Balancing work and lifestyle : an exploratory study of chartered accountants in Australia

In today’s work environment, achieving a work-life balance is not only desirable, for employers it is a necessity to maintain a healthy workforce. Accounting careers are impacted by many factors, including technology and an increasing complexity in the demands for financial services, with resulting changes in where, when and how accountants perform their jobs. In addition, due to the general skills shortage faced by the businesses, the need for work-life balance has become a key determining factor for decisions regarding career choices.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (The Institute) has embarked on a long term goal of developing a work environment which helps Chartered Accountants (CAs) to gain work-life balance to complement the demand of the workforce. Three studies have been completed. The first study was conducted in 1995 in which the career expectations and barriers for women Chartered Accountants were examined amongst CAs in Victoria. In 2001, a follow-up survey of both male and female CAs was conducted in Victoria and Tasmania. The present study reports on the latest part of the project – a national survey of all 6,600 CAs regarding their work-life balance and expectations. This paper discusses the trend established by the three studies, and identifies some interesting scenarios of the accounting careers for CAs in Australia.

Changing universities, changing work : a consideration of diversity, change and the (re)organisation of work in higher education

This paper considers some of the issues relating to diversity for those working in Australian universities as teachers, managers and support staff. It considers the impacts of social, economic and technological change on the organisation of universities as sites of teaching, learning, supervision and research. The consequences of these changes on the ways universities are traditionally organised and operate is considered, and some of the major tensions which occur as a result are discussed. Examples in the areas of professional doctorates, new technology and libraries are explored briefly. Some suggestions are offered for reconceptualising the work of academic and general staff, as are the relationship between these changes in universities and those occurring in TAFE and VET.

Work-life balance in the Australian and New Zealand surveying profession

This paper aims to establish and illustrate the levels of awareness of work-life balance policies within the surveying profession in Australia and New Zealand. The culture and characteristics of the Australian and New Zealand work force are to be identified. The key aspects included in work-life balance policies are to be illustrated and the perceived benefits for the surveying profession are to be noted. The paper seeks to posit that it is vital to comprehend the levels of awareness of work-life balance issues within the surveying profession first, so that benchmarking may occur over time within the profession and second, that comparisons may be drawn with other professions.
Design/methodology/approach – There is a growing body of research into work-life balance and the built environment professions. Using a questionnaire survey of the whole RICS qualified surveying profession in Australia and New Zealand, this paper identifies the awareness of work-life balance benefits within the surveying profession.
Findings – This research provides evidence that awareness of the issues and options is unevenly spread amongst professional surveyors in the region. With shortages of professionals and an active economy the pressures on existing employees looks set to rise and therefore this is an area which needs to be benchmarked and revisited with a view to adopting best practice throughout the sector. The implications are that employers ignore work-life balance issues at their peril.
Practical implications – There is much to be learned from an increased understanding of work-life balance issues for professionals in the surveying discipline. The consequences of an imbalance between work and personal or family life is emotional exhaustion, cynicism and burnout. The consequences for employers or surveying firms are reduced effectiveness and profitability and increased employee turnover or churn.
Originality/value – Leading on from Ellison's UK surveying profession study and Lingard and Francis's Australian civil engineering and construction industry studies, this paper seeks to raise awareness of the benefits of adopting work-life balance policies within surveying firms and to establish benchmarks of awareness within the Australian and New Zealand surveying profession.

The impact of computer display height and desk design on 3D posture during information technology work by young adults

Computer display height and desk design to allow forearm support are two critical design features of workstations for information technology tasks. However there is currently no 3D description of head and neck posture with different computer display heights and no direct comparison to paper based information technology tasks. There is also inconsistent evidence on the effect of forearm support on posture and no evidence on whether these features interact. This study compared the 3D head, neck and upper limb postures of 18 male and 18 female young adults whilst working with different display and desk design conditions. There was no substantial interaction between display height and desk design. Lower display heights increased head and neck flexion with more spinal asymmetry when working with paper. The curved desk, designed to provide forearm support, increased scapula elevation/protraction and shoulder flexion/abduction.

The work conditions of allied health professionals : the impact on satisfaction, commitment and psychological distress

The present study investigated the extent to which the Demand-Control-Support (DCS) model, in combination with organizational justice variables, predicts the employee-level outcomes of allied health professionals'. Allied health professionals from an Australian healthcare organization were surveyed, with 113 participating (52,6%). Multiple regression analyses revealed that the DCS model predicted all the outcome variables of job satisfaction, organizational commitment and psychological distress. Conversely, significant contributions of the organizational justice variables were limited to organizational commitment and psychological distress. The results of the study provide practical implications for the job conditions of allied health professionals, in particular, the delivery of support and maintaining high levels of justice.

Accounting services and SMEs : an Australian study

Background: The observance of regulation has become a fundamental part of life for the conduct of business around the world. Governments and their duly appointed designates, acting in the interest of the collective public, have relied on regulation to moderate economic and social behaviour through the imposition and enforcement of rules. While it can be commonly accepted that such a prescriptive framework may be necessary for the achievement of desired economic and social outcomes, regulation does impose costs on society and on individual firms. These costs, which can include the costs for government departments to administer, the cost for firms to comply, and the multitude of indirect costs such as lost innovation and productivity or their interrelated opportunity costs, have received ample attention.

Accountants are key advisers to all businesses on all aspects of doing business, including regulation. As such, it is appropriate that ACCA has sponsored this study, which explores the regulatory issues facing SMEs and the critical role that accountants and other organisations play in helping SMEs be aware of, comply with and generally manage effectively the regulations that apply to their business.

ACCA has consistently argued for a balanced view to be taken on regulation, recognising that certain rules are necessary for the fair development of business and for employees’ rights. Yet at the same time, ACCA recognises that SMEs are likely to be disproportionately burdened by regulatory requirements and, as a consequence, it actively campaigns for fairness in regulation, recognising the issue as a significant factor in the success, productivity and growth of small businesses.

Overview: This study complements similar research commissioned by ACCA in the United Kingdom and Canada (Blackburn et al. 2006), with the aim of helping to provide a more international picture of the effects of regulation on adviceseeking by SMEs and how accountants can help SMEs meet their regulatory obligations.

The research commenced in November 2006 and was conducted over the Australian summer period 2006/7, among SMEs and accounting practices, as follows:

* telephone survey among 250 SMEs
* postal survey among 130 accounting practitioner firms.

Key findings: The SME section of this study revealed the following points.

* Most SMEs (between 70% and 80%), agreed that the regulations under review were reasonable, however there were significantly high levels of concern regarding:
* the number of regulations affecting their business (80%)
* staying up to date with changing regulations (80%)
* complexity of regulation or the ease of understanding regulations (77%)
* inequity, or the cost of regulation in proportion to the business (66%)
* duplication, or being required to provide the same information to more than one government department (55%).
* External accountants were the most common source of advice, being used by 72% of SMEs; this was followed by federal government agencies,    62%; trade or industry bodies, 61%; and a lawyer or solicitor, 53%.
* Highest levels of satisfaction with the advice provided were recorded for lawyers/solicitors (94%), banks (91%) and external accountants (90%).
* Overall, 80% of SMEs who had used accountants rated their service as excellent or good. Thirty per cent gave accountants an excellent rating.
* Accountants rated particularly well on the following attributes:
* the potential for a long-term relationship with the business (81% excellent/good)
* technical understanding of the regulatory requirements that apply to the business (79%)
* ability to meet the needs of the business (77%)
* understanding of the business of the SME and its operations (73%).

The survey of accounting practitioners produced the following information.
* The results indicate that SME firms with fewer than 10 employees are the main source of revenue for the respondent accounting practitioners.
* Virtually all accountants provide regulatory advice, primarily in the areas of taxation (particularly Goods and Services Tax, GST), and Do-It-      Yourself (DIY) superannuation requirements. These services provided the accountants with their largest business growth in the two years before the time of the survey.

Seventy-nine per cent of accountants referred their SME clients to external professional advisers. Their comments indicate (see Appendix 4) that some accountants consider their role to be as convenors or advisers for their SME clients. Importantly, according to the accountants, SME firms with fewer than 10 employees did not update their knowledge of regulatory requirements; they relied on their accountant for the right advice. The main types of external adviser to whom accountants referred their SME clients were lawyers and financial planners.

* Accountants expressed their concern regarding the complexity and amount of regulations affecting their SME clients.
* The accountants also stated that they would like to provide additional advice to their SME clients.
 
Confidence intervals – SME survey:  The survey sample size was 250 SMEs from the total of 1.2 million Australian SMEs. Any estimate of proportions agreeing or disagreeing with particular statements must be considered with respect to the margin of possible statistical error. Owing to the small sample size, generalising the results from this study to a wider population of SMEs may be constrained.

A 95% confidence interval of the sample mean for the following estimates based on a percentage agreement of 75% to a proposition with a sample size of 250 would be from 69.5% to 80.5%. The 95% confidence interval for estimates of any other value will diverge slightly in magnitude from the numbers given.

In general then we can be highly confident that the actual sample mean will be within approximately ± 5% of the figure given, with a survey of this size. Confidence intervals – acounting practitioner survey IBISWorld estimates reveal a figure of 9,222 accounting practices in Australia as at June 2006 (IBISWorld 2007). The sample size of 133 accounting practitioners gives a 95% confidence limit that the results reported from the mail-out survey are within the ± 5% confidence interval of the reported values.

Conclusions:  This report describes the results of two parallel surveys undertaken on the impact of business regulation on small and medium-sized enterprises in Australia and on the perceptions of accounting firms about the ways in which the regulatory impact on the SME sector drove their business.

The survey of SMEs provides empirical support for many of the concerns raised with the Regulation Taskforce, which reported to the Australian government in 2006. Many businesses are concerned about the volume and complexity of government legislation as it applies to their business. They are concerned that they are unable to keep up with new legislation and that there is apparent duplication of reporting requirements across the various tiers of government.

The survey of accountants revealed that accounting firms derive a significant proportion of their revenue from SMEs. While the SMEs are concerned with regulatory changes, the accountants surveyed reported that the major growth areas in their businesses were in what could be seen as traditional accounting areas of tax and superannuation. Some SMEs sought advice on areas such as employment law, environmental regulation and health and safety but it appears that many accountants refer their clients to specialists in these areas. Recent changes to the laws regarding financial planning in Australia may lead to changes in the market for financial advice in Australia, with many accountants apparently regarding this as a key driver of future business opportunities.

The surveys were conducted using a similar instrument to similar surveys conducted in the UK and Canada and reported in Blackburn et al. (2006). Comparisons of the Australian survey results with those from the UK and Canada seem to support the perception that Australian business is not over-regulated, but the SME sector is concerned with the volume and complexity of regulation. This suggests that the SME sector wants to see improvements to Australia’s regulatory regime as a result of the work of the Regulation Taskforce undertaken in 2005/6. In its response to the work of the Taskforce the government agreed with 158 of the 178 specific recommendations of the Taskforce. This now needs to be followed through at all levels of government.

Accountants in all three countries understand their SME clients’ concerns with the burden of regulation and they are prepared to advise their clients where appropriate or refer them to specialist advisers. Most business growth for accountants has come from the taxation area. Very few accountants in the UK or Australia specialise in providing advice in the areas of environmental regulation or health and safety regulation.

International comparisons show that in all three countries accountants are generally highly regarded by SMEs for their professionalism and competence. The major area of client concern is the value for money offered by the accountant’s service. In an era of rapidly shifting professional and technical boundaries, accountants need to be more strongly attuned to levels of client satisfaction. Lawyers, financial planners and a plethora of specialist advisers operate in the business services market and if they have an opportunity to take business from accountants by competing on price they may well do so. This suggests a stronger role for professional accounting bodies in monitoring the broader business services market for opportunities and threats on behalf of their membership.

Animals in international development, poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods

This paper explores the role and percept¡ons of an¡mals in internat¡onal development efforts and the possible contradictions between differing priorities of agencies involved in internat¡onal charitable efforts. The description ofthe differing descriptions of purposes in the (England and Wales) Charities Act of 2006 prov¡des a good starting point. There are many available purposes for charities, and although having one purpose does not preclude a second, organizations concerned with animal welfare appear to be quite d¡stinct from those work¡ng for poverty alleviation in the developing world. A fun and novel gift of a donkey may equally be perceived as a cruel, environmentally unsustainable and misguided development effort, a valuable asset for a household, or a burden to a household struggling to feed existing mouths..... This paper questions the underlying tensions between human development, animal welfare, and poverty alleviation exploring cultural tensions, philosophical tens¡ons and where areas of common ground may be found.

Mothers' transition back to work and infants' transition to child care : does work-based child care make a difference?

The overall aim in this study was twofold: to compare the use of work-based (WB) and non-work-based (NWB) child care on the transition back to the workplace for women after a period of maternity leave, and on the transition into child care for the infants of these women. Thirty-five mothers with infants in WB centres and 44 mothers with infants in NWB centres completed a battery of questionnaires, retrospectively, in relation to their first four weeks of resuming work and their infant’s transition into child care. We first explored whether the mothers of infants in WB centres were less stressed and anxious
about separating from their infant, were more satisfied with their child care, and whether they felt more productive and supported at work than mothers of infants in NWB child
care centres. Our findings revealed no differences between mothers using WB centres and NWB centres in their transition to work. In exploring whether infants placed in WB centres settled faster and more easily than infants placed in NWB centres, the findings, once again, revealed no differences in the infant’s affective states at child care and maintenance of their routines, such that all infants were equally settled and happy irrespective of the type of care used. The theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.

Reinventing liberatory practice : how do we work with groups of which we are not a part?

The research that informed this paper asked: how can we work as allies of groups of which we are not a part? This question is particularly focused on work with people who have experienced colonisation by those who are aligned (by race, class, gender, culture or position) with the colonisers or oppressors. The research brings together literature in the fields of community work, adult education, and feminist and postcolonial theory, with Indigenous viewpoints and experience. An analysis of Indigenous viewpoints identified a range of key ideas about achieving social change.

These ideas are developed into several frameworks, two of which will be discussed here. The first framework offers a way of conceptualising work against oppression and proposes that it must involve a focus on fostering emancipatory agency. Emancipatory agency involves the capacity to know and to act towards social justice ends via meaning making which follows ethical criteria. An ethics of meaning making is proposed which includes a focus on: multiplicity and difference; the partial nature of all knowings; the context / situatedness of meaning; and the critical / reflective attitude in meaning making. This type of agency is dependent on the process of transformative dialogue which is inherently communal and is based on four micro processes: affirming the O/other; encountering, exploring and experiencing of multiple and partial views; moving between positions of self and others; and enacting meaning into the world. A second framework operationalises these ideas in the field of community development, and offers a method of practice.

Public and private psychiatry : can they work together and is it worth the effort?

OBJECTIVE: Partnerships in mental health care, particularly between public and private psychiatric services, are being increasingly recognized as important for optimizing patient management and the efficient organization of services. However, public sector mental health services and private psychiatrists do not always work well together and there seem to be a number of barriers to effective collaboration. This study set out to investigate the extent of collaborative 'shared care' arrangements between a public mental health service and private psychiatrists practising nearby. It also examined possible barriers to collaboration and some possible solutions to the identified problems.

METHOD: A questionnaire examining the above factors was sent to all public sector mental health clinicians and all private psychiatrists in the area.

RESULTS: One hundred and five of the 154 (68.2%) public sector clinicians and 103 of the 194 (53.1%) private psychiatrists returned surveys. The main barriers to successful collaboration identified by members of both sectors were: 'Difficulty communicating' endorsed by 71.4% of public clinicians and 72% of private psychiatrists, 'Confusion of roles and responsibilities' endorsed by 62.9% and 66%, respectively, and 'Different treatment approach' by 47.6% and 45.6%, respectively. Over 60% of private psychiatrists identified problems with access to the public system as a barrier to successful shared care arrangements. It also emerged, as hypothesized, that the public and private systems tend to manage different patient populations and that public clinicians in particular are not fully aware of the private psychiatrists' range of expertise. This would result in fewer referrals for shared care across the sectors.

CONCLUSIONS: A number of barriers to public sector clinicians and private psychiatrists collaborating in shared care arrangements were identified. The two groups surveyed identified similar barriers. Some of these can potentially be addressed by changes to service systems. Others require cultural shifts in both sectors. Improved communications including more opportunities for formal and informal meetings between people working in the two sectors would be likely to improve the understanding of the complementary sector's perspective and practice. Further changes would be expected to require careful work between the sectors on training, employment and practice protocols and initiatives, to allow better use of the existing services and resources.

The prevalence of work-related deaths associated with alcohol and drugs in Victoria, Australia, 2001 - 6

To describe the presence of alcohol, cannabis and amphetamines in work-related injury deaths in Victoria, 2001–6, an observational study of work-related deaths reported to the State Coroner's Office, Victoria, Australia was conducted. Case and postmortem forensic toxicology data were obtained from the National Coroner's Information System for work-related injury deaths with positive toxicology screens. Over 6 years there were 43 worker deaths in a total of 355 unintentional work-related injury deaths. The coroner mentioned the presence of alcohol/drugs in 22 of the 43 worker deaths with positive toxicology screens. Toxicology screens were positive for alcohol and/or drugs in 79 work-related deaths overall. Overall, alcohol was present in 26 (7%) work-related deaths and cannabis or amphetamines in 20 (6%). Incidents were mainly transport related. Alcohol and/or drugs were present in a significant portion of work-related deaths. Research is needed to determine the relative contribution of alcohol and drugs compared with other contributing factors to work-related deaths.

Validity and relevance of the pack hike wildland firefighter work capacity test: a review

Fighting wildland fire is a physically demanding occupation. Wildland firefighters need to be physically fit to work safely and productively. To determine whether personnel are fit for duty, many firefighting agencies employ physical competency tests, such as the pack hike test (PHT). The PHT involves a 4.83-km hike over level terrain carrying a 20.4-kg pack within a 45-min period. The PHT was devised to test the job readiness of US wildland firefighters but is also currently used by some fire agencies in Australia and Canada. This review discusses the history and development of the PHT with emphasis on the process of test validation. Research-based training advice for the PHT is given, as well as discussion of the risks associated with completing the PHT. Different versions and modifications to the PHT have emerged in recent years and these are discussed with regard to their validity. Finally, this review addresses the relevance and validity of the PHT for Australian and Canadian wildland firefighters.

Social work and welfare education without discrimination : are we there yet?

The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has identified education as one of five crucial issues relating to the settlement of African Australians into the Australian community from a human rights perspective (AHRC 2009:5). In this paper I advocate that social work and welfare work in Australia are placed in important and multi dimensioned positions in relation to our complicities, responsibilities and potentialities with this educational human rights issue. As a Technical and Further Education (TAFE) welfare and University social work educator, I offer an outline of the ‘mutual respect inquiry approach’ that developed between myself and Southern Sudanese Australian students as a basis for discussion, reflection and change. I seek to stimulate thinking and action, particularly among those welfare work and social work educators, practitioners and students who identify as critical and anti-oppressive, to consider how these approaches can be realised and reshaped in practice to enhance not only Southern Sudanese Australians' right to education that is 'without discrimination', but indeed all students in our diversity.

Distributed cognition and IT support for knowledge work in breakdowns : match or mismatch?

Knowledge is instrumental in organisational problem solving and is embedded in organisational processes and routines. We explore the application of IT in breakdowns (forms of interruptions from normal organisational work routines) and illustrate the application of distributed cognition theory (DCT) as a useful lens to explain the exchange of knowledge in breakdowns. DCT also allows for a rich analysis of the role that information technology (IT) can play to foster knowledge exchange in breakdown situations. We use two cases to illustrate that DCT is useful in identifying the matches and mismatches in IT support for exchanging knowledge in breakdowns.

Sui generis protection for plant varieties and traditional agricultural knowledge : the example of India

Explores the sui generis protection of intellectual property, particularly patents, in biotechnology and traditional agricultural knowledge under Indian law. Focuses on the impact of amendments to the Patents Act 1970 and of the Plant Variety Protection and Farmers' Rights Act 2001 and Biological Diversity Act 2002.