Overview

It will be clear from Figure 3.3 in Chapter 3 that we consider regulation of corporate governance as a prominent part of a good corporate governance model. This chapter builds on that model by focusing on the regulation of corporate governance in particular. It deals specifically with the various mechanisms, legislative and non-legislative, which regulate the corporation and which set in place, collectively, a framework by which good governance can be achieved. Overall, this collective body of mechanisms forms part of what has recently been described as an emerging ‘law of corporate governance’.

The regulation of corporate governance in Australia is achieved through both binding and non-binding rules, international recommendations and industry-specific standards, commentaries of scholars and practitioners and the decisions of judges. The legislature acts to facilitate the fulfilment of good corporate governance by refining the rules encompassing corporate law, and indirectly through the whole panoply of rules and regulations enacted which impact on the corporation and its activities in a variety of ways.