IFRS adoption in Australia: A strong structuration perspective

Abstract

This article provides an historical account of conditions and actions which gave rise to the decision to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards in Australia. This decision is seen as a ‘moment’ within a much broader movement of history, namely, the emergence of a transnational neoliberal global order comprising networks of multilateral arrangements and strategic alliances, as well as ambiguous but powerful social, political and cultural forces. Those phenomena and their force in the context of accounting standard setting are examined here through a conflation of Castells’ work on globalisation with the strong structuration model of Stones. This article demonstrates the potential of the Stones/Castells theoretical nexus to contribute to future accounting research, not only within the narrow realm of rule-making but more broadly in our attempts to understand and critique the manner in which global neoliberal processes have come to impact contemporary experience.