Current Guides



Innovation in the Public Sector
01 December 2009

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.

Supplements to this Better Practice Guide

To download the Better Practice Guide please click on the link below

SAP ECC 6.0 Security and Control
26 June 2009

This guide is intended to assist Australian Government entities to strengthen security and controls within SAP for all version 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;
• 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.

Preparation of Financial Statements by Public Sector Entities
23 June 2009
Better Practice Guide
Financial statements are an important means of demonstrating how the public sector, both at individual entity and whole-of-government level, meets its financial management responsibilities.
Templates and Checklists (Toolkit) - Preparation of Financial Statements by Public Sector Entities June 2009
23 June 2009

The attached ZIP file contains the templates and checklists from Part Four of the Preparation of Financial Statements by Public Sector Entities Better Practice Guide which can be downloaded below.

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

The documents will be downloaded in a Zip file format.

Business Continuity Management - Building resilience in public sector entities
04 June 2009

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.

Developing and Managing Internal Budgets
27 June 2008
The internal budget is a fundamental element of an organisation’s financial management framework. Specifically, well-designed and managed internal budgets help in establishing clear financial strategies, identifying realistic financial controls, understanding costs, and monitoring and reporting financial performance.

The purpose of this Better Practice Guide is to assist organisations better manage internal budgeting activities. It discusses a range of principles and techniques designed to embed internal budgeting in an organisation’s planning, control and accountability systems. It also discusses the importance of direct input from operational managers in the development and management of the internal budget.

This Guide updates the Better Practice Guide titled Internal Budgeting issued in February 2003. It reiterates many of the better practices in the former Guide and takes into account developments in financial management and budgeting affecting Australian Government organisations since the release of the previous Guide.
Agency Management of Parliamentary Workflow
26 May 2008

The purpose of this Better Practice Guide is to assist agency officers in managing their parliamentary workflow activities. This edition reviews and updates the contents of the previous Guide, released in 2003. It includes new material, for example:

  • areas of better practice that have been introduced by agencies since 2003;
  • contemporary issues, such as an increased use of technology in managing parliamentary workflow, that are impacting on the operations of parliamentary workflow units; and
  • updated central guidance that is appropriate to the conduct of parliamentary workflow activities.

It covers a range of strategic and operational tasks involved in managing parliamentary workflow, for example establishing processes to ensure effective senior oversight and leadership of this work and preparing ministerial speeches, briefings and media releases.

In addition to the downloadable PDF document, this is the first better practice guide to also be available in HTML format.

Public Sector Internal Audit
24 September 2007
This Better Practice Guide provides guidance about the operation of a better practice public sector internal audit function. In the ANAO's experience, better practice entities consider an appropriate level of investment in internal audit to be an essential business decision. These entities recognise a well resourced and effective internal audit function can play a key role in its governance arrangements. In preparing the Guide the ANAO recognises that the responsibilities of internal audit vary considerably across public sector entities, as do internal audit organisational arrangements and the way internal audit services are delivered. As such, the Guide includes relevant issues and considerations that entities should take into account in determining the roles and responsibilities of internal audit as well as setting its future directions and work plans. Part 2 of the guide includes a model internal audit charter and the Toolkit at Part 3 of the Guide includes a number of example forms, checklists and other tools that entities are encouraged to customise and use to assist in reviewing and managing their internal audit functions. The Guide updates and replaces the Guide published by the ANAO in 1999.
Public Sector Internal Audit toolkit
24 September 2007
The Guide includes example forms, checklists and toolkit. Word versions of these documents are accessible by clicking 'Download this guide' to facilitate their customisation to meet individual circumstances.
Fairness and Transparency in Purchasing Decisions. Probity in Australian Government Procurement
27 August 2007
This Better Practice Guide (BPG) provides guidance about the important role that probity plays in public sector procurement. The probity guidance in this BPG applies to agencies subject to the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act) and relevant bodies subject to the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (CAC) Act). While the legal and compliance obligations of FMA Act agencies and CAC Act bodies can differ during procurement, the ANAO considers that the adoption of the probity measures contained in this BPG, where cost effective, will enhance fairness and transparency in purchasing decisions.
In preparing this BPG, the ANAO has built on the guidance provided by the Department of Finance and Administration in its Financial Management Guidance series of publications, including the principles underpinning probity identified in the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines.
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