Welcome to the first edition of Audit Matters for 2026. This edition covers findings from the 2024–25 performance statements audit program, and our series of performance audits on compliance with domestic and international travel requirements. It also outlines key messages from our performance audit examining three outcome areas of the Closing the Gap national agreement — specifically, areas in schooling and early childhood development. You’ll also find updates on our latest insights product and on the development of our upcoming annual audit work program, including the future of the major projects report and auditing in the Defence space.

Across this work, a consistent theme continues to emerge: the importance of getting the basics right. In a constrained environment, our audits continue to identify gaps in foundational practices such as record keeping, procurement and grants administration. These are not new issues, but they remain central to effective public administration and to maintaining trust in the use of public resources, particularly with the public sector’s focus on delivery. Getting the basics right, and knowing that you are, is a key issue to keep an eye on.

Related to this is the importance of lawfulness as a core governance principle. Our audit work continues to highlight that compliance with legislative and policy frameworks is not simply procedural — it underpins integrity, accountability and public confidence in government institutions.

This edition of Audit Matters will be my last as I prepare to retire from the APS on 1 May. I have been privileged to enjoy an expansive career across the public sector — in particular with many outstanding colleagues at the ANAO and beyond — and I wish the next Deputy Auditor-General all the best. Carla Jago will act as Deputy Auditor-General while the Auditor-General makes arrangements to fill the position.

Rona Mellor PSM, Deputy Auditor-General

The objective of the audit was to assess DoHA's administration of building certification of residential aged care homes. The ANAO examined DoHA's arrangements to: plan for, and report on, the certification program; manage the delivery of certification services; and manage stakeholder relations.

The audit did not seek to validate assessments made under the program by DoHA's contracted assessor and, therefore, does not form an opinion on whether residential aged care homes should or should not have been certified.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Bureau of Meteorology’s implementation of the Improving Water Information Program.

This edition is targeted at those responsible for implementing internal policies and controls on the receipt of gifts, benefits and hospitality in Australian Government entities. The aim of Audit Lessons is to communicate lessons from our audit work and to make it easier for people working within the Australian public sector to apply those lessons.

The audit objectives were to examine the effectiveness of Defence’s management of the test and evaluation (T&E) aspects of its major capital equipment acquisition program; and to report on Defence’s progress in implementing T&E recommendations made in the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee’s August 2012 report, Procurement procedures for Defence capital projects.

The objective of this audit is to examine DIAC's implementation of the nine recommendations made in the earlier audit. The audit has also taken into account changed circumstances since the original audit. These include a heightened security environment after 11 September 2001 and the results of other relevant ANAO performance audit and financial statement work. The audit also examined ETA decision-making processes to gain assurance about its robustness in a changing risk environment. This issue came to attention in recent audits of visa management processes.

This first e-newsletter of the Commonwealth Auditors General Group was produced by Sir Amyas Morse, UK Comptroller and Auditor General as guest editor, along with the editorial team of the Auditors General of Australia, Fiji, Jamaica and Tanzania. Cybersecurity is the theme for this newsletter, with articles from the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of Australia, Malta and the UK.

One of the main purposes of the e-newsletter is to share experiences and establish a dialogue based on the discussions that were started at the 23rd Conference of Commonwealth Auditors General in Delhi. For this edition the conversation is around ‘leveraging technology in public audit’, and it draws on international peers experiences and learnings from conducting cybersecurity audits.

The Survey of Fraud Control Arrangements in APS agencies was conducted to identify improvements made by agencies since the 1999 survey, and in response to the revised Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines released in May 2002. Its objective was to assess the key aspects of fraud control arrangements in place across the APS against the Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines 2002.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Social Services’ role in implementing the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children 2010–2022 (the National Plan).

The audit objective was to assess selected agencies’ compliance with the four mandatory ICT security strategies and related controls in the Australian Government Information Security Manual.