Hi Tom Glad to see that Mrs HLB gets the #1 spot ...

2009-12-10T09:34:58.111+11:00

Hi Tom

Glad to see that Mrs HLB gets the #1 spot - well deserved.

I've also been musing as to why the Australian market is such an innovative hotspot at this point of time. There's been a few conditions which converged to provide a great environment for innovation and thinking:

1. While internal audit wasn't mandated here, audit committees were. This was coupled with strong encouragement for the CAE to report to the audit committee chair. Non executive directors don't suffer fools gladly and were looking for foresight and insight on a wide scope (not just financials or compliance). They have set the pace and have really been catalytic for making internal audit an intellectual exercise. Now that this initial catalyst was put in play, innovation is self-perpetuating.

2. The new global risk standard ISO 31000 had it's origins here and in New Zealand. As a result much of the thinking in this document has been mainstreamed over the last 15-20 years and people are pushing the envelope to see what can be done. Again this has been catalytic. (The IIA in Australia has a 18 minute video on ISO 31000 which is free for your readers. This was launched this morning: http://www.iia.org.au )

3. I agree that North America is normally a powerhouse of thinking and that SOX has been a big pill to swallow. Interestingly it seems that IA in North America seems to have been very heavily absorbed in dealing with this, and only seems to be finishing with this now and getting back to business as usual. I also note that reporting to the CFO still seems to be common there, and while this is still the case I suspect North America may punch below it's weight. Having said that, there's a lot of great stuff happening in North America.

4. Lastly, tight coupling of the network. At least twice a year, the CAE's from around 60-70% of Australia's top 50 companies get together to share ideas and best practices and push eachother. I suggest this is now a more potent catalyst than the audit committee reporting line and with these both in place, it creates a great environment for innovation.

As you'll know from your role on the IIA's board in Australia, the IIA has been working behind the scenes on all of these elements in Australia to get the conditions right rather than leaving them to chance.

As for the Resilient Futures work, I suspect that thinking is evolving so quickly that even those at the core have difficulty keeping up with it. I tend to describe them the same way you've described me. ;)

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Hi Tom Glad to see that Mrs HLB gets the #1 spot ...