The audit objective was to assess whether the early stages of DIAC's preparations for the re-tendering of the detention and health services contracts were consistent with sound practice. The audit focused on governance arrangements, in particular the recordkeeping arrangements, roles and responsibilities of personnel, expert advisors and the probity auditor—matters raised in the previous audit report. The audit did not examine the RFT, which is not due to be issued until April 2007.

The audit reviewed the fraud control arrangements in the Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS), a policy formulation, and advising body and major purchaser of social welfare services from Centrelink. The objective was to assess whether FaCS had:

• implemented appropriate fraud control arrangements in line with the Fraud Control Policy of the Commonwealth and that these arrangements operated effectively in practice; and
• fulfilled its responsibilities as a purchaser of services in relation to fraud control.

This audit is one in a series of fraud control audit and is complemented by a similar audit of Centrelink, a major provider of services on behalf of FaCS.

The objective of the audit was to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of the management of the Family Relationships Services Program (FRSP) by the Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS) subsequent to that department becoming responsible for the administration of the Program in December 1998. The audit focussed on issues related to Program risk management, the development and management of contractual agreements and whether the performance management and reporting framework enabled an assessment of service provider performance and overall program outcomes.

The audit objective was to determine whether DIAC's biometrics program had appropriate:

• business review processes (including a business case);
• authorisation;
• business and IT governance arrangements; and
• IT project management and systems development arrangements.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of Health's management of the MPSP and the RHSP. To achieve the audit's objective, the ANAO examined whether Health; had an effective approach to planning the programs; had an effective approach to delivering the programs; effectively used performance information to manage the programs; and effectively managed its relationship with all stakeholders of the programs.

The objective of the audit was to examine the effectiveness of Centrelink's approach to investigating and responding to external fraud. The ANAO's assessment was based on four key criteria. In particular, the ANAO assessed whether Centrelink:

• had established a management framework, business systems and guidelines, that support the investigation, prosecution and reporting of fraud;
• had implemented appropriate case selection strategies and controls to ensure resources are targeted to the cases of highest priority;
• complied with relevant external and internal requirements when investigating fraud and referring cases for consideration of prosecution; and
• had implemented an effective training program that supports high quality investigations and prosecution referrals.

To examine the effectiveness of the Department of Health and Ageing’s administration of the Access to Allied Psychological Services Program.

The objective of this follow-up audit is to examine DEEWR's implementation of the six recommendations made in the ANAO's 2003 report. This audit has had regard to the issues underlying the recommendations, and new administrative issues affecting their implementation.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the management of the MSS for the delivery of Centrelink services. The management of the MSS was assessed against the following criteria:

• there are effective planning arrangements to identify and address the evolving needs of DCALB customers;
• service delivery arrangements meet the current needs of DCALB customers; and
• there are effective performance monitoring and reporting arrangements which are used to improve service delivery.

Around 20 per cent of the people receiving Centrelink services are identified as being from a diverse cultural and linguistic background (DCALB). DHS’ Multicultural Servicing Strategy (MSS) sets out the approach for delivering Centrelink services to DCALB customers. The MSS has four main components — Language Services, the Multicultural Services Officer program, Stakeholder Engagement Strategies and Employee Support Tools and Strategies.

The objectives of the Australian National Audit Office's (ANAO) performance audit were to: examine the efficiency and effectiveness of agencies' procurement and management of legal services arrangements; determine adherence to Australian Government policy requirements; examine the effectiveness of the OLSC's monitoring of agencies' compliance with Government policy requirements; examine the OLSC's role in assisting agencies to comply with Government policy.