Telstra 2008 Annual Report Download - page 66

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Telstra Corporation Limited and controlled entities
Directors’ Report
Non-audit services
During fiscal 2008, our auditor Ernst & Young has been employed on assignments additional to their statutory audit duties. Details
of the amounts paid or payable to Ernst & Young for audit and non-audit services provided during the year are located in note 8
to the financial statements.
The directors are satisfied that the provision of non-audit services during fiscal 2008 is compatible with the general standard of
independence for auditors imposed by the Corporations Act 2001, and the nature and scope of each type of non-audit service
provided did not compromise the auditor independence requirements of the Act for the following reasons:
• all recurring audit engagements are approved by the Audit Committee each year through the Audit Committee’s
approval of the annual audit plan;
• additional audit and non-audit services requires approval from the Chief Financial Officer which is communicated to the
Audit Committee at each meeting;
• fees earned from non-audit work undertaken by Ernst & Young are capped at 1.0 times the total audit fee; and
• the provision of non-audit services by Ernst & Young is monitored by the Audit Committee via semi-annual reports to the
Audit Committee.
Ernst & Young is specifically prohibited from performing any of the following services:
• bookkeeping services and other services related to preparing our accounting records of financial statements;
• financial information system design and implementation services;
• appraisal or valuation services, fairness opinions, or contribution in kind reports;
• actuarial services;
• internal audit services;
• management function or human resources;
• temporary staff assignments;
• broker or dealer, investment adviser, or investment banking services; and
• legal services or expert services unrelated to the audit.
A copy of the auditors’ independence declaration is set out on page 73 and forms part of this report.