Financial statement audit opinions
Financial statements must be accompanied by an audit opinion pursuant to legislative requirements. The audit opinion issued by the ANAO adds credibility to the financial statements, thereby allowing all Australian Government entities to fulfil their own accountability obligations.
The need to qualify 25 an audit opinion can arise for a number of reasons. However, we work closely with agency boards and the management of each entity in an endeavour to mitigate factors that may result in a qualified opinion. The percentage of unqualified audit opinions issued in the 2005–0626 audit cycle was 97 per cent.
Figure 7: Comparison of audit opinions27
25 Where an entities financial statements do not fairly represent its financial operations and position, the audit report is qualified.
26 Due to the timing of the financial statement audits cycle, this data relates to the 2005–06 financial year.
27 The ‘emphasis of matter references are provided in unqualified reports to draw the reader’s attention to important matters that aid understanding of the financial statements.