Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Strong economies have a foundation of trust—trust in our government and trust in financial institutions. Trust is how decisions are made—trust that the leadership is accountable and trust that the numbers are correct. After all, the integrity of our markets is crucially important. When people believe the system is fair, when people believe that the system is transparent and operating as it should be, they're far more willing to take part in it.

Confidence in the financial system encourages individuals and businesses to invest. Confidence gives people the opportunity to try new ideas and to make long-term plans with certainty. Because if you're thinking about taking the plunge to start a new business—to write out the plan, to put in the loan and to make it happen—it's confidence that will give you the gusto to do it. If you are thinking about investing in new technology, advanced manufacturing—things that will give you a lift to make your business more productive—it's confidence that will allow you to do that too. If you're thinking about hiring more people to expand your business, it's confidence that will get you there. When trust is strong, participation grows. We know that. That collective confidence is what helps drive a resilient and thriving economy that benefits everyone.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Reporting System Reform) Bill 2026 builds on this foundation to deliver the biggest reform to Australia's financial reporting standards-setting institutions in over two decades. Put simply, this legislation introduces a more flexible and a more accountable way of setting standards by bringing existing standard-setting entities together under a single streamlined body, External Reporting Australia, or ERA.

For some, financial reporting system reform might seem a bit bland. It might not be the thing that they read about at night before they go to bed—not me! I can tell you that making sure something that can seem complex has clarity, is holistic and is simple for people to understand is what will drive confidence in the business community and what will drive confidence in the market. Instead of navigating multiple agencies and processes, ERA creates a clear one-stop shop for guidance, oversight and decision-making. This new structure is designed to respond more quickly to emerging issues, support better consistency and make the system more seamless.

ERA will combine the standard-setting responsibilities that currently sit across three separate bodies: the Australian Accounting Standards Board, the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board and the Financial Reporting Council. By consolidating these functions into a single organisation, ERA will oversee the full suite of reporting standards, accounting, auditing and assurance as well as sustainability. This unified approach means that, instead of navigating multiple different frameworks or interpreting requirements across a number of different agencies, stakeholders will have that one coordinated source of guidance and decision-making. It makes it more simple and it gives people the clarity that they need to have the confidence to make decisions and to have the confidence to plan going forward. This is important because standard-setting organisations have a vital role in supporting the integrity of our markets. Their work helps ensure that the information organisations publish is reliable, consistent and meaningful—the kind of information investors, regulators and the public can genuinely rely on.

When standards are strong and when they're clearly applied, they lift confidence across that whole system and they encourage investment. They encourage people to back our economy and to back Australia. They also reinforce accountability in public institutions, making sure that government reporting is transparent and held to the same expectations of quality and clarity that we know are so critical.

The legislation will strengthen the overall reporting framework so it can more effectively keep pace with new developments in Australia and also overseas. This includes ensuring the system is better equipped to respond to evolving market practices, changes in technology and shifts in international standards. By creating a structure that can adapt more easily, the framework is designed to remain relevant, reliable and aligned with global expectations.

The future is here when it comes to being future focused. We know that technology is moving at an incredibly rapid pace. We see it in the absolute transformation of our markets. We see it in the absolute transformation of business. We see it in the emerging digital assets sector. We see it being used at the checkout, at the pump. Everywhere that is important to everyday Australians we are seeing technology take off, and making sure that our regulation and our laws cover that new technology is incredibly important.

We saw that in some of the financial bills that were moved last year, and we saw it more recently with the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill. Not only is this a government that is focused on ensuring that the technology that is here now is up to date and that our legislation accounts for it; it's also a government that is focused on setting up systems and setting up regulatory frameworks that allow us to grow and move with that rise and with that change in technology.

It's worth looking at the core principles behind the establishment of ERA. The first is flexibility. A modern reporting system needs to keep pace with a world that is changing faster than ever, whether that's new technologies or emerging business models. ERA has been structured to remove unnecessary barriers and give standard setters the room to respond quickly when new challenges or opportunities arise. A single entity is better placed to operate efficiently in the face of these kinds of changes.

The second guiding principle is preservation and retaining the strengths that have consistently delivered high-quality standards. That means protecting the deep technical expertise and specialist knowledge essential for credible and trusted reporting. ERA builds on the knowledge base that has served business regulators and the community very well, ensuring that the reforms enhance rather than disrupt the qualities that underpin accurate and reliable standard setting. To this end, existing standards will continue as standards of ERA until they are updated or until they're replaced.

Finally, ERA was established with a principle of strengthening accountability. A clear and transparent government framework is critical for any entity that's responsible for setting standards that affect the broader community, that affect Australians, that affect businesses, that affect the market, that affect who we are as a country. ERA has been designed to align responsibility with authority so the people tasked with overseeing performance also have the ability to address issues when they arise. This includes stronger mechanisms for oversight, clearer lines of decision-making and an approach that actively manages potential conflicts of interests.

When an organisation like ERA depends on up-to-date, highly specialised knowledge to produce strong and reliable standards, it's inevitable that many of those experts will also be active professionals in their fields. That reality makes it especially important to handle any potential or perceived conflicts of interest in a balanced but also practical way. This bill supports that by putting safeguards in place so the community can trust both the integrity of the standard-setting process and the quality of the standards themselves. It's about ensuring openness, it's about ensuring clarity, and it's about ensuring confidence at every single step of the way.

The bill also introduces stronger transparency measures for ERA's operations. Any part of a meeting, whether of the governing council or of one of ERA's standard-setting boards, that relates to the substance of particular standards must take place in public. This is an important transparency measure, and it's intended to give stakeholders and the community a clearer view of how standards are discussed, developed and finalised. The legislation will set out the procedural rules that guide how the governing council conducts its work, providing a consistent framework for decision-making. For the technical boards, the detailed rules and processes will be established through legislative instruments. These instruments will be subject to consultation requirements and parliamentary oversight, ensuring that the boards' operational settings are transparent, carefully considered and open to scrutiny. The goal is a system where roles are well defined, accountability is practical and workable and the public can have confidence in how these decisions are made.

A governing council will oversee ERA and serve as the organisation's accountable authority. It will hold responsibility for supervising all aspects of their work. The council's collective decision-making structure is intended to support balanced oversight, helping to ensure that standard-setting activities are not shaped too strongly by the views of any single member or, indeed, by the interests of any particular cohort or sector. It has to be a collective decision. The framework also allows the minister to appoint non-voting associate members, who can contribute additional experience and perspectives to the council's discussions without being part of its formal decision-making authority.

The governing council will also be responsible for creating and appointing ERA's internal technical boards. These boards will focus on the detailed development and refinement of specific types of standards. Under the framework, at least one technical board must be established for each of the main categories currently covered by the Australian Accounting Standards Board and the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. These are accounting standards, auditing and assurance standards, and sustainability related standards. Each board will work within its specialised area, contributing the expertise required to maintain high-quality, well-informed standards.

The legislation also provides flexibility for ERA to evolve over time. Through legislative instrument, the minister may assign additional responsibilities to ERA, such as developing standards in new areas, should the need arise. This approach is designed to allow the system to adapt efficiently, making use of ERA's established government framework and technical capabilities. It's about making sure that it has the flexibility to do what it needs to do, at the same time as having the safeguards in place to make it safe and to give Australians the confidence that they need.

A new requirement is also included regarding appointments to the governing council. When making appointments, the minister must consider whether the council as a whole has an adequate level of representation from individuals who are and are seen to be independent of Australian audit firms. This requirement reflects the fact that auditors are subject to the auditing standards produced by ERA and aims to help manage the risk of actual or perceived conflicts of interest among appointees who work within the auditing profession.

What is clear from this legislation, from the discussions we have in this place and from talking to businesses out in our community, whether they be big or small, is that, when it comes to financial reporting, people want clarity, people want stability, people want to understand what is happening and people want to know how it's happening, and that's what this bill is about. It's about making sure that, when it comes to these standards, there is a single body that allows people to understand what is being reported and how it's being reported, and to have confidence and faith in that system. The establishment of ERA based on principles of flexibility, preservation and accountability will strengthen Australia's standard-setting framework and set these systems up for growth and, importantly, for adaptation.

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