According to the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB):

"The AASB is committed to developing, in the public interest, a single set of high quality, understandable accounting standards that require transparent and comparable information in general purpose financial statements." (AASB 2016)

This view is also shared by both the IFRS Foundation and the FRC:

The IFRS Foundation, in its mission statement, states that "our mission is to develop International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) that bring transparency, accountability and efficiency to financial markets around the world. Our work serves the public interest by fostering trust, growth and long-term financial stability in the global economy." (IFRS 2016)

The FRC (Financial Reporting Council) states that "the FRC monitors the development of international accounting and auditing standards, works to further the development of a single set of accounting and auditing standards for world-wide use and promotes the adoption of these standards." The core objectives of FRC also state that "accounting standards should facilitate the Australian economy by reducing the cost of capital and enabling Australian entities to compete effectively overseas." (FRC 2016)

References:

AASB 2016, About the AASB, viewed 25 Feb 2016, - http://www.aasb.gov.au/AASB-Board.aspx

IFRS 2016, About IFRS, viewed 25 Feb, 2016, - http://www.ifrs.org/About-us/Pages/IFRS-Foundation-and-IASB.aspx

FRC 2016 About FRC, viewed 25 Feb, 2016, - http://www.frc.gov.au/about_the_frc/

REQUIRED:

A. Explore the relationship between the notions of public interest and decision usefulness of accounting information with the help of research articles. Based upon this reading, how, and to what extent, is the development of accounting standards in the public interest consistent with the decision usefulness of accounting information? (Use at least four research articles from academic journals)

B. Discuss, with the help of research literature, that the use of IAS (International Accounting Standards) compared to national or domestic accounting standards has reduced the cost of capital of publicly listed firms. (Use at least four research articles from academic
journals).

C. From a review of latest annual reports of an Australian firm listed on ASX, identify and discuss the quality of financial disclosure by the firm with reference to a particular accounting standard and discuss whether these disclosures are sufficiently clear to be understood by a common user (You are not required to financial figures in this section).