The report summarises the audit and other related activities of the ANAO in the period January to June 2001. Key issues arising from performance audits tabled in this period are summarised against ANAO themes of:

• corporate governance including human resource management, financial management, and performance information;
• service delivery including the impact of e-government;
• procurement and contract management; and
• information technology.

Appendix 1 of the Activity Report provides a short summary of each of the performance audits tabled between 1 January 2001 and 30 June 2001.

The objective of this follow-up audit was to assess whether Defence had taken appropriate action on recommendations made in the ANAO's 1995 audit report on Management Audit Branch (MAB), which is responsible for internal audit in Defence, and to assess whether the internal audit function in Defence could be improved.

This report reflects on the outcome of the ANAO’s annual performance statements audit pilot program and the ANAO’s preparation for the staged implementation of an annual performance statements assurance audit program. Following a request from the Minister for Finance in August 2019, the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) commenced a pilot program of performance statements audits.

This report complements the interim phase report, Audit Report No.51 2006–07 Interim Phase of the Audit of Financial Statements of General Government Sector Entities for the Year Ending 30 June 2007, and provides a summary of the final audit results of the audits of the financial statements of all Australian Government entities, including the Consolidated Financial Statements for the Australian Government.

The ANAO is responsible for the audits of the financial statements of all Australian Government entities. This report provides a summary of the final audit results of these entities, including the Consolidated Financial Statements for the Australian Government.

The paragraphs numbered 5.213 to 5.216 in relation to Defence Housing Australia were tabled as an addendum to the Report.

A correction to the third bullet point of paragraph 5.120 was tabled as a corrigendum to the Report.

The objective of the follow-up audit was to report on the action taken by the Australian Customs Service to address the recommendations of the 1996 Audit Report. The audit also reviewed key areas of the Passenger Movement Charge administration identified in the 1996 audit, including the appropriateness of formal arrangements between the ACS and Regular Public Transport airlines and assessed the proposed arrangements being developed by the ACS. The arrangements with RPT airlines were a particular focus in the follow-up report (as they were in the 1996 Audit Report), because of the significance of that category of carrier in revenue terms

Financial statement audits are an independent examination of the financial accounting and reporting of public sector entities. The results of the examination are presented in an audit report, which expresses the auditor's opinion on whether the financial statements as a whole and the information contained therein fairly present each entity's financial position and the results of its operations and cash flows. The accounting treatments and disclosures reflected in the financial statements by the entity are assessed against relevant accounting standards and legislative reporting requirements.

The objective of the follow-up audit was to assess how well the ATO has implemented the recommendations of Audit Report No.3 of 2001-2002, The Australian Taxation Ofiice's Administration of Taxation Rulings. As part of the audit we also considered the ATO's progress in addressing the JCPAA's suggestions resulting from its review of Report No.3 of 2001-2002.

The objective of the current audit was to assess Army's progress in implementing the ANAO recommendations and to examine and assess any developments in relation to AIRN since the 1999?2000 audit report and the 2001 JCPAA report. Army updated AIRN policy in 2001 and 2004, and the ANAO has assessed, where appropriate, the implementation of the 1999?2000 audit recommendations for these two policy reissues.

This benchmarking study was a follow on from ANAO Report No. 14 of 2000-01, Benchmarking the Internal Audit Function, which was published in October 2000. The objective of the study was to obtain and report qualitative and quantitative data on aspects of the internal audit function and compare the public sector internal audit results with equivalent international data to identify better practices and highlight areas for improvement.