Media Releases
View what we have to say about topics of interest to our members and the accounting profession.
If you have any queries about the topic of interest, please contact us at [email protected].
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Billions in community grants used to secure election votes, new report reveals
A new report has found that billions of dollars in federal community grants have been strategically allocated to secure votes in recent elections, rather than to boost critical community services as intended.
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IPA Calls for a National Small Business Administration Agency to Empower SMEs
The Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) urges the Australian Government to establish a Small Business Administration (SBA)-style agency to centralise support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
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The Institute of Public Accountants' policy priorities to lift Australia’s productivity
The Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) outlines its policy priorities for the 2025 federal election, heavily focusing on supporting small business productivity and sustainability.
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2025-26 Australian Federal Budget: The decline of small business is a silent tax on Australia's future
The 2025-26 Federal Budget has failed a critical test: reversing the alarming slide of Australia’s small business sector. Small businesses are confronted with unprecedented challenges. Data reveals a disturbing trend: their contribution to GDP has plummeted from 40 per cent in 2006 to just 33 per cent today, while their share of private sector employment has fallen from 53 per cent to 42 per cent*.
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2025-26 Australian Federal Budget: Please don’t ignore the red flags, complacency is our enemy
“Australia is sleepwalking into an economic wasteland, and successive governments have been ignoring the red flags,” says Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) CEO Professor Andrew Conway. “Global organisations have been warning Australia about the state of our economy and the lack of attention to productivity boosting reforms and initiatives,” says Professor Conway. Here are some of the disturbing trends we can’t ignore and why we should care:
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Accounting bodies left with no option but to cease Accounting Professional Year Program for international students
CPA Australia, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and Institute of Public Accountants have informed the government of their intention to cease the Accounting Professional Year Program (Accounting PY Program).
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Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services relating to the inquiry on Ethics and Professional Accountability: Structural Challenges in the Audit, Assurance and Consultancy Industry.
Overall, the IPA supports the recommendations from the report and believes they will go a long way to restoring trust in the profession, if they are implemented. IPA believes that we must take a holistic and coordinated approach to ensure that we achieve a cohesive and robust outcome in order to restore trust and confidence and to improve accountability and governance.
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Constitutional changes being proposed at AGM 2024
The Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) must retain its status as a professional accounting association, in line with government and community expectations. This means the IPA’s complaints and disciplinary function needs to be best practice.
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Advocacy Update: Amendments to Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024 Tabled for Comments
There has been significant advocacy work by the profession since the Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024 was registered on 2 July 2024, which has resulted in amendments to the determination. Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones released the amendments to the determination yesterday for public consultation, and submissions are due by 2 October 2024.
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Institute of Public Accountants welcomes Commonwealth Government climate reporting legislation
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Bill 2024 that provides more certainty for climate reporting received Royal Assent on 17 September 2024. The new legislation provides more certainty by establishing when the climate statements should be prepared, how they should be prepared, and which entities should prepare them.