John Bishop AO
Citation
John Bishop studied economics at the University of Adelaide where his interest in the accounting profession was heightened by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA) prize for Accounting 111A. He qualified for membership of the Australian Society of Accountants (ASA), Australasian Institute of Cost Accountants, Chartered Institute of Secretaries and the ICAA and in 1965 was admitted to partnership when his employing firm Wiltshire Denton Turner & Co., adopted the Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co name. John joined the ICAA’s Research Society and chaired the committee from 1970 to 1971 around the time he was elected to State Council. John served on a large number of committees at state and national level with the ICAA and joint committees with the ASA, including education, legislation review, and integration. In 1978 he was appointed president of the ICAA and in 1980 managing partner of the Adelaide office of Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co. He accepted appointments as Australia’s representative on the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) from 1981 to 1983, Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Australian Accountants’ Centenary Congress in 1985 and Australia’s representative on the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) from 1985 to 1987. From 1984 to 1986 he served as a foundation member of the Australian Accounting Standards Review Board. At a joint meeting of the IASC Board and the IFAC Council in Tokyo in 1987, he was appointed to head a review into ‘the aims, effectiveness and relationship of IASC and IFAC’. The Committee’s report was adopted at a joint meeting of both bodies in 1989. John retired from KPMG in 1991 and remained as a consultant to the firm until 2000. He joined several company boards and was appointed by the South Australian State Government to the South Australian Financing Authority Review Committee (1992-93), the South Australian Office of Financial Supervision (1992-99) and Chairman of the Regent Gardens Joint Housing Venture (1993-99). He lent extensive experience to the Australian Grand Priory of The Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem and the Adelaide Festival of Arts. In 1988 John Bishop was appointed as an Officer of The Order of Australia (AO) for services to the accountancy profession and in 1995 was granted Honorary Life Membership of the Adelaide Festival and made a Grand Officer of Merit (GOMLJ) by the Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem. In 2007 the ICAA presented him with a Meritorious Service Award.
The Australian Accounting Hall of Fame honours John Bishop as a practitioner, standard setter and office holder.
Biography
John Bishop was born in 1936 and educated at East Adelaide Primary School and St Peter’s College in Adelaide. His specific interest in the accounting profession began in 1954, when as a first-year full-time university student, he found a job as a part-time trainee audit clerk with Thomas Sara Macklin & Co (a predecessor firm of Touche Ross) during 1954 and 1955. His interest in the accounting profession was heightened when he was awarded the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA) prize for Accounting 111A in the third year of his Economics degree at the University of Adelaide.
He commenced full time employment with Wiltshire Denton Turner & Co (South Australian agents for Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co) in January 1957 and qualified for membership of the Australian Society of Accountants (ASA), the Australasian Institute of Cost Accountants and the Chartered Institute of Secretaries. He sat the final exams for the ICAA in 1959 once he met the employment qualification. He subsequently took a very active part in the ICAA’s Students’ Society and in later years served on the Education Committee of the Institute and was heavily involved in the development and implementation of the Professional Year program. In 1965 John was admitted to partnership when Wiltshire Denton Turner & Co adopted the Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co name.
John was a member of the ICAA’s Research Society from 1965 to 1971 and chaired the committee from 1970 to 1971 around the time he was elected to State Council. In this role he served on the Education, Professional Development, Legislation Review, and Institute of Affiliate Accountants committees. In 1973 he was appointed to National Council and served on National Council Committees including Education, Forward Planning, Legislation Review, Small Business Finance, Executive & Appeal, Principal Accounting Officer, Statutory Recognition & Registration, Integration and the Audit Symposium committees. He acted as a Professional Year tutor and also joined the Advisory Committee to the School of Accounting at the South Australian Institute of Technology (now the University of South Australia) and assisted with interviewing applicants for appointment to Flinders University’s new School of Accounting. In 1975 John was invited to be Keynote Speaker at the First Commonwealth Conference of Accountants in New Delhi with an opening address entitled ‘Re-Appraisal of Accounting Concepts’. John also devoted time to joint committees with the ASA as a member of the Joint Standing Committee, Australian Accounting Research Foundation, Legislation Review, Foundation Executive and Special Review of Operations committees.
In some respects his appointment as the second youngest President of the ICAA in 1978 at the age of 42 could be seen as the culmination of a successful career. However this was not to be. In 1980 he was appointed managing partner of the Adelaide office of Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co and, with the consent and support of his partners, accepted appointments as Australia’s representative on the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) from 1981 to 1983, Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Australian Accountants’ Centenary Congress in 1985 and Australia’s representative on the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) from 1985-87. From 1984 to 86 he served as a foundation member of the Australian Accounting Standards Review Board.
At a joint meeting of the IASC Board and the IFAC Council in Tokyo in 1987, it was agreed that a working party should be established to ‘review the aims, effectiveness and relationship of IASC and IFAC’. To avoid any conflict of interest, it was deemed the chairman of the working party should have served on both bodies or neither. John was the only person known to have served on both and so was subsequently appointed to head the review committee. This involved significant travel and meetings in US, Canada, India, France & UK. The committee’s report, which became known as ‘The Bishop Working Party Report’, was adopted at a joint meeting of both bodies in 1989.
After completing national mergers with Hungerfords in 1989 and Touche Ross & Co in 1990, he retired from the KPMG partnership in 1991 and remained as a consultant to the firm until 2000. He joined several company boards in the 1990s and was appointed by the South Australian state government to the South Australian Financing Authority Review Committee (1992- 93), the South Australian Office of Financial Supervision (1992- 99) and Chairman of the Regent Gardens Joint Housing Venture (1993-99). Notwithstanding his commitments with his firm and to the wider profession, John always managed to find time for honorary and voluntary work within the community. This included the boards of St Andrews Hospital, Flinders Medical Centre, the Queen Elizabeth Trust for Young Australians, ‘Opera in the Outback’ in aid of the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the Independent Theatre Company.
Two other bodies required a great deal of time, mostly after hours. He was heavily involved, on behalf of the Australian Grand Priory from 1989 until 2008 in helping to achieve the world-wide reunification of the ‘Paris’ and ‘Malta’ divisions of The Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem which had been in train since the 1800s. The Adelaide Festival of Arts benefited from his input from 1981 until 1996 as it planned and implemented the transition from community to government ownership. At various times he also served as auditor of South Lakes Golf Club, chairman of Finance and Membership Committees of Kooyonga Golf Club, committee member, captain and state and national president of the Senior Golfers’ Society of Australia, committee member and president of the Adelaide Club, and president of St Peter’s College Old Scholars’ Association.
In 1988 John Bishop was appointed as an Officer of The Order of Australia (AO) for services to the accounting profession and in 1995 was granted Honorary Life Membership of the Adelaide Festival and made a Grand Officer of Merit (GOMLJ) by the Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem. In 2007 the ICAA presented him with a Meritorious Service Award.
In summary, John Bishop has not only made a substantial contribution to the advancement of accounting in Australia, but internationally as well, and has been an outstanding example of the unstinting service which accountants can and do offer to the community.