National and international representation
International representation
The ANAO contributes to the development of international Auditing Standards and professional practices through the exchange of experiences and information with the following bodies:
- Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI);
- International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI);
- Commonwealth Auditors-General Conferences;
- Auditors-General Global Working Group;
- International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB); and
- Assistance to the Indonesian Board of Audit and the Papua New Guinea Auditor-General's Office.
In meeting our responsibilities to these organisations, the Auditor-General and selected staff attend international conferences and workshops, participate in short-term placements and prepare research papers.
ASOSAI
The Auditor-General attended the 10th ASOSAI Assembly in Shanghai, China in September 2006 which provided him with a valuable opportunity to meet with colleagues from our region and participate in discussions of mutual interest. More than 160 delegates from 41 ASOSAI member countries and observers attended the assembly, which is held every three years.
The theme of the 3rd Symposium of this ASOSAI Assembly was The Role of Audit in Promoting Government Accountability. Representatives from the INTOSAI Secretariat, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan and the USA presented papers for panel discussion.
During panel discussions, key points raised included:
- the importance of government accountability to the cultural and economic development of a country;
- the importance of coordination and cooperation with the legislative body, the public and the press in order to ensure the effectiveness of accountability while maintaining the independence of audit institutions;
- the need for good relations with the auditee without sacrificing audit objectivity and independence;
- the importance of ongoing cooperation between ASOSAI and INTOSAI to promote globalization, technical innovation and enhance accountability by international cooperation; and
- the need to improve the training of auditors.
The ANAO is a member of the INTOSAI Professional Standards Committee (PSC) and its Sub–Committee on Performance Audit.
INTOSAI
The Performance Audit Sub-committee of the Professional Standards Committee (PSC) was established after approval by the INTOSAI Governing Board in November 2005. The Performance Audit Sub-Committee’s objective is to promote the INTOSAI Implementation Guidelines for Performance Audit, and to develop and disseminate other guidance that may be needed by the INTOSAI community. We accepted a nomination to represent ASOSAI on the Performance Audit Sub-committee in February 2006. In this capacity, we have provided advice on the development of the formation process and first actions; draft terms of reference; and the work plan. A representative from the ANAO attended a Subcommittee meeting in August 2006 in Brazil. The Subcommittee resolved that each member should consult with the Chair of their INTOSAI regional organisation about the ways they promote the INTOSAI guidelines on performance audit and report this information to the Subcommittee.
We are also a member of the INTOSAI Working Group on Privatisation. We contribute to the Working Group on Privatisation by sharing information from our own experiences and commenting on draft documents. A representative from the ANAO attended a Working Group meeting in London in September 2006. The major issues discussed at the meeting included:
- the effective auditing of regulatory frameworks post-privatisation, with particular emphasis on responding to ineffective regulatory frameworks and accessing key data now held in the private sector;
- the role of audit institutions in optimising outcomes from privatisation processes; and
- audit institutions assessment of value for money in public private partnerships / private financing initiatives projects.
In October 2006, we jointly hosted with the ACT Auditor-General’s Office, the Australasian Council of Auditors-General (ACAG)/South Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions Conference on Environmental Auditing. To inform our work in this area we became a member of the INTOSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing and we were invited to send a representative to the 12th meeting in Tanzania in June 2007.
Commonwealth Auditors-General Conferences
There were no conferences of Commonwealth Auditors-General in 2006–07.
Auditors-General Global Working Group
The Deputy Auditor-General attended the Auditors-General Global Working Group in San Francisco, United States of America in April 2006–07. The meeting discussed issues common to Auditors-General in developed nations including such matters as peer reviews across both financial statement and performance audits, strengthening accountability of grant programmes, use of private sector firms and other experts, and the impact of audit on good governance.
IAASB
The Auditor-General is the only Australian representative on the IAASB, which functions as an independent standard setting body under the auspices of the International Federation of Accountants. The mission of the IAASB is to establish high quality auditing, assurance, quality control and related services standards. It also aims to improve the uniformity of practice by professional accountants throughout the world, thereby strengthening public confidence in the global auditing profession and serving the public interest. The Auditor-General attended quarterly meetings of the Board during the year and chairs several task forces of the Board responsible for the revision of auditing standards.
Assistance to the Indonesian Board of Audit and the Papua New Guinea Auditor General’s Office
We accepted an invitation in 2005–07 to be a member of the Indonesian Audit Office’s (BPK) Advisory Board. The Board assists the BPK in enhancing its capacity and capability to audit the management of international donor funding. In April 2006, the Auditor-General attended the inaugural meeting of the Advisory Board to BPK on its Tsunami-funds audit strategy.
The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) has funded a three year project for the ANAO to assist the Indonesian Board of Audit, and in 2006–07 our staff conducted performance audit training, explored how we could assist the BPK in financial auditing and advised on the employment of firms to conduct audits on behalf of BPK.
In addition, we received seven BPK staff as secondees in financial and performance auditing. The purpose of the project is to strengthen the BPK’s capacity to conduct performance and financial audits. In turn, this activity is part of a broader preventative activity reducing the risk of fraud and corruption, and improving governance.
We continued our placement of one staff member in the Papua New Guinea Auditor General’s Office under the Government’s Enhanced Cooperation Program. We also participated in a one year pilot phase of the AusAID funded Papua New Guinea-Australian Audit Offices Twinning Scheme which began in January 2007.
The scheme involves the deployment of two officials from the PNG Auditor-General’s Office to participate in the ANAO graduate program in Australia. The aim of the program is to develop the knowledge and skills of selected PNG officials and facilitate ongoing knowledge sharing and support for the PNG Auditor-General’s Office by the ANAO. A mid-year progress report concluded that the scheme should be extended beyond the pilot phase based on its positive progress towards achieving outputs.
International visitors to the ANAO
The ANAO contributes to the development of other audit offices by hosting a number of international visitors throughout the year. During this year, we hosted 20 short-term visits for 174 delegates, from a number of countries including Thailand, Kazakhstan, Laos, Korea, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Canada, Japan and Papua New Guinea. Overall, delegates provided very positive feedback on their visit.
Our international staff exchange program with the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of Ireland and the Office of the Auditor-General of Canada continued this year. More information on these exchanges may be found under ‘Management of Human Resources’ in Section 4 of this report.
National representation
At the national level, the ANAO is a member of the ACAG. ACAG comprises the Auditor–General of the Commonwealth and each Australian state and territory, Fiji, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. ACAG’s objective is to promote public sector auditing in the Australasian region through an exchange of experiences, ideas, training initiatives and cooperation. We contribute to ACAG’s work by attending business meetings, preparing papers, participating in information exchanges, peer reviews and training.
In April 2007, we hosted the 26th ACAG Biennial Conference. All ACAG members attended and international observers from Indonesia, United Kingdom, Canada and South Africa were also present. The conference covered a wide range of audit related issues including: key developments in the audit offices represented; issues relating to charging audit fees; staff retention; and the health and well being of staff. In addition to the formal agenda, the Conference provided an opportunity for delegates to exchange ideas and information and in particular, discuss specific matters of mutual interest with relevant staff from the ANAO.
We also participated in the Australasian Council of Public Accounts Committee meeting hosted by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit at Parliament House in April 2007.
As a member of the Australian Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, the Auditor-General attended five Board meetings during 2006–07.
Cost
The national and international representation output cost $0.749 million in 2006–07 ($0.317 million in 2005–06). The increase in this years figures reflects our commitment to the project discussed earlier which is designed to develop the Indonesian Board of Audit’s performance and financial audit capacity, and the assistance to the Papua New Guinea Auditor General’s Office.