BIOGRAPHY AND RESEARCH IMPACT

Professor Nigar Sultana is an internationally recognised educator and industry-focused researcher with over 18 years of experience in tertiary education and research. Her research interests are in the areas of sustainability, ESG, auditing, corporate governance, gender diversity, corporate social responsibility and financial reporting. Nigar consistently publishes research articles in ABDC A* and A-ranked journals including Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, European Accounting Review, British Accounting Review, Accounting and Finance, Journal of Accounting Literature, International Journal of Auditing and the Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics.

 

Nigar has a very strong research engagement profile with industry including government departments, corporations and the not-for profit sector (e.g., BHP, Hanson, CSIRO, CEWA, DCCEW, Department of Communities and the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT), to name a few) providing workable and operational solutions in areas such as Indigenous superannuation governance, financial literacy and empowerment for vulnerable communities, gender equity on corporate boards, biodiversity and natural capital accounting, climate and carbon accounting and reporting. Nigar’s research also generates impact, as she consistently publishes media articles and provides expert commentary in TV and other news outlets based on her research.

 

Prior to joining academia full-time, Nigar was an assurance auditor at a chartered accounting firm in Perth. As part of her industry experience, Nigar worked with a range of clients, from listed firms to not-for-profit organisations, where she was involved not only in the assurance of financial reports as an external auditor but also as an internal auditor. Nigar is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand, has successfully supervised ten PhD and eight Honours students to completion, and is currently supervising four PhD students. Nigar currently serves on the editorial boards of three prominent accounting journals: i) Accounting & Finance; ii) International Journal of Auditing; and iii) Meditary Accountancy Journal. She was also an elected member of Curtin University Academic Board.

 

Nigar has received a number of awards for her research and teaching at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Nigar was awarded, the Faculty of Business and Law (FBL) ‘Internationalisation Team Award 2025’, 'Research Industry Engagement of the Year (highly commended) 2022, 'Research Industry Engagement of the Year (highly commended) 2020', the FBL ‘Researcher of the Year 2019’ and the Curtin Business School ‘New Researcher of the Year 2014’ for her research publications, higher degrees by research supervision and grant income.

 

RESEARCH AWARDS

1.       Internationalisation Award - FBL Research Award 2025 for multiple DFAT engagement capacity-training courses

2.      Research Industry Engagement of the Year (highly commended) 2022

3.      Research Industry Engagement of the Year (highly commended) 2020

4.      Faculty of Business and Law Researcher of the Year 2019

5.      Curtin Business School New Researcher of the Year 2014

 

MEMBERSHIPS

Member, Australian Accounting Standards Board’s Climate Research’s Climate Research Expert List

Fellow, Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand. 2017 to present

Member, American Accounting Association. 2011 to present

Member, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand. 2008 to present.

 

GRANTS

 

Research

1.  Digital Finance CRC, Preparation of two expert reports, both focused on companies needing to develop expertise in carbon accounting in order to comply with national and international climate change regulations that require companies to (1) report and (2) reduce their greenhouse gas emissions year-on-year. $7,500. June 2025.

2.     CRC TiME, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) and CSIRO.  2022/2023. Development of a natural capital accounting (NCA) framework in the WA mining sector, the first in Australia. Investigator and Compliance Expert. $300,000.

3.     CRC TiME, DECEEW, Hanson Co, Syrinx and CSIRO. 2022/2023. Implementation of the developed NCA framework. Investigator. $370,750.      

4.     WA Department of Communities. 2024/2025. Designing and delivering financial literacy /economic empowerment programs to regional, rural and remote women in WA. $10,000. 

5.     Men’s Shed-WA 2020. Building a strong community in Australia. $9, 500. 

6.    WA Department of Communities 2020. Financial literacy for women and youth: Building resilience. $7,000. Completed 2020.

7.      UniSuper and Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre. Indigenous superannuation. $55,000. Completed 2019.

8.     Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ). 2017. Auditor specialisation and audit quality in Australia. Principal Investigator. $3,550;

9.     AFAANZ. 2014. Nomination committee governance, director appointment and equity. Principal Investigator. $4,550;

10.   AFAANZ. 2010. Internal and external audit in the WA public sector. Principal Investigator. $7,166; and

11.    Numerous internal grants from 2009 to 2017 totalling more than $25,000.

 

Engagement

1.     DFAT and Australia Awards Africa. Financing Climate Action in Africa (re-running 2025 course). International Trainer on Measurement, Reporting and Verification. $425,000. Completed 2026.

2.     DFAT and Australia Awards Africa. Financing Climate Action in Africa (re-running 2024 course). International Trainer on Measurement, Reporting and Verification. $463,000. Completed 2025.

3.     DFAT and Australia Awards Africa. Financing Climate Action in Africa. International Trainer on Measurement, Reporting and Verification. $473,000. Completed 2024.

4.     DFAT and Aus4Skills Short Course. Carbon market operation and cooperative mechanisms under the Paris Agreement. International Trainer/Carbon accounting expert. $641,000. Completed 2022.

 

OTHER AWARDS

1.      Australian Postgraduate Award – 2008 to 2009

2.    Curtin Business School Scholarship Award – 2008 to 2009.