Better Practice Guides

Audit Committees have an important role in the governance framework of entities by providing an independent source of assurance and advice to Chief Executives/Boards. A distinguishing feature of an Audit Committee within an entity’s governance framework is its independence and objectivity, as Audit Committees do not undertake management responsibilities and are not a substitute for entity management controls and accountabilities.

The aim of the Guide is to provide guidance on the operation of the Audit Committees of public sector entities operating under both the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 and the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997. The Guide updates and replaces the Australian National Audit Office’s (ANAO) 2005 Public Sector Audit Committees Better Practice Guide.

The Guide is intended as a reference document for Chief Executives, Boards, members of Audit Committees and senior managers with responsibility for Audit Committee activities, and complements the ANAO’s Better Practice Guide Public Sector Internal Audit issued in September 2007.

The ANAO has also supplied a number of checklists and templates which supplement this better practice guide. These can be used and modified to suit individual circumstances. They are contained in the zip file which is attached below.

• Public Sector Audit Committees - Checklists and Templates

Public Sector Audit Committees - Independent assurance and advice for Chief Executives and Boards
Public Sector Audit Committees - Independent assurance and advice for Chief Executives and Boards

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The Better Practice Guide provides an overview of significant risks and controls that are relevant to key human resource (HR) functions, with particular focus within each chapter on managing risks through implementation of better practice principles.

The Guide identifies better practice system controls, and describes manual or process controls that are relevant to support or strengthen the implementation of system controls.

The Guide discusses risks and controls associated with the design, implementation and maintenance of the Human Resource Information System and will be useful to assist HR system managers and practitioners to implement better practices to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of HR and payroll processes; strengthen system controls and appropriately manage and segregate user access to key system functions and increase awareness of system controls within the Peoplesoft and SAP HR systems that are used by a large number of Australian Government entities.

Download Human Resource Information Systems

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Fraud continues to be an ever-present threat to the Australian community, posing significant challenges to organisations in its prevention and detection. Government programs are not immune from these threats. The Better Practice Guide (which updates the 2004 version) reflects the changing fraud risk landscape and explains measures entities can take in establishing an effective fraud control environment.

The release of the Better Practice Guide coincides with the issue of an updated version of the Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines by the Minister for Home Affairs. These new Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines establish the fraud control policy framework within which entities determine their own specific practices, plans and procedures to manage the prevention and detection of fraudulent activities. The Better Practice Guide was prepared in consultation with the Attorney-General's Department and complements the revised Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines.

While the Better Practice Guide is an important tool for senior management and those who have direct responsibilities for fraud control, elements of this Better Practice Guide will be useful to a wider audience, including employees, contractors and service providers and others with an interest in sound public administration.

The Better Practice Guide:

• outlines the essential conditions for fraud control;
• provides particular assistance relating to each stage in the program life cycle;
• includes case studies and practical examples; and
• contains a chapter devoted to guidance on combating the emerging problem of identity fraud.

A quick reference guide which is included in the printed version of the guide can be dowloaded HERE.

Download Fraud Control in Australian Government Entities
Download Fraud Control in Australian Government Entities

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Asset management is an essential component of good governance in both the public and private sectors, and should be aligned to, and integrated with, an entity's strategic, corporate and financial planning.

For entities which manage large asset holdings, a well-structured, practical asset management framework can assist in providing clarity for stakeholders as to the linkages between asset levels and the outcomes expected of the entity, and thus aid decisions on asset management. Entities with smaller asset holdings will also benefit from understanding how they can better align these resources with expected outcomes. The main message is to ensure entities have a disciplined approach to match their investment in assets to program requirements, and to plan for asset replacement in a strategic way which accords with the Government's capital budgeting framework where applicable.

The aim of this Guide is to provide an update to the previous publication Better Practice Guide on Asset Management June 1996 and to provide a practical asset management framework that can be adopted by Australian Government entities to assist in the effective management, maintenance, and use of assets to achieve their goals and agreed program delivery outcomes.

In particular, the Guide draws together and illustrates the practical application and essential inter-dependencies of a strategic asset management framework–being asset management, planning and the strategic goals of an entity.

The concept of asset performance indicators is introduced to guide entities on how to establish the condition of major assets, and the necessary level and frequency of maintenance. These indicators represent the parameters required for optimum efficiency and management of an entity's asset portfolio.

For entities whose asset base is critical to program delivery, a Capital Management Plan is a key component of their strategic outlook that provides a snapshot of asset health and documents how to achieve better practice asset management. Such a document provides a clear blueprint, approved by the executive leadership group, to drive strategic asset management throughout the organisation.

Download Strategic and Operational Management of Assets by Public Sector Entities
Download Strategic and Operational Management of Assets by Public Sector Entities

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Since 1994, the ANAO has published a Better Practice Guide on the administration of grants to encourage better administrative outcomes. This latest version of the Guide has been prepared to reflect the enhanced legislative and policy framework for grants administration that came into full effect on 1 July 2009. The new framework includes a number of mandatory requirements, as well as outlining, in the Commonwealth Grant Guidelines (CGGs), various better practice principles.

This revised Better Practice Guide has been designed to complement the CGGs by providing a companion reference point that will assist decision-makers and administering agencies to implement the new policy requirements and related guidance, which have a particular focus on decision-making processes for the awarding of grants.

Download Implementing Better Practice Grants Administration
Download Implementing Better Practice Grants Administration

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The successful delivery of government programs requires the projects that underpin their implementation to be well-managed from the point of inception through to full implementation. This Guide provides an executive perspective on the planning and approval stage of projects for Australian Government entities. The Guide focuses on the most common types of projects — those aimed at program delivery, and on internal business operations. The Guide: discusses the role of executives in project planning and approval and typical elements of the project life cycle; describes better practices in the overall arrangements of an entity for the planning and approval of projects, including aspects of strategic planning, people and culture, and governance; describes better practices for senior executives in the planning and approval of individual projects, including clarifying the project concept, preparing a business case and project approval; and. provides an overview of implementation issues for projects. Download Word version of checklists To view tips to save time when using this PDF, such as convenient search, navigation, and display features, click HERE.

Planning and Approving Projects — an Executive Perspective
Planning and Approving Projects — an Executive Perspective

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Innovation in a public sector context has been defined as the ‘creation and implementation of new processes, products, services and methods of delivery which result in significant improvements in the efficiency, effectiveness or quality of outcomes'. In short, innovation is the application of new ideas to produce better outcomes.

Innovation, although not always celebrated, has been central to many initiatives undertaken by Australian government public sector entities. Indeed, as illustrated in the case studies selected for this Better Practice Guide (Guide), the public sector can draw on many examples where innovative approaches have been used to identify new ideas and put them into practice. While the Australian government public sector has much to be proud of, we will need to build on this experience and drive new directions if the changing needs and expectations of government and the community are to be met. In an environment that presents both challenges and opportunities, the Prime Minister has set high aspirations for the public sector in this regard.

The purpose of this Guide is to provide a framework for understanding the processes that underpin innovation in the public sector and to provide practical insights and a resource for practitioners. In this way the Guide isdesigned to further encourage and facilitate an innovative culture in the Australian Public Service (APS) and thepublic sector more generally.

Supplements to this Better Practice Guide

• A Review of the Literature
• Detailed Case Study Material From Agencies

Download Innovation in the Public Sector
Download Innovation in the Public Sector

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This guide is intended to assist Australian Government entities to strengthen security and controls within SAP for all versions up to ECC 6.0. It will be a useful guide to assist entities that are looking to identify and assess business impacts that may arise as a result of control weaknesses, increase awareness of risks to security and control within SAP, strengthen system security controls and ensure that user access to key transaction codes and authorisation, objects are appropriately restricted and segregated and implement better practice procedures to improve delivery of financial processes.

This guide covers those modules of SAP that are most likely to be implemented by public sector entities. They are: Procurement and Payables; General Ledger; Human Resources; Basis; Controlling; Project System; and Asset Accounting. In addition, the guide contains several supplementary feature articles on emerging topic areas, including: implementing effective access control to the SAP Governance, Risk and Compliance module; and issues for consideration when implementing financial shared services or grants management.

Download SAP ECC 6.0 Security and Control
Download SAP ECC 6.0 Security and Control

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Financial statements are an important means of demonstrating how the public sector, both at individual entity and whole-of-government levels, meets its financial management responsibilities.

Effective financial management is critical to public sector entities being able to meet their policy and service delivery responsibilities. An important aspect of financial management and stewardship, and the primary mechanism by which entities meet their financial accountability obligations, is the preparation and publication of annual audited financial statements in entities’ annual reports.

The better practice guide can be downloaded at the the bottom of this page.

Supplement to this Better Practice Guide

Templates and Checklists Toolkit (Click here to download)

The ANAO has supplied these files for people to use and modify to suit their individual circumstances.

Download Preparation of Financial Statements by Public Sector Entities

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Business continuity management is an essential component of good public sector governance. It is part of an entity's overall approach to effective risk management, and should be closely aligned to the entity's incident management, emergency response management and IT disaster recovery. Successful business continuity management requires a commitment from the executive to raising awareness and implementing sound approaches to build resilience.

This Guide has been produced following consultation with Australian Government and private sector entities. The Guide provides a refreshed version of a previous ANAO Guide. The new version is presented in a more user-friendly format, and includes contemporary practical advice, case studies and references as well as exploring issues within the business continuity environment that have arisen since the previous ANAO publication.

The Guide will be a useful reference document for boards, chief executives and senior management in public sector entities.

Download Business Continuity Management - Building resilience in public sector entities
Download Business Continuity Management - Building resilience in public sector entities

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