Overview

No matter which corporate code of conduct or corporate governance framework is used, the issue of ‘transparency’ is referred to either directly or by implication. The application of ‘transparency’ to the reporting to the public by companies of their financial and non-financial conduct and performance for a period has come under increasing scrutiny of corporate stakeholders. The single most significant reform in this area in Australia came in response to the high-profile corporate collapses of the early 2000s. On 1 July 2004, the Corporate Law Economic Reform Program (Audit Reform & Corporate Disclosure) Act 2004 (Cth) came into effect. This Act is now commonly referred to as the ‘CLERP 9 Act’, or simply ‘CLERP 9’, since it was the ninth such Act under the Government's Corporate Law Economic Reform Program (CLERP).

This Act, together with an Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) Listing Rule change (2003) with respect to the establishment of audit committees for certain companies (see Chapter 9) and ASX Best Practice Recommendations of 2003, and as amended in 2007, together represent one of the most significant packages of corporate law reform, and by far the most significant effort at regulating the corporate governance practices of companies in Australian history.