Demi Chung

Demi Chung is a Senior Lecturer and Undergraduate Student Liaison (Accounting) at the School of Accounting, UNSW Business School. She joined UNSW in early 2009 after previously working as an academic in the Discipline of Accounting at the University of Sydney. With over a decade of commercial experience in the private sector, she brings practical knowledge to her academic role.

Demi Chung holds a BCom in Accounting and a BEc (Hons) from Macquarie University, and a PhD from the University of Sydney.

Dr. Chung's research focuses on the applications and impacts of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), risk management, and value creation across sector boundaries, with particular expertise in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in transport infrastructure. Her work examines how accounting standards affect project financing, risk allocation mechanisms in PPP contracts, and value creation through shared governance models. She has developed analytical frameworks for assessing PPP arrangements and investigating risk perceptions among various stakeholder groups. Her research bridges theoretical accounting principles with practical infrastructure finance challenges, providing insights into how public and private entities can effectively collaborate on major projects.

Analysis of Dr. Chung's publication record reveals a consistent focus on PPPs, particularly in transportation infrastructure. Her work spans both theoretical examinations of accounting standards as they apply to PPPs and empirical investigations of risk allocation in toll road contracts. Over time, her research has evolved from foundational studies on risk allocation to more nuanced examinations of value creation, trust, and control mechanisms in PPP arrangements. Her most recent work investigates how accounting methods for Private Finance Initiatives affect project loan spreads, demonstrating the financial market implications of accounting standards.

Dr. Chung has received notable recognition for her research:

• Best Paper Award in the 'public sector not-for-profit' stream at AFAANZ/IAAER conference 2008 for 'Public Private Partnerships in Transport Infrastructure: Past, Present and Beyond'
• David Willis Memorial Prize at the Australasian Transport Research Forum (ATRF) 2008 for 'Private Provision of Transport Infrastructure - Unveiling the Inconvenient Truth of New South Wales'

Dr. Chung has secured research funding from prestigious organizations including the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ) and the Asia Pacific Interdisciplinary Research in Accounting (APIRA). Her teaching focuses on financial accounting, with specialization in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and their application. She currently teaches ACCT3563 Issues in Financial Reporting and Analysis.

While Dr. Chung's work primarily involves theoretical and empirical research on accounting and PPPs, she collaborates with practitioners in both public and private sectors to ensure her research addresses real-world challenges in infrastructure finance and accounting.