Currently for an audit firm to be appointed as an auditor of a Corporations Act entity at least one RCA of the audit firm is required to be ordinarily resident in Australia. This restricts New Zealand audit firms, ostensibly based on residency, from being appointed as company auditors in Australia.

Treasury is now proposing amendments to sections 324BB(5), 1280(4) and 1292(1)(a)(iii) of the Corporations Act 2001 so that an audit firm can be appointed as an auditor of a Corporations Act entity if at least one RCA of the audit firm is ordinarily resident in Australia “or New Zealand”.
We have been advocating for some time for trans-Tasman harmonisation to enable auditors to operate seamlessly between Australia and New Zealand, so we strongly support this proposed amendment.