This report is an information document summarising the audit activities of the ANAO in the period January to June 1997.

The audit objective was to assess the Australian Taxation Office’s effectiveness in managing complaints.

The main objectives of the audit were to examine and form an opinion on:

• the efficiency, economy and administrative effectiveness with which the Commonwealth planned and coordinated implementation of the gun buy-back scheme;
• the management of firearms surrender and destruction in the Australian Capital Territory by the Australian Federal Police; and
• the management of the competitive tendering process for the national public education campaign.

Audit criteria were developed which examined program policy and planning, coordination with and payment of funds to the States.

The audit reviewed fraud control arrangements in the Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs. The objective of this audit was to establish whether the Department had developed a sound fraud control framework by examining the arrangements for: · policy and planning; · performance assessment; · quality assurance; and · training and awareness raising.

This report has been prepared in response to a resolution of the Senate on 8 December 1994 which referred certain matters relating to the possible sale of ANL Ltd to the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee. The resolution directed the Committee to consider a report from the Auditor-General and drew the Auditor-General's attention to a range of specific issues and questions.

A Special Account is a mechanism used to record amounts in the Consolidated Revenue Fund that are set aside for specified purposes. A total of $3.40 billion was reported as held in Special Accounts as of 30 June 2003, with $10.33 billion reported as credited to Special Accounts in 2002-03 and $10.06 billion in reported payments (debits) from these Accounts. The audit examined the establishment, management and abolition of Special Accounts by Commonwealth agencies, as well as compliance with legal requirements

This audit was a follow-on to Audit Report No.21 1997-98 Protective Security, which reviewed, among other things, information security other than computer and communications security, against the policy and procedures outlined in the 1991 PSM. That audit found inconsistencies in the identification and marking of classified information and weaknesses in the handling and storage of classified information, as well as other breakdowns impacting on information security.

In two letters dated 19 and 22 June 2009, the Prime Minister requested a performance audit of a range of matters relating to representations to the Treasury regarding automotive finance arrangements for car dealers. In response to these requests, the Auditor-General decided that ANAO would undertake a performance audit under section 18 of the Auditor-General Act 1997 (Auditor-General Act). The audit objective, based on the matters raised in the Prime Minister's correspondence and in the Parliament, was to examine and report on:

• any representations to the Treasury since October 2008 from all sources regarding automotive finance arrangements for car dealers, including any made in relation to John Grant Motors;
• the nature of these representations;
• the manner in which the representations were responded to by officials, having regard to any relevant standards and procedures; and
• any related administrative matters that came to attention.

The objective of the audit was to examine the effectiveness of the Department of Health and Ageing’s administration of New Directions. In this respect the ANAO considered whether:

• planning processes were developed to support the program’s objectives and rationale;
• implementation arrangements were clearly defined and aligned to the objectives of the program; and
• robust performance management arrangements had been established and were in use by the department.

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Defence's (Defence) management of advertising campaigns for Australian Defence Force recruitment.