In this assignment, you will work in a group of three members to conduct industry research on the following topic:

For decades, audit quality has been placed on the regulatory agenda in many countries such as The U.S., UK, and Australia, etc. In particular, Australia's Federal Treasury has released a discussion paper named Audit Quality in Australia, a Strategic Review. This document has once again stressed the importance of the audit function in financial reporting and its efficient functioning in capital markets and its impact on cost of capital. In reviewing audit quality, the discussion paper examined various 'drivers' of audit quality: the regulatory framework; audit review processes; audit firm arrangements and processes; the reliability and usefulness of audit reporting; and other factors outside the control of auditors that affect 'audit quality'.

Your group is required to write a report to

1. Describe briefly what might be regarded as 'audit quality' and how 'audit quality' might be assessed.
2. Outline and discuss how auditor's independence might impact 'audit quality'.
3. Outline and discuss how the audit expectations gap might impact 'audit quality'.

Research expectation:

• The submission needs to be supported with information by credible sources.
• Credible sources should be varied and include, but not limited to, the Textbook, Government reports, Industry reports, Newspaper articles, Books, and Journal articles.

Use the EBSCO Databases accessed through the Library and Learning Support page on mMoodle to find journal articles, case studies and more to help you prepare your assessment