Speaking & training circuit

Save the date:

• The Black Swan Myth Debunked | Corporate Risk Management – Strategic Resilience for Emerging Risks | May 26-27 2011 | Swisshotel | Sydney

Recent speaking engagements:

• Best practices in public sector internal audit, audit committees and risk management | IIA Asia Pacific Conference (SOPAC)
• New global risk standard – ISO 31000 | Interview with Michael Parkinson on the new global standard (available in streaming video)
• Providing Internal Audit Opinions | National masterclass & webinar series – IIA-Australia
• Understanding Strategic Risk | National masterclass series – IIA-Australia
• Risk and Responsibility | Association of Heads of Australian University Colleges and Halls (AHAUCHI) national congress (available in streaming video)
• Smashing Open the Addiction to Business as Usual | Bryant University / MA Chamber of Commerce (USA)
• The Real Risks of Business as Usual | WA Water Strategy & Climate Change Resilient Futures Strategy Forum
• Audit Opinions – Part of the process or optional extra | AICD National Public Sector Conference
• Building a Good Audit Committee | SOPAC – IIA’s premier regional conference for Australia, South Pacific & Asia (with Jon Isaacs – prominent Audit Committe Chair)
• Futurecasting | Mega trends for forecasting, strategy and risk in a rapidly changing world – ACL user’s forum
• ASX Corporate Governance Council’s Revised Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations | Intitute of Internal Auditors Canberra Chapter
• Internal audit as a change agent | ICAA Business forum Victoria (CPE week, Melbourne)
• From the Backroom to the Boardroom – a new horizon for Internal Audit | IIA Western Australian Internal Audit congress, Perth
• Fundamental change in the Audit Profession… Where is it going, how will it affect you and what do you need to do about it? | NSW Internal Audit congresses, Sydney, Penrith (IIAA)
• Corporate Governance and Risk Management for Not for Profits and NGOs | Australian Society of Association Executives, Sydney (AuSAE)
• Pulse Radio – a case study in radical innovation | LQA Innovation program, Melbourne
• Fundamental change in the Audit Profession… Where is it going, how will it affect you and what do you need to do about it? | Association of University Auditors (ACUA) Australian National Conference, Sydney.

Academia & education

Todd led and/or developed the majority of short courses and masterclasses for IIA-Australia on complex and emerging areas from 2008-2010. These included:

• Strategic risk
• Mastering the new Principle 7 (Recognise and Manage Risk) of the Australian Stock Exchange Corporate Governance Principles & Recommendations
• The new International Professional Practices Framework
• Providing internal audit opinions
• Technical & Regulatory updates
• A range of other ad-hoc topics.

In addition Todd has been a guest lecturer and tutor at the following:

• Advanced Management Accounting Module | Institute of Chartered Accountants – (CA Program)
• Cashflow forecasting, financial modelling and valuation models | Edith Cowan University (National Enterprise Workshop)
• Company Law – Edith Cowan University | (Bachelor of Business Program)

To subscribe to this series of occasional articles and case studies, please click here.

Disclaimers and caveats in audit reports and engagement letters are often brushed over, until something goes wrong, and then can cause great tension between those providing the internal audit assurance, and those relying on their work. Rightly or wrongly, the classic “where were the auditors” line is begging to be pulled out, and is often the first response.

In my experience, issues usually arise as a result of expectations gaps around the nature of audit opinions rather than negligence, but this takes time to disentangle after the fact. The better option of course, is to get this squared away up front.

As part of my work in helping the market to get more sophisticated about the nature and level of assurance commissioned and provided, I’ll be leading an on-line masterclass for the Institute of Internal Auditors in Australia on Tuesday May 4 from 1:00pm AEST.

Through structured discussion and practical exercises, this course will take participants through a framework for providing internal audit opinions, including being clear on when to use them, how to use them, legal implications, how to navigate overlaps between different assurance standards and frameworks and an appreciation of the IIA’s official guidance in this area.

While this is targeted towards internal auditors in particular, this course will also be relevant for anyone who regularly relies on internal audit reports such as the senior finance team, C-Suite and audit committee members.

For more information and registration, please got to the Institute of Internal Auditors’ Australian website.

To subscribe to this series of occasional articles and case studies, please click here.

TDA has track record in brining these functions together for greatest impact.  We can help to ensure:

• Duplication between assurance functions is minimused
• Assurance programs are focused on what really matters
• Risk management has a top-down view of strategic risks
• Emerging risk capability informs the strategy and risk functions
• Strategic risk insight informs the strategy process
• Strategy drives capability development

To find out more, contact us.

To subscribe to this series of occasional articles and case studies, please click here.

He is also a regular author and commentator on leading practices in these areas and writes a monthly thought piece in Risk Management Magazine.

Recent Articles and White Papers

TDA’s articles and case studies are now available free of charge via an occasional email newsletter.  A sample is set out below.

• Risk management – part of the problem or part of the solution? | Risk Management | September 2011
• Could internal audit have prevented the News Corp Scandal? | Risk Management | August 2011
• Strategic Risk Management? | Risk Management | July 2011
• Why internal audit practice always lags and GRC snakeoil salesmen are alive and well | Risk Management | May 2011
• Time to Mandate Internal Audit? | Risk Management | April 2011
• Need for change to ASX Corporate Governance Principles – Risk Assurance? | Risk Management Today | March 2011
• All gone to custard – another take on assurance maps | The Davies report | March 2011
• A look back at the top 10 risks for 2010 | The Davies report  | January 2011
• Black Swans, Turkeys, Ostriches and other Christmas Poultry – a tale of Strategic Risk | Risk Management Today  | July 2010
• Is your risk framework adequate? Questions directors, investors and the C-suite should ask | Risk Management Today  | June 2010
• A Look Ahead: Top Risks for 2010 and beyond | Internal Auditor  | February 2010
• AXA, Perpetual, Challenger – As the backloop grows stronger it draws more entities in | resilientfutures.org  | October 2008
• Resilient leadership? | resilientfutures.org  | August 2008
• Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme – Main Event or a Side Show? | resilientfutres.org | August 2008
• Shell shocked | Risk Management Magazine | July 2008
• What can we learn from the WA Gas crisis? | resilientfutures.org | June 2008
• GRC – The Great Risk Con | Risk Management Magazine | June 2008
• Allco, ABC, Babcock. Should we have seen these coming? | resilientfutures.org | June 2008
• Are you being a reckless leader without realising it? | reslientfutures.org | May 2008

Public comment

Todd spent two years with the Institute of Internal Auditors as Australia’s inaugural Technical and Policy Director and was their spokesman, technical advisor and author on technical, policy and advocacy matters in relation to governance, risk, control, audit, assurance and related matters in Australia. Some highlights are listed below.

• Auditors are Compromised, Studies Show | An interview with Todd Davies on a range of issues to due with internal audit regulation in Australia. | Australian Financial Review | 3 April 2009
• Engaging with Internal Auditors | Todd explains how to make the Director / Internal Auditor relationship easy and useful for Boards. | The Boardroom Report, AICD | 12 August 2008
• Both sides of the story | Todd quoted on the need for independent directors and learnings form the GFC. | Monash Business Review |  November 2008

To subscribe to this series of occasional articles and case studies, please click here.

Todd Davies has been helping shape the risk and assurance landscape globally for more than a decade. Todd Davies & Associates works with Australia’s most respected companies to get the greatest impact out of their internal audit and risk functions.

We help leading organisations to:

• Define a vision for risk and assurance in their organisations
• Understand existing practices and what’s possible
• Develop and select the right strategies
• Put the right capabilities, structures and resources in place
• Realise their vision

We act as a sounding board, architect and coach throughout the process and assist with implementation where required.

We also work to develop and drive new practices into the risk and audit professions through our thought leadership series, articles, training, speaking circuit, social media and ground breaking work that we do with our clients.  We are proud to showcase this work and many of our case studies and thought pieces are available free of charge on this site.

Please feel free to read one of our news items and thought pieces from the left hand side of the site, subscribe to The Davies Report, or work your way through the menu at the top of our site to find out more about our services, case studies, testimonials and other ways to link with us and and our network of leading practitioners, clients and colleagues.

We look forward to joining with you to set new norms and leading practices.

To subscribe to this series of occasional articles and case studies, please click here.