By Tim Beresford, Chief Executive and Inspector-General in Bankruptcy, Australian Financial Security Authority

Trust is not an abstract ideal. It is an asset, built through the decisions professionals make every day.

For Chartered Accountants, insolvency practitioners and pre-insolvency advisers, trust rests on ethical conduct, competence and commitment to the public interest. It shapes the advice clients receive, the decisions businesses make and the information creditors rely on.

The Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) regulates and administers Australia’s personal insolvency and personal property securities systems. We see the consequences when trust weakens. It can affect creditors, employees, suppliers, lenders and confidence in the credit system.

Our 2026–27 Regulatory Action Statement identifies three priority harms: manipulation of personal insolvency proposals, harmful debt agreements and misuse of the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR). Each reflects professional judgement giving way to pressure, convenience or self-interest.

The lesson extends beyond insolvency. It is relevant whenever a professional is trusted to provide advice and influence decisions that affect others.

Judgement asks what should be done

Consider a small construction business facing cash-flow pressure after losing a major contract. The director seeks professional advice.

What options are legally available? What assets and liabilities does the business hold?

Technical competence is essential. The next question is: what should be done?

The adviser could help the business confront its position, test realistic options and engage early with creditors. Or the adviser might recommend transferring assets to related parties, delaying difficult conversations or placing property beyond creditors’ reach.

The technical issues may be complex. The ethical test is simple: does the advice support a fair, transparent and lawful outcome, or manipulate the system at the expense of others?

The question is not “Can this be done?”, it is “Should it be done?”

Financial distress does not remove obligations. It increases the need for accurate records, timely disclosure and clear communication. Advice that protects a client by shifting unreasonable harm to others does not meet that standard.

Professional conduct is more than compliance

Rules matter. However, compliance is a floor, it is not the full measure of professional conduct.

Ethical judgement operates between what rules permit and professional responsibility requires. It is visible when you test inconsistencies, disclose conflicts, or challenge technically available advice that produces unfair outcomes.

For insolvency practitioners, that responsibility is particularly clear. As officers of the court, doing the bare minimum is not enough. The role requires independence, objectivity and judgement in service of the system.

The principle applies across the accounting profession. The Code of Ethics reflects the profession’s responsibility to act in the public interest. That responsibility must be evident under pressure, uncertainty and competing interests.

Compliance asks whether the minimum requirement has been met. Professional culture asks what standard of conduct people choose when the answer is not prescribed.

A strong ethical culture supports sound judgement. It enables people to raise concerns early. It makes it harder to rationalise conduct because it is convenient, profitable or technically defensible.

Trust carries a shared responsibility

Professional judgement begins with an individual decision, but its effects do not end there.

Clients, creditors, businesses and the community rely on accountants and advisers. When a professional uses that trust to influence a decision, they are contributing to something larger than a client engagement. They help shape confidence in the profession and the systems that support economic activity.

No practitioner, firm, professional body or regulator can maintain confidence alone. Their roles are distinct, but responsibility is shared. Regulators must set clear expectations and act where serious harm occurs. Professional bodies must uphold standards and accountability. Firms must expect good judgement. Individual professionals must exercise it when it matters.

Trust is not simply something the profession receives. Every time you use it, you accept responsibility for what your decisions signal and the system they help create.

The aim is fewer preventable harms, fairer outcomes and advice that can be relied upon in difficult circumstances.

When accountants and pre-insolvency advisers lead with integrity and professional competence, they do more than serve individual clients. They set the standard for others, strengthen confidence in the profession, reinforce trust in our institutions, and contribute to a more resilient and trusted economy.

The challenge is to use the trust placed in each of you wisely, and to leave the system stronger than you found it.