Management Accounting Special Interest Group

SIGMA Annual Dinner “Beyond the journal: Doing research with impact” - Saturday, July 5, 2025

We are delighted to invite you to the 2025 Management Accounting Special Interest Group (SIGMA) forum at the upcoming AFAANZ Conference in Brisbane.

Date: Saturday 5^th July, 2025

Time: 6.00-9:30pm 

Location: AFAANZ Conference venue, Sofitel Brisbane Central

Cost: $120 AUD (members), $145 (non-SIG members), $120 (student)

Registration links:

• AFAANZ main conference (where you can also register for the SIGMA dinner): 

This year’s dinner theme is Beyond the journal: Doing research with impact.

Join us for an evening that includes our regular networking session and Three Minute Thesis presentations by current PhD students and early career researchers in management accounting. See below for details on how to apply.

The evening will also feature a panel discussion with Professor Clinton Free and Associate Professor Nicole Sutton, exploring the opportunities, challenges and practicalities of conducting management accounting research that makes a real-world difference. Clinton brings insights from his work on fraud and insolvency, while Nicole will draw on her research into the financial viability of aged care. Together, they’ll reflect on what it means to do research that reaches beyond academia and contributes to public debate, policy and practice.

Applications now open for the Three Minute Thesis presentations at the SIGMA Annual Dinner

At this year’s annual SIGMA Dinner forum at the AFAANZ Conference in Brisbane (Saturday 5th of July), we will once again hold ‘3-Minute Thesis’ presentations by PhD students and early career researchers (ECRs). This session will allow participants to showcase their ideas, practice communicating them and receive feedback from members of the MA community.

Presentation format

Each presenter will be allotted 3-5 minutes to deliver a presentation on their topic, and they may use one unanimated PowerPoint slide to support their talk. While the audience will consist of MAs, it is essential to present the topic in a language that is understandable to a non-specialist audience. In line with the theme of our SIGMA dinner this year, we would also like your presentation to highlight the potential real-world impact of your thesis. Following each presentation, we will reserve some time for a Q&A session.

Sponsorship

SIGMA will offer financial assistance to successful applicants, contributing funding support towards the cost of applicants’ travel and attendance at the SIGMA Annual Dinner.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants include current PhD students and ECRs who have completed their PhD within the last 1.5 years. Applicants should be studying topics within the management accounting field and be based at an Australian or New Zealand university.

Application form

If you would like to apply, please complete the application form, obtain approval from your department head and send to: sujay.nair@unimelb.edu.au by 2nd of May. 

We are delighted to share the list of upcoming presentations at the 2025 SIGMA Virtual Brown Bag series, please mark your calendars and register using the links below:

These 1-hour sessions are well attended by participants across Australia and New Zealand. They are designed to be relatively informal, allowing for feedback and networking within the MA community. We welcome management accounting papers at all stages of development (including ones early in their formation), and we particularly encourage early career researchers and PhD students to consider presenting.

If you (or your research students) would be interested in presenting at a session this year, please contact Rachael Lewis: r.lewis@unsw.edu.au

SIGMA Membership

Please consider updating your SIGMA membership for 2025. Guided by member feedback, membership fees are used primarily to support PhD students and early career researchers attend our annual meeting.

To become a member of the Management Accounting SIG (SIGMA) you will first need to become a member of AFAANZ. The fee for AFAANZ membership is AU$137.50 including GST for applicants residing in Australia and AU$125 for applicants residing outside Australia. Lower rates are available for students, early career researchers, casual academics and retired academic members. Note that membership is based on a calendar year.

The fee for the Management Accounting SIG is AU$22 including GST for applicants residing in Australia and AU$20 for applicants residing outside Australia. Click on the purchase button to gain access to this SIG. You may also "Join this Group" further below to be keep up to date with the latest news and events.