Counting on Indigenous accountants - Collaborative curriculum development for an Indigenous pre-accounting enabling program

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Kurz

Indigenous accounting faces severe underrepresentation, with fewer than 100 registered Indigenous accountants in Australia against an estimated 200,000 non-Indigenous counterparts. The research develops a culturally empowering curriculum for Charles Darwin University’s Indigenous Pre-Accounting Enabling Program in Darwin, aiming to reduce entry barriers to higher education, motivate Indigenous students to study accounting, connect students with Indigenous professionals, and create online and on-campus community. It also introduces Indigenous accountants and Indigenous institutions as early role models, using decolonisation methods within a Critical Utopian Action Research framework.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Underrepresentation in accounting

Barriers to higher education and to accounting

Need for culturally empowering programs

Research objectives and program design

Counting on Indigenous accountants: Collaborative curriculum development for an Indigenous pre-accounting enabling program Guzyal Hill1, Aggie Wegner2 and David Low1 1Asia Pacific College of Business and Law, Casuarina Campus, Charles Darwin University, 21 Kitchener Drive, Darwin, Northern Territory, 0810, Australia, [email: guzyal.hill@cdu.edu.au](email: guzyal.hill@cdu.edu.au) 2 Northern Territory Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security, Level 4, Goyder Centre, Chung Wah Terrace, Palmerston, Northern Territory, 0830, Australia With less than 100 registered Indigenous accountants in Australia compared to an estimated 200,000 non-Indigenous people in the field, there is serious underrepresentation of the Indigenous population in the profession. There are many imperatives for increasing the number of Aboriginal people in accounting, but the barriers that individuals face before or upon entering the field are formidable. Therefore, the development of enabling programs in higher education is essential. The objective of this research is to develop a curriculum for the Indigenous Pre-Accounting Enabling Program at Charles Darwin University (CDU) in Darwin, Australia, that is culturally empowering, breaks down the barriers for entering university, motivates Indigenous students to study accounting, links students to Indigenous professionals, offers gateways into the industry, and establishes a community of Indigenous students online and on campus. The novelty of the program is its early involvement of Indigenous accountants as role models, as well as Indigenous corporations, regulators of Indigenous businesses (such as the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations) and accreditation bodies such as the Chartered Professional Accountants and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. The methodology used for this study applies decolonisation techniques within a Critical Utopian Action Research (CUAR) framework of sharing circles and dreaming about a better future for Indigenous accountants and social enterprise. Although the curriculum was designed based on the accounting profession, the approaches used are relevant for other vocations. Keywords: Indigenous students, accounting education, culturally empowering, community engagement, Indigenous accountants Introduction With less than 100 registered Indigenous1 accountants in Australia (Parkes, 2018) compared to an estimate by Core List (2015) of 200,000 non-Indigenous accountants in the field, there is significant underrepresentation of the Indigenous population in accounting. The motivation to increase the number of Indigenous students studying accounting is manyfold. Higher education plays a crucial role in 1 The authors use the term 'Indigenous' to identify all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Nations peoples of Australia, connecting with Article 3 of The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We acknowledge the traditional lands of the Larrakia people, where this inaugural Indigenous Pre-Accounting Enabling Program was designed and delivered. With respect, we acknowledge the traditional lands of all participants, locally, nationally, and internationally. creating employment opportunities for students and improving both economic and health determinants for Indigenous Australians (Brueckner et al., 2014; Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2017) . Finance and accounting education has the potential to positively affect multiple areas of society that need improvement. These include (1) money management skills for individuals and communities (Bin-Salliket al., 2004), (2) greater financial independence of Indigenous organisations through limited reliance on non-Indigenous accountants, and (3) involvement of Indigenous communities in financial planning and decision-making processes (Rkein, 2014) . In addition to the individual effects, financial and accounting education has potential at the wider

FAQs

Why does the research focus on increasing Indigenous accountants in Australia?

It addresses the significant underrepresentation of Indigenous people in accounting, citing fewer than 100 registered Indigenous accountants compared with an estimated 200,000 non-Indigenous accountants.

What is the main goal of the Indigenous Pre-Accounting Enabling Program curriculum?

To develop a culturally empowering curriculum that breaks down barriers to university entry, motivates Indigenous students to study accounting, and builds connections to Indigenous professionals and community.

How does the study approach curriculum development methodologically?

It applies decolonisation techniques within a Critical Utopian Action Research framework, using sharing circles and dreaming about a better future for Indigenous accountants and social enterprise.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Kurz