Corporate Governance at Woolworths Group

This assignment examines the corporate governance practices of Woolworths Group, focusing on their 2017 financial report. It analyzes the company's corporate governance statement, board committees (Nomination, ARMCC, People Performance, Sustainability), and the benefits provided by the audit committee to the company, auditor, and society. The assignment references ASX guidelines and relevant academic literature.

Running head: AUDITING AND ASSURANCE
Auditing and Assurance
Name of the Student:
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Author Note

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Table of Contents
Answer to Question 3.................................................................................................................2
Part A.....................................................................................................................................2
Part B......................................................................................................................................2
Part C......................................................................................................................................3
References..................................................................................................................................5

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Answer to Question 3
Part A
Wooolsworth Group, in its financial report of 2017, has evidently published a
corporate governance statement. The corporate governance statement as disclosed by the
management of the Woolsworth Group for the financial year of 2017 claims to describe the
key corporate governance policies and practices of the company that have been followed
throughout the year. The particular process that has been followed by the company for the
purpose of preparing the financial statements is that the management of the Woolworths
group has compulsorily followed the guidelines or recommendations that have been laid
down by the ASX Corporate Governance Council under the Corporate Governance Principles
and Recommendations (ASX Principles).
The particular domain or section of the financial report under which the information
about the corporate governance statement of the company is found is the Directors’ Report
(Section 3) of the annual report and under the Other Information (Section 5) of the annual
report of Woolsworth Group.
Part B
The company has four board committees in regards to the assistance that is required
by the Board of Directors of the company in exercising its responsibilities and providing the
necessary recommendations and advice. These four committees are that have been
established by the Woolsworth Group are as follows:
 Nomination Committee
 Audit, Risk Management and Compliance Committee (ARMCC)
 People Performance Committee

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 Sustainability Committee
The different Board committees have essentially established a charter that defines the
different duties and responsibilities of the respective committees.
The Audit, Risk Management and Compliance Committee (ARMCC) consist of five
members as mentioned in the annual report of the company. The composition of the audit
committee is according to the ASX recommended guidelines that have been established in
order to maintain a stable corporate structure of the business. This can be evidently derived
from the fact that the composition of the board committee has minimum three directors. The
majority of the directors are independent. The chair is independent and not board chair. The
members of the committee are mandated to have business experience and have knowledge
about the financial aspect of business. One of the members or staff of the committee should
mandatorily have financial qualifications and experience. Thus, the disclosure in the annual
report of the company about the composition of the ARMCC signifies that the audit
committee has the correct composition and is in accordance to the ASX guidelines
(Contessotto and Moroney 2014).
Part C
The statement that the different audit committees are of significant benefit to the
auditing profession, the company, the auditor and/or society as a whole is correct and applies
to Woolsworth Group significantly. This is because of the following benefits provided by the
audit committee:
 The audit committee makes the entire process of scrutinizing and evaluating the
financial statements of the company easier, which in turn helps the external auditor in
carrying out the auditing proceedings.
 The audit committee also implements proper internal controls in the organization that
helps in mitigating chances of fraud and misstatements in the books of accounts. This

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in turn will not only help the external auditor but also ensure that the accounting
statements present a fair image of the company, which is essential for the third party
investors (Safari and Safari 2017).
 The audit committee also focuses on the financial management and the reporting of
the company, which is highly beneficial for the company as a whole (Martinov-
Bennie, Soh and Tweedie 2015).

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References
Contessotto, C. and Moroney, R., 2014. The association between audit committee
effectiveness and audit risk. Accounting & Finance, 54(2), pp.393-418.
Martinov-Bennie, N., Soh, D.S. and Tweedie, D., 2015. An investigation into the roles,
characteristics, expectations and evaluation practices of audit committees. Managerial
Auditing Journal, 30(8/9), pp.727-755.
Safari, M. and Safari, M., 2017. Board and audit committee effectiveness in the post-ASX
Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations era. Managerial Finance, 43(10),
pp.1137-1151.