INTHEBLACK June/July 2024 - Magazine - Page 16
MEMBER PROFILE
The clinic, one of 10 set up in universities
around the country, was so successful
that the program has now been extended
to other universities.
Unrepresented taxpayers can feel supported
there, working with a team of accounting
students who are supervised by appropriately
qualified university staff, Cull says.
“When clients come in, they are relieved
to be able to sort out their tax. It is very
emotional, as most are on a low income.
Importantly, our students have an
opportunity to work within real-life
experiences and real people – both with
their tax and the emotions that come
with it. Most of the students want to
come back and volunteer.”
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GIVING BACK
Before she joined the world of academia,
Cull spent 15 years in various accounting and
finance roles at ASX 100-listed companies.
She became a part-time lecturer in
the 1990s, primarily to give back to the
profession and use her experience for the
benefit of accounting students.
“I had real-life experience in the corporate
world. I wanted to impart this to students.
My idea was to bring these real-life examples
into the classroom, because I felt this would
help them when they graduated.
“The more I taught, the more I loved it,”
she says.
Valuing the flexibility of her role because
of her young family, Cull began teaching
management accounting full-time in 2005.
She has never looked back.
“I am very comfortable talking with
industry. I can bring some of the issues
into the university and have our students
help with solutions to the problems.”
FINANCIAL PLANNING EVOLUTION
Cull has a keen interest in financial
planning and advisory and holds a PhD
in trust and personal financial planning.
She has published a range of academic
papers and contributed to industry
publications and textbooks in the areas
of ethics, financial literacy and financial
planning education.
With 20 years of financial advisory
research and study behind her, she
believes the industry is finally heading
into the right direction after years
of reform. However, there is undeniably
more work ahead to improve the financial
services culture.
She says there is a disconnect between how
financial services are portrayed in the media,
where the focus is strongly on the negative,
and the real-world experiences of many
financial advice clients, which are very positive.
Cull says she had hoped the industry
would come together and take steps
towards reform and improvement, instead
of the changes being imposed externally.
“It was disappointing that the government
had to step in and legislate a code of ethics.
We will get there eventually. The bar has
been lifted,” she says.
Cull’s recent research looks into the
motivation behind becoming a financial
adviser, and she says high on the list is
the desire to help others.
“What came out strongly at the top
was they wanted to help people – this was
number one by far. That is the message that
needs to come out also, to attract the next
generation of financial planners.”
THE NEW GENERATION
Cull draws energy and motivation from
the annual influx of new university
students who want to study accounting.
To encourage students to consider
studying accounting, Cull contributed to the
development of WSU’s bachelor of accounting
degree, offered alongside the existing bachelor
of business (accounting).
“What makes this bachelor of accounting
so special is that it is the only degree
in Australia where the students have
an accredited accounting degree and
financial planning degree," Cull says.
The degree was one of the first to be
accredited with the Financial Adviser
Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA)
and remains an accredited financial
planning program with Treasury.
“It was hard work by a great team,”
Cull says.
