ABC Corp. is a publicly traded company in Australia that operates in the tech industry.

The company has experienced rapid growth in recent years, but the Board of Directors is concerned that the company's internal control procedures may need to be revised to support the company's expansion and meet regulatory requirements.

 

To address these concerns, the Board engages you as an external consultant to comprehensively review the company's internal control procedures and their alignment with corporate governance requirements. You have identified a number of issues, including:

Inadequate risk management: The company's risk management framework is fragmented, and there is no clear risk appetite statement. Risk assessment and monitoring is not systematic, and there is no regular reporting on key risks.

Weak internal controls: The company's internal control procedures are not well documented, and there is a lack of segregation of duties. There is no central repository for policies and procedures, and

there is little training on internal controls for staff.

Ineffective compliance program: The company's compliance program is not well-established, and

there is a lack of compliance monitoring and testing. The company's compliance culture is weak, and

there is no whistleblowing or incident reporting process.

Governance deficiencies: The Board lacks diversity and skills, and there is little oversight of the company's internal control procedures. There is no formal reporting or accountability structure, and the company's governance practices do not fully align with regulatory requirements.

 

Required: Answer the following questions:

 

1. Undertake your own research and briefly describe at least 3 authoritative sources of information in Australia to use when developing applications of corporate governance requirements.
2. Complete the following table to provide your recommendations to address the issues above.

 

No. Issues 1 Inadequate risk management 2 3 4 Weak internal controls Ineffective compliance program Governance deficiencies Your recommendations to address each issue