This paper examines how reputational risk to government is generated through framing and overflows evident in environmental performance auditing. It analyses two high‐profile performance audits conducted by the Australian National Audit Office. It is motivated by a gap in the literature on performance auditing and environmental auditing, which both acknowledge that audits may give rise to reputational risk but have not analysed the process through which this occurs. Using ideas of framing (Goffman, 1974) and overflow (Callon, 1983), this paper extends the work of Power (2007) by explaining how different accounts can be constructed from the same underlying events through the application of different frames. Alternative framings generate reputational risk by highlighting contentious issues that may otherwise have been ignored or received minimal consideration. In particular, representatives of the opposition and media can use political and public interest frames to construct performance accounts which differ from and challenge the improvement frame emphasised by performance auditors and favoured by government. This paper shows that auditors’ roles are more complex than often assumed and that auditors relate to different audiences through different frames.

This article shows how accounting and rugby have been used as tools of control. It compares the role of accounting in amateur and professional sport, initially analysing the Fiji Rugby Union's (FRU) internal documents from the period when Fiji was a British colony and rugby was an amateur sport. During this period, the FRU practised rudimentary accounting since it relied primarily on internally-generated funds and therefore had virtually no public accountability. The FRU board emphasized rugby's core values and downplayed the importance of money. However, in the professional period, donors require more sophisticated financial reporting and auditing to monitor usage of their grants and evaluate the impact of their investments. The FRU has encountered conflict with its donors due to repeated financial losses and alleged mismanagement. This article reveals that those losses originated in the amateur period through diseconomies of scale, inequitable arrangements for international matches and unsustainable funding models. Rather than helping the FRU to address these underlying problems, powerful stakeholders continue using financial resources and governance structures to control and exploit Fiji rugby.

Purpose-This paper seeks to discuss the motivation for commencement of environmental auditing within the Fiji Office of the Auditor-General (OAG). It also aims to analyse the actual topics audited between 2005 and 2007 and the standards employed in those audits. Design/methodology/approach-A case study approach is employed, involving document analysis and semi-structured interviews. Findings-Environmental auditing in Fiji's public sector can be explained in terms of institutional isomorphism: coercive, through pressure from the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and United Nations (UN); mimetic, in relation to adoption of best practice within INTOSAI; and normative, through communication and professional training provided by INTOSAI. There is also evidence of decoupling; although government has ratified Millennium Development Goal 7 on environmental sustainability, it has failed to allocate adequate resources to the relevant departments. Research limitations/implications-Since audit reports were not publicly available, it was not possible to review audit opinions and the main audit findings. Nor was it possible to conduct follow-up interviews with audit clients. Practical implications-Sufficient financial and human resources must be devoted to environmental management and auditing. Accountants must be involved in the initial development of Environmental Management Systems (EMS). This recognises the particular skills which they possess and facilitates the subsequent audit of systems. Originality/value-The current research examines the adoption of environmental auditing in the public sector and finds that it can be explained using institutional theory. Accounting practices in a small developing country are strongly influenced by global networks.

The aim of this paper is twofold: firstly to examine how the concepts of accounting and accountability are understood by indigenous Fijians; and secondly to examine the role of accounting in the accountability of provincial councils. Provincial councils are part of the Fijian Administration, which runs alongside the central government but applies only to indigenous Fijians. The Fijian Administration was introduced by the British colonial administration in the late 1800s as a mechanism for controlling indigenous Fijians. It has undergone several reviews resulting from criticisms that it has failed to fulfill the aspirations of indigenous Fijians. There is evidence of implied and actual accountability by indigenous Fijians in Namosi. This is supported by monitoring mechanisms established by provincial offices. On the other hand, neither the Fijian Affairs Board nor the Namosi Provincial Council appears to take serious responsibility for accounting to indigenous Fijians in the province. Sadly, there is little evidence to demonstrate an explicit accountability to indigenous Fijians. Significant scope exists for improving the standard of accounting and accountability by provincial councils. This study contributes to understanding the role of accounting among indigenous peoples, in the context of inherited colonial structures. It also represents accounting research conducted by indigenous academics, primarily in the Fijian language. This enables an examination of how language frames understanding of accounting concepts.

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