Entity Level Reviews

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Employee Member Profile

Chris McRostie Chief Executive Officer IIA-Australia

How long have you been employed with IIA-Australia and what is your current position?

I have been the CEO of IIA-Australia since June 1998 – so that is 13 plus years and it’s been a great thirteen years. I feel like I have had thirteen different versions of my job as each year has been exceptional with the many changes that have taken place over this time.

Who was your most previous employer and what was your role there?
Prior to IIA-Australia, I was the Director, Business Development at Chartered Secretaries Australia.

What do you most enjoy about your role?
What I enjoy about my job are the constant challenges, the growth I have seen in the internal audit profession and the growth of the Institute in Australia as well as the great professional staff I have who serve our members exceptionally well.

What will be new for you in your role this year?
The big challenge for me and IIA-Australia over the next 12 months will be the introduction of IIA-Australia’s ‘new professional qualification’ - some two years in the making - and achieving significant uptake of our new professional member designation CMIIA®.

Where do you hope your career will take you in five years time?
Well, I hope still with the IIA-Australia for some time yet but I am also keen to be involved on Boards – particularly in the NFP sector in the governance space.

What activities do you like to pursue outside of work?
Outside of work, I am consumed with rejuvenating our 2 acre garden in Bowral in the Southern Highland of NSW, about 1.5 hrs drive on a Friday evening from Sydney. The current challenge is the landscaping of the ‘back acre’ to allow access with the ride-on mower and its trailer. And then there is joy of being in the garden or sitting on the deck, observing the numerous visitors in particular, kangaroo’s, ducks, the occasional wombat and the great variety of bird life.

Can you provide highlights of your last really enjoyable holiday?
Gleneagles in Scotland where we dined at a restaurant called ‘Andrew Fairlie’ at Gleneagles Resort - a fantastic meal in an equally fantastic part of Scotland.

What is the last good book you read?
On last count I have 9 books on the go, but the one that I am currently intent on finishing is called ‘Dewey’ the library cat – sounds a little light but a good story about families and their struggles in mid-west USA with a focus around the cat which has taken up residence in the local library, a focal point of social interaction in the town.

What is your favourite movie?
From my perspective there have been a few great movies this year – what has caught my attention, and I am guessing with many others, is the ABC series ‘The Slap’ a fantastic insight into an extended family and contemporary Australian suburban life.

If you could invite any three people to dinner, dead or alive, who would you invite?
Being a great consumer of politics, I would invite Gough Whitlam, Margaret Thatcher and Nelson Mandela – all have been surrounded by controversy; all have challenged the status quo; and finally they represent complicated and intelligent individuals who lived their passion.

In our last issue of insighTs techTalk, we asked about the Quality Assurance and Improvement Programs in place for your internal audit function. These are your collective responses:

- All respondents ensured quality by complying with some of the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (Standards). However, it appears that many functions cherry pick which standards to apply because less than two-thirds of respondents have a Quality Assurance and Improvement Program in place

- Almost three quarters of functions have had an external quality assessment review of their internal audit function within the past five years. This is slightly lower than the international benchmark of 80%.

- Approximately one-third of respondents anticipate undertaking an External Quality Assessment in the next 12 months.

SURVEY
This issue's survey is on Entity Level Control Reviews. The results will be presented in the next issue of insighTs techTalk.

Take our survey now: Entity Level Control Reviews

New Standards/Guidance

Practice Guide: Independence & Objectivity
GTAG 16: Data Analysis Technologies

Brad Byrnes MIIA(Aust) Manager Governance & Corporate Planning Parkes Shire Council

Where are you currently employed and what is your title?
I am currently employed at Parkes Shire Council (Central Western NSW) as Manager Governance and Corporate Planning.

Where did you go to university and what was your major?
I have a Masters of Public Policy and Administration and a Masters of Business Administration from CSU majoring in Leadership and Organisational Change. I also have a Graduate Certificate in Risk Management from Griffith University.

How long have you been in internal audit?
I am a former Detective Inspector from the NSW Police Force and commenced systems audit in that capacity in 1996. I have been in my current role at Council for the past three years and had the Internal Audit function bolted on to my role approximately 12 months ago.

What do you most enjoy about your job?
I enjoy being able to provide decision makers in my organisation with an improved capacity to manage foreseeable risks that confront them, coupled with some surety through internal audit as to where scarce resources are best applied to improve our approach to Local Government as a business. It is a bit corny but I see my function as assisting people who have responsibilities to sleep better at night.

What is the best piece of professional advice you have been given?
Trust your gut!

What personal attributes do you believe a good internal auditor has to have (top three)?
1. Integrity
2. A good communicator
3. A questioning or quizzical mind

What activities do you like to pursue outside of work?
I like fitness and exercise (non-competitive tri athalons etc.), and socialising with friends and family (sometimes the objectives in these pursuits seriously conflict!).

Can you provide highlights of your last really enjoyable holiday?
Recently my wife, three boys and I, as well as my father, went to Ireland and Europe for a six week adventure. It was, as they say, a trip of a lifetime.

If you could invite any three people to dinner, dead or alive, who would you invite?
Michael Parkinson - because I could talk to him and get the dirt on nearly everyone in recent history that I have contemplated putting on this list in one go. Julius Caesar - Ancient Republican Rome is a fascination of mine and I think given the opportunity you need to talk to the main player. Elvis Presley - we have an Elvis Festival attended by 10,000-plus here in Parkes the first weekend in January every year. Although he is probably not my favourite performer, I would have the dinner on the night of the festival so he could see the mayhem and ridiculous amount of fun his life has subsequently inflicted on a small country town in Central NSW.

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