Opening the ICAA self-managed superannuation fund conference in Melbourne yesterday, ICAA president Tim Gullifer said the proposed merger represented a "significant development" in the relationship between the ICAA and the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA) which would transform both groups.
"We will be more member-centric. Some of you have said we don't reflect the needs of your business," Mr Gullifer told delegates.
"We will focus on education, and aspire to be leaders in business education in Australia and New Zealand.
"We need to turn our professional development program into a lifelong learning process, accessible from anywhere in the world."
A merger would result in the provision of more business tools and more professional development opportunities to members of both institutes, Mr Gullifer said, adding that the creation of a single institute would also benefit members of both organisations who are based offshore.
"Between ourselves and the [NZICA] we have around 13,000 members offshore who need services and education delivered to them overseas," he said.
"This doesn't imply anything is fundamentally wrong with the way our institutes operate, but if we stand alone our capacity to meet future challenges has limitations requiring compromise."
The ICAA has received around 10,000 pieces of member feedback, largely supportive of a merger, and based on that and a financial analysis the merger will be put to a member vote between October 1 and November 1 this year, requiring 67 per cent in the affirmative to proceed, Mr Gullifer said.
The leadership group of the merged entity would consist of ICAA deputy president Mel Ashton as president of the member council which will appoint the board. The proposed board chair is NZICA board member Murray Jack.
It is also proposed ICAA chief executive Lee White would take on the role of chief executive of the merged entity, One New Institute, and NZICA chief executive Craig Norgate would assume the role of transformation director.
