Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/62176
Title: Problems in Accounting and Reporting of Property, Plant and Equipment in New South Wales Local Government
Contributor(s): Ivannikov, Igor  (author); Dollery, Brian  (supervisor); Bayerlein, Leopold  (supervisor)orcid 
Conferred Date: 2024-08-08
Copyright Date: 2024
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/62176
Abstract: 

Public assets play a major role in the municipal services delivered by local government councils. Effective management of these assets is thus critical to the sustainable operations of local authorities and thereby the well-being of the local community. To manage assets effectively, councils need to be able to account and report reliably on the performance of their assets. However, the quality of asset performance reports in Australian local government is mixed. This thesis examines various dimensions of asset reporting by New South Wales (NSW) councils and offers feasible solutions to remedying existing problems.

The thesis is presented in an article style format. It comprises an introductory chapter, followed by four related substantive papers and it ends with a brief concluding chapter. In the first two substantive papers, discussion focuses on the longstanding local infrastructure backlog in NSW and difficulties involved in its recording. The third paper considers the technical question of accounting for the assets owned by the NSW Government, which are compulsorily vested with local councils, as in Crown land. This foreshadows the fourth substantive chapter which covers the problem of cost-shifting in local government through the administrative burden of dealing with the NSW state auditors.

The value of the thesis to policy makers is that each substantive chapter provides practical solutions to many of the problems besetting municipal asset reporting in NSW local government. For example, the thesis offers recommendations for improving the existing framework for local infrastructure reporting. It also proposes technical solutions to the ongoing dispute over the concept of control over public assets, such as Crown land. Finally, the thesis suggests possible ways of dealing with the increased costs of auditing caused, in part, by various interpretations of the concept of control over NSW Government assets.

Publication Type: Thesis Doctoral
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 350106 Not-for-profit accounting and accountability
389999 Other economics not elsewhere classified
440799 Policy and administration not elsewhere classified
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 230199 Community services not elsewhere classified
230204 Public services policy advice and analysis
230299 Government and politics not elsewhere classified
HERDC Category Description: T2 Thesis - Doctorate by Research
Description: Please contact rune@une.edu.au if you require access to this thesis for the purpose of research or study
Appears in Collections:Thesis Doctoral
UNE Business School

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