’s important to understand the changes and the implications.

The recent COVID-19 outbreak has caused extensive disruptions to the entire global economy.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) recently published its plans to significantly scale up its efforts to raise the standards of governance, culture, remuneration and accountability (GCRA) across financial institutions.

Corporate governance has been a hot topic of discussion in Australia for many years – spearheaded by Royal Commissions, drilled home by corporate law changes to charge company directors with more responsibilities, and demanded by consumers and shareholders holding companies to a higher standard of behaviour and transparency.

Last month, the Government released its implementation roadmap accepting all 76 of the Royal Commission’s recommendations plus committing to an additional 18 actions.

IFRS News is a quarterly publication by the Grant Thornton International Financial Reporting Standards team and it provides a global insight into developments in International Financial Reporting Standards. These developments have a direct impact on Australia since our standards mirror the international ones, albeit with a slightly different numbering system.

In January 2016, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued IFRS 16 Leases which represents the first major overhaul in lease accounting for over 30 years.