My fellow Chartered Accountants, on behalf of the Western Australian Council and State office, I am pleased to present our annual report. As you will see from our report, both the Council and State office have been very active in advancing the interests of Chartered Accountants in WA.  
 
Each year, the Council looks to promote development and change in the Institute. In 2007/08, Council has been active in further building relationships with government, academia and other professional accounting organisations, to ensure we continue to work effectively with these groups, and the challenges and importance of the future of the accounting profession are well recognised and understood.  
 
In addition, Council has been involved with, and supportive of a number of Careers Marketing initiatives managed by the State office. These initiatives have been focused on secondary school students and include presentations, the 'Most Outstanding Student' award program and the ‘Meet the Leader’ event.  
 
I’m delighted to report that for the fifth consecutive year, the State office has been ranked as the most successful in Australia, with an 94% satisfaction rating with its service. Congratulations to the WA team!  
 
MEMBER CONTACT 
Council 
 
Council meetings continued to be held in external venues. These included Deloitte, University of Western Australia, HLB Mann Judd, PRT (Busselton) Burswood Casino and Resort Complex, Butler Settineri, Woodside, Small Business Development Corporation, MGI Bridge Partners and Curtin University. Thank you to these organisations for their hospitality and support.  
 
Council, in conjunction with the State office, also participated in a number of forums with Chartered Accountants and other stakeholders to gain feedback from members and to build relationships with the broader business community in WA. Meetings included those with Managing Partners of Big 4 firms and RSM Bird Cameron in March 2008 and a lunch meeting with the Office of the Auditor General in April 2008. 
 
The Chartered Accountants in Business (CABs) panel also holds its meetings in external venues, providing them with an opportunity to meet with members working in commerce and industry executives. Meetings were held at Macquarie Bank, Grange Consulting and Australian Capital Equity. Again, thank you to these organisations for their hospitality and support.  
 
BRAND  
Media 
 
WA achieved 65 news items in 2007/08 (2006/07: 83). Topics included the Tax Phone-In, State Budget, Skills Shortage and Business Forum 
 
Once again, the Institute’s Federal Budget analysis was included in The West Australian newspaper in May. Our thanks to Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, Grant Thornton, Pitcher Partners and RSM Bird Cameron for their continuing support. The Institute and its members provided an analysis of the changes in State taxes in the WA State Budget with contributions from Barrington Partners, Ernst & Young, Grant Thornton, PricewaterhouseCoopers and RSM Bird Cameron.  
 
The Institute, in conjunction with The West Australian newspaper, also conducted a Tax Phone-In service in July to provide tips and hints in relation to personal, small business and rental property taxation to readers preparing their 2006/07 tax returns. A team of 14 Chartered Accountants were on-call to assist with more than 256 callers between 6.00pm and 9.00pm as well as 61 email enquiries. Our thanks to the Chartered Accountants who volunteered their time and The West Australian’s Brett Lane for supporting the Tax Phone-In and making it such a success.  
 
The State webpage has continued to be popular with an average 220+ visitors per month. A feature of the web page is Notice Board which provides a free service to members and is an excellent forum to buy or sell a practice or fees or respond to voluntary positions available. 
 
W.S. Lonnie Awards  
The W.S. Lonnie Awards hosted by the Institute of Public Administration Australia are presented for excellence in State Government annual reporting. The Institute again sponsored a “Chief Financial Officer of the Year” award and this was won by Larry Rudman from GESB.  
 
MEMBERSHIP  
Awards 
 
 
The Institute extends its congratulations to the following members on their achievement:

• Meritorious Service Award – Professor Alan Davison FCA
 

• 50 years of membership - Cliff McWhirter FCA and Michael Wilkinson Cox FCA
 

• Fifty-two Chartered Accountants celebrated 25 years of membership, one hundred and twenty one celebrated 10 years of membership and fourteen celebrated 40 years of membership in 2007. Certificates of recognition were presented at the Annual General Meeting.
 

• Julie Keene CA and Joe Pierluigi FCA were also recognised at the Annual General Meeting for their contributions to the accounting profession in WA.

• July – Audit: Changes and Issues, presented by Andrew Stringer, the Institute’s Head of Audit
 

• November - Superannuation Update & Opportunities, presented by Jason Berry CA of KPMG
 

• November – Taxation Update, presented by Ali Noroozi, the Institute’s Tax Counsel
 

• February – Scheme Information Session, presented by GiGi Visscher CA of Freehills
 

• February - Globalisation, presented by Kerry Hicks CA of the Institute’s Standards Team.

• Over 380 students attended the Vacation Employment Evening in August to speak to 24 employers offering paid vacation work experience
 

• Over 380 students attended the Employment Evening in March to speak with 38 employers
 

• 207 Year 12 students and 158 parents and guests attended the Cadetship Evening in June to speak with 15 employers offering cadetships
 

• 276 Year 10 and 11 students from 16 schools attended Meet the Leader to network and talk to 42 business leaders about their careers, day to day work activities and how they got to where they are today
 

• 69 Chartered Accountant speakers made presentations to tertiary and secondary school students to promote our profession and Careers Marketing events. More than 67 university lectures were visited with 26 secondary schools receiving a presentation by Institute speakers.

Annual Report Index