“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” So said the philosopher Plato, but he might equally have been talking about working in a modern-day office, where turf... read more

James Broughton (not his real name), 37, first acknowledged anxiety, a condition he had lived with for many years, when he began working as a travel agent. “I thought to myself, ‘I’m not good enough to do this... read more

Last year Australian and New Zealand businesses were defrauded to the tune of A$373 million. The average theft was more than A$3 million. According to KPMG’s Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Survey, the major frauds occurred because of... read more

However unpleasant it might be to contemplate, death is one of life’s realities, which makes estate planning an important consideration when it comes to self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs).Often people want to know about how and when... read more

A federal coalition government will cut spending by billions a year to fund the retention of tax cuts and pension and benefit increases linked to Labor's carbon pricing regime, Tony Abbott has pledged. In his budget-in-reply Abbott outlined almost... read more

With a Budget deficit the size of a great big mining tax, a looming election and a dollar that won’t quit, the pressure was on for Treasurer Wayne Swan to hand down a budget that will be beneficial to Australia’s economic – and... read more

Australians were looking to this budget for bold vision for the future and next steps towards enhancing Australia’s competitiveness. Unfortunately for the nation, this is not what we got. Treasurer Wayne Swan’s determination to lay out... read more

The federal government has spent the morning after delivering a budget deficit defending its economic management and trying to highlight its big ticket items - disability insurance and school funding reforms. Prime Minister Julia Gillard wants the... read more

The 2013-14 Budget was a real test for Treasurer Wayne Swan: would it be beneficial to Australia’s economic – and to that end, competitive – future. One of Australia’s leading commentators on business policy, CPA Australia... read more

Labor will take the axe to middle-class welfare and crack down on corporate tax breaks in a bid to secure long-term funding for schools and disability care. Labor will take the axe to middle-class welfare and crack down on corporate tax breaks in... read more

Australians will be spared "cuts to the bone" but should brace for a disciplined future, Treasurer Wayne Swan warns as he prepares to deliver his sixth and possibly final budget. Swan says he has juggled a unique set of circumstances to produce a... read more

“If congestion at Canberra Airport is a bellwether for the nation’s interest in this Budget, it would seem Australians are not engaged. Canberra is a ghost town compared to the usual buzz of Budget week.“What we are seeing from... read more

On the eve of the 2013-14 Federal Budget, CPA Australia is renewing its call that Australia needs to reinvent itself on the stage of international competitiveness to survive in the Asian Century. “Australia is at a tipping point,” says... read more

New superannuation rules increasing taxes for the wealthy and reducing tax for those on lower incomes have been confirmed in the federal government's budget. There will be a new 15 per cent tax on super fund earnings above A$100,000 per year from... read more

Big business is the target of a crackdown on so-called tax loopholes that is expected to deliver A$4 billion in budget savings. Multinationals, banks and miners were named as culprits in Tuesday's budget for practices that were eroding the... read more

The Gillard government is cutting more than 1200 public service jobs in next year's budget. Tuesday's federal budget shows overall public service numbers will rise by an estimated 746 people in 2013-14. But that figure includes a small increase in... read more

is controversial and conditional move The use of social media by companies is rapidly increasing, with a landmark decision in the US in April allowing listed entities to use social platforms to make key announcements. A report released by the US... read more

According to the World Health Economic Forum, depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Patients with depression are absent 4.8 working days in a three-month period and, in the same period, suffer a productivity drop of 11.5 days.... read more

In 2008, as Western leaders struggled to cope with a growing financial emergency, the rest of the world was focused on a very different crisis. The global food price crisis of 2008 pushed an estimated 155 million people into extreme poverty.... read more

Generally, when we assess unethical behaviour, we tend to see it as rational and intentional. Sometimes it may not be so because of the specific frame we use to see the issue. Frames are like mental maps. We use them to make sense of complex... read more

In his 14 years in Japan, Paul Butler worked his way up from a financial accountant to finance director roles and attributes much of his success to his ability to speak the local language. Butler worked as a finance director for a couple of... read more

ONCE A WORLD BANK poster child and rising tiger of the Asia-Pacific, Vietnam has been economically volatile since it tried to stave off the worst effects of the global financial crisis (GFC) by releasing tranches of cheap credit to state-owned... read more

Coming reforms in the superannuation sector have put the heat on super funds to adopt Standard Business Reporting (SBR) for processing fund rollovers. INTHEBLACK spoke to Geoff Miller, SBR program manager at Australia’s Treasury, about the... read more

In the quest to find culprits, the aftermath of the global financial crisis (GFC) has read like a classic whodunnit. Along the way, the role of global ratings agencies in the securities market meltdown has been scrutinised by regulators and legal... read more

Late last year when publisher Darin Tyson‑Chan launched his business, he could have saved tens of thousands of dollars and not leased offices in Sydney’s CBD. The staff of seven producing his magazine titles for self‑managed superannuation... read more