Statement from the Board 8 February 2019

1. Annual General Meeting (AGM)

The 2019 AGM will be held in Melbourne on Tuesday 14 May. More details about the AGM, including the time and venue information, will be made available on the Notices of General Meetings page.

2. Digital education platform pilot

As part of our commitment to provide innovative learning experiences, CPA Australia has recently launched the pilot of a mobile device learning app – Quitch. 

The trial, which commenced in Semester 1 2019, is for students enrolled in the Practice Management and Ethics and Governance subjects. Students enrolled in these subjects have been invited to download the app and start using it to support their studies.

Quitch uses gaming elements and design techniques to help students engage with the subject and keep their learning on track. Students can use Quitch to test their knowledge and track their progress against other students or remain anonymous and use the app solely for exam revision.

More information about Quitch is available  on the CPA Program pages.

3. INTHEBLACK

The Board is pleased to report a strong performance by INTHEBLACK over the past 12 months.

The INTHEBLACK website saw an increase of more than 100,000 visits in December 2018 compared to December 2017. Pageviews doubled over this period and the number of visits via organic search nearly tripled. The most popular articles crossed the spectrum of topics covered on the site, and included stories about people (including members), technical skills and workplace issues.
These improved visitor figures reflect INTHEBLACK’s ongoing focus on content that is of interest to members and the wider business and accounting community.

4. CPA Australia Advice update

In our statement of 20 July 2018, the Board announced its intention to exit the business of CPA Australia Advice, based on the findings of the post-implementation review conducted by PwC Strategy.
Since then the CPA Australia Advice team has been working to facilitate authorised representatives to transition to alternative Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) holders, or to assist those representatives who have decided to cease their role as authorised financial advisers.

As of 31 December 2018, there are no longer any CPA Australia Advice authorised member representatives.

CPA Australia Advice has lodged applications with ASIC to cancel our AFSL and Australian Credit Licence (ACL).

5. Professional Standards Scheme 

In December 2018 CPA Australia lodged an application with the Professional Standards Councils (PSC) for a new Professional Standards Scheme (the Scheme) to replace the current scheme that is due to expire in December 2019.

The Scheme protects CPA Australia members by limiting the professional indemnity of eligible public practitioners.

The purpose of the Scheme is to promote, uphold and continue to improve professional and ethical standards to protect public interests and to limit the occupational liability for participating members. The CPA Australia Board is committed to the Scheme as it encourages best business practice, provides increased consumer protection, and sends a strong message of dedication to high professional standards to its members and their clients.

The PSC is currently reviewing the application and will provide feedback to the business in due course.

6. Quality Review Portal 

In line with the strategic goal to provide relevant learning and development resources, we are set to launch phase 1 of the digitisation of the Quality Review Program for members working in public practice. Members selected for review in the second half of 2019 will receive notification electronically with the Member Profile Statement being able to be completed online, replacing the costly and time-consuming paper process reliant on postal services.

Phase 1 will be launched on 19 February. Phase 2 of this project, which will be a more comprehensive solution to the review journey, incorporating additional functionality, is expected to be introduced for the first round of reviews in early 2020, notification of which will go out in September of this year.

7. Member engagement

Engaging with members remains a priority for the Board. In 2018, Directors were pleased to attend more than 450 member events meeting thousands of members.

In conjunction with the respective Division and Branch Councils, a comprehensive program of networking and professional development events has been planned for 2019. Directors are looking for opportunities to attend as many of these events as possible. View the schedule of events for your region.

The Board is united in its determination to continue working in the interest of members and we look forward to meeting as many of you as possible throughout the year.

Peter Wilson AM FCPA

President and Chair
On behalf of CPA Australia’s Board of Directors