INTHEBLACK July 2026 - Magazine - Page 18
MEMBER PROFILE
READ
an article about
expanding the
pipeline of
Indigenous
accountants
UPSKILL
With CPA Australia’s
Diversity, Inclusion
and Belonging
short course
READ
an article about how
one CPA is driving
better outcomes
for Indigenous
communities
18 INTHEBLACK July 2026
peoples are able to make decisions about
matters that affect their lives. Essential
to the exercise of self-determination
is choice, participation and control”. This is
occurring at the same time that longstanding
structural inequality is being navigated. Many
Indigenous businesses are located in regional
and remote areas, for instance, often with
limited access to professional services
and infrastructure.
“There are frequently real constraints,”
Murray says. “Access to accountants,
long-term staff and good advice is not
always there.”
Many Indigenous organisations are
also delivering essential services as they
face challenging regulatory and funding
obligations with little support.
“It is demanding,” Murray says. “You are
dealing with multiple accountabilities that
do not necessarily pull in the same direction.”
Yet those pressures also encourage deeper
reflection before decisions are made, forcing
governance discussions to extend beyond
simple financial metrics, he says.
The combined effects of a push for
self-determination and the need to fit into
a particular governance framework lead
to a fine balancing act that Indigenous
entities must master. They must remain
accountable to their communities while
meeting formal regulatory requirements.
They must maintain trust and cultural
grounding while producing financial reports
that comply with relevant standards.
“Because the people who are recipients
of the services you deliver see and feel the
results of those decisions, there is a kind
of immediacy to that accountability,” Murray
says. However, the deeper discussions around
these challenges engage decision-makers
in the consideration of much more than
efficiencies and profit, he argues. That process
of organisational introspection potentially
makes those entities more sustainable, more
trustworthy and better members of society.
LESSONS FOR THE PROFESSION
For Murray, the experience of Indigenous
organisations offers important lessons
for accountants working in all sectors.
There is great opportunity, demonstrated
within the Indigenous business space but
scalable outside of it, for the profession
to embrace a more holistic view of how
accounting offers value, he says.
While accounting has a focus on
financial metrics, it could equally prioritise
intergenerational, social, cultural and
environmental outcomes, all of which should
then guide organisational decision-making.
There is value for accountants working
in any context to reflect on the nature
of their client relationships and the
assumptions and expectations that underpin
the delivery of the work.
“This is really about recognising that
accountants are not just technical service
providers, but participants in governance,”
Murray says. “They should be asking
whether current ways of working
acknowledge that reality.”
That reflection may challenge conventional
business models, including approaches that
leave little room for deeper engagement
or long-term value creation.
“A trusted relationship will always be
of greater value than a purely transactional
one,” he says. At the heart of this view is
the recognition that accountants are not
merely chroniclers of organisational financial
performance, but are active participants who
shape that performance.
“I think it is important for accountants
to recognise how influential their role is,”
Murray says. “This includes the accountant
asking what role they want to play, and
analysing whether the relationship is set up
to allow for that.”
It could lead to a reconsideration of
standard business models such as strict
billable-hour structures, particularly in
situations where standard approaches
do not align with client needs.
“Some entities that you have to work
with will be challenging,” he says. “What
scope do you have to step outside of that
for a bigger, or a different, outcome?
“There is scope for the broader business
community to learn from governance
frameworks that value things beyond
what appears in standard financial reports.
Accountants are uniquely placed to help
build those frameworks if they are willing
to step into that responsibility.” ■
