Financial reporting policy in a dynamic environment

To cope with the increasing globalisation of capital markets, financial regulators in Australia have embarked on an ambitious program to converge national accounting standards with International Financial Reporting Standards. The convergence program means a significant departure from present financial reporting policy and will necessitate substantial change by reporting entities. The effectiveness of the existing differential reporting policy is drawn into question in the light of the changes taking place. An evaluation of the perceptions of the effectiveness of the extant differential reporting model is undertaken and alternative policy approaches considered. The findings indicate that certain aspects of the differential reporting model have inherent problems not necessarily related to the recent policy change and that corrective action needs to be undertaken to maintain its relevance.

Cross-sector transfer of consolidated financial reporting - conceptual concerns

This article addresses a major concern about the use of particular accounting concepts, notably those of control and assets, for whole-of-government consolidated financial reporting. While whole-of-government consolidated financial reports may resemble the formats required by accounting standards and so provide a benchmark for comparative purposes, inherent weakness in the specification of underpinning concepts means that proper and full application of the consolidation methodology cannot be assumed. A study of the whole-of-government consolidated financial reports of the Commonwealth, state and territory governments of Australia revealed that significant assets, obligations and controlled entities have not been included.

Public reporting of nursing home quality of care : Lessons from the United States experience for Canadian policy discussion

While the demand for continuing care services in Canada grows, the quality of such services has come under increasing scrutiny. Consideration has been given to the use of public reporting of quality data as a mechanism to stimulate quality improvement and promote public accountability for and transparency in service quality. The recent adoption of the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) throughout a number of Canadian jurisdictions means that standardized quality data are available for comparisons among facilities across regions, provinces and nationally. In this paper, we explore current knowledge on public reporting in nursing homes in the United States to identify what lessons may inform policy discussion regarding potential use of public reporting in Canada. Based on these findings, we make recommendations regarding how public reporting should be progressed and managed if Canadian jurisdictions were to implement this strategy.

Fall incidence and fall prevention practices at acute care hospitals in Singapore : a retrospective audit

Objective To investigate the incidence of falls and explore fall prevention practices at acute care hospitals in Singapore.

Design A retrospective audit to collect baseline data on (1) incidence of falls (patient fall rates and fall injury rates) and (2) fall prevention practices, was conducted in five acute care hospitals in Singapore from December 2004 to March 2005.

Study participants Medical record data (n = 6000) of patients admitted into the medical, surgical and geriatric units in the five hospitals.

Outcome measures Fall incidence was obtained from the hospital's fall databases and incident reports for the period of June 2003 to May 2004. In total, 6000 medical records from five hospitals were randomly selected, retrieved and reviewed to determine whether falls, fall assessments and interventions were being initiated and documented.

Results The number of fallers for all hospitals was 825. Analysis showed that patient fall rates ranged from 0.68 to 1.44 per 1000 patient days, and the proportion of falls associated with injury ranged from 27.4% to 71.7%. The use of a fall risk assessment tool by nurses was recorded in 77% of all the nursing records.

Conclusion This study has laid the foundation for further research for fall prevention in Singapore by describing current fall rates, fall-associated injury rates and the status of fall prevention practices in acute care settings. The results will be used to inform the development of a tailored multifaceted strategy to facilitate the implementation of Fall Prevention Clinical Practice Guidelines to reduce the burden of falls and fall injuries in hospitals in Singapore.

Intellectual capital reporting : an examination of local government in Victoria

The objective of this research is to examine how Victorian local government annual reports disclose information on intellectual capital. The idea of intellectual capital has become part of the working organisational vocabulary, and is widely held in management literature to be the pre-eminent economic resource and a key driver of efficiency, effectiveness and continual improvement in the private and public sectors. Under the recent Best Value Victoria policy, local governments are under increasing pressure to acquire and apply intellectual capital to improve responsiveness to community needs and meet cost and quality criteria. Annual reports exist as vehicles for communication, accountability and decision making. This study examines how the internal, external and human categories of intellectual capital are represented in the annual reports for the 2000 year for 77 of the 78 Victorian local
governments.

Using a matrix approach derived from Petty and Guthrie's (2000) framework, content analysis is employed to examine the incidence and intensity with which specific elements of intellectual capital are reported. This research indicates that generally the content of annual reports have not provided clear and coherent representations of how local government in Victoria are developing, applying and measuring intellectual capital. The nature and extent of intellectual capital reporting varies considerably between councils, and the disclosure of the human elements of intellectual capital is particularly underdeveloped. The findings suggest that more research in this area is needed to determine the extent to which intellectual capital should be disclosed and whether the current paucity of disclosure stems from disinterest or technical problems. There is also the need for further research into the need to identify and describe elements of intellectual capital, and into effective
reporting strategies and techniques. This may lead to the development of a 'best practice' reporting model for intellectual capital. Furthermore, the preliminary investigations indicate a perceived need to raise the consciousness of public sector
managers as to the existence of intellectual capital within their organisations, and ultimately lead to more informed and effective management of this asset.

National and international financial reporting standard convergence and the relevance for non-participants in capital markets : a preparer perspective

This study presents some implications of recent policy moves to enhance the harmonization of financial reporting and disclosure by adopting international financial reporting standards. In particular the impact on small organizations that do not participate in capital markets is considered. The results of a survey of practitioners indicate a perception that the non-capital market sector is likely to be significantly affected by additional reporting burden that convergence with international financial reporting standards imposes. On the whole the results show there was concern that the traditional users of the financial reports of organizations who do not participate in capital markets, would have limited if any, use for financial reports that conformed to international financial reporting standards, The results of this study have implications for nations such as Malaysia and New Zealand, which are currently engaging in the differential reporting debate.