Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the question of whether two early Australian public accounts committees were established for the purpose of legitimating governments of the time. Design/methodology/approach – The paper addressed these issues through a study of the...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the use of commercial-in-confidence arrangements within the public sector allows the deliberate manipulation of accounting figures to generate support for the privatisation agenda. Design/methodology/approach – A case study is...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand if accounting is an un-Australian activity, contrasting the notion of the bush and bushman present in popular Australian poetry and cultural myth with the notion expressed by Maltby of the link between the soul of the middle class and the...

Purpose – This paper aims to present an examination of the characterisation of accounting and accountants in popular music. Some authors have considered the place of accounting in popular culture and the social perceptions of accounting and accountants. This research aims to advance this work...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore environmental reporting in the Australian Commonwealth public sector through the focus on departments with a primary responsibility for social and environmental issues. Design/methodology/approach – The research moves beyond the existing...