For the purposes of this Auditing Standard, the following terms have the meanings attributed below:

(a)            An interim financial report means a financial report that is prepared in accordance with an applicable financial reporting framework[1] for a period that is shorter than the entity’s financial year.

(b)            A financial report means a complete set of financial statements including the related notes and an assertion statement by those responsible for the financial report.  The related notes ordinarily comprise a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory information.  The requirements of the applicable financial reporting framework determine the form and content of the financial report.  For example, a financial report, as defined under section 303 of the Corporations Act 2001 consists of financial statements for the half‑year, notes to the financial statements and the directors’ declaration about the statements and notes.

(c)            An applicable financial reporting framework means a financial reporting framework adopted by management, and where appropriate, those charged with governance, in the preparation of the financial report that is acceptable in view of the nature of the entity and the objective of the financial report, or that is required by law or regulation.  The financial reporting framework may be a fair presentation framework or a compliance framework.

The term “fair presentation framework” is used to refer to a financial reporting framework that requires compliance with the requirements of the framework and;

(i)             Acknowledges explicitly or implicitly that, to achieve fair presentation of a financial report, it may be necessary for management to provide disclosures beyond those specifically required by the framework; or

(ii)           Acknowledges explicitly that it may be necessary for management to depart from a requirement of the framework to achieve fair presentation of the financial report. Such departures are expected to be necessary only in extremely rare circumstances.

The term “compliance framework” is used to refer to a financial reporting framework that requires compliance with the requirements of the framework, but does not contain the acknowledgements in (i) or (ii) above.