The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Health’s implementation of the National Ice Action Strategy (NIAS).

Welcome to the third edition of the ANAO’s Audit Matters newsletter. The purpose of Audit Matters is to provide updates on the ANAO’s work and provide insights on what we are seeing in the Australian Government sector.

Audit Matters complements the range of reports we table in the Parliament as well as our insights products and events and seminars. I hope you find it useful and please forward it on to your colleagues, and encourage them to sign-up for future editions.

Rona Mellor PSM, Deputy Auditor-General

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs management of complaints and other feedback to support service delivery. The audit criteria were that DVA has:

• a well-designed framework for managing complaints and other feedback;
• effective processes and practices to manage complaints; and
• appropriately analysed complaints to inform service delivery.

The audit examined ATSIS' implementation of recommendations from Audit Report No.39, 1998-1999 National Aboriginal Health Strategy - Delivery of Housing and Infrastructure to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities (the previous audit). In addition to assessing ATSIS' progress in implementing the recommendations of the previous audit, this follow-up audit examined ATSIS' performance reporting of the NAHS program, and concluded that the current level of aggregation of performance reporting makes it difficult to identify the particular contribution that the NAHS Program makes in improving services to Indigenous communities.

Welcome to the latest edition of Audit Matters. In this edition, we reflect on the 125th anniversary of the legislation that established the position of the Commonwealth Auditor-General, and share lessons from our latest reports and insights products, including the importance of integrity and ethical behaviour in auditing. We also outline developments in our strategic planning and look more closely at what makes performance information meaningful.

This is my first edition of Audit Matters since being appointed Deputy Auditor-General in July. Having spent more than 28 years working across public sector auditing, governance and organisational leadership, including leading both the ANAO’s financial statements and performance audit services groups, it is a privilege to take on this role. I look forward to continuing to work with entities across the Australian Government sector to support transparency, accountability and improved public sector performance.

I’d also like to acknowledge my predecessor, Rona Mellor, for her leadership and contribution to the ANAO and the wider public sector. I was fortunate to work closely with Rona and wish her all the best in retirement.

Audit Matters provides an important opportunity for us to share practical lessons from our work and highlight issues that may warrant attention across the sector. I hope you find this edition useful.

Carla Jago
Deputy Auditor-General

Quality in the delivery of the ANAO’s audit services is critical in supporting the integrity of our audit reports and maintaining the confidence of the Parliament and public sector entities. The ANAO Corporate Plan 2022–23 is the ANAO’s primary planning document. It outlines our purpose; the dynamic environment in which we operate; our commitment to building capability; and the priorities, activities and performance measures by which we will be held to account. This Quality Assurance Framework and Plan complements the Corporate Plan. It describes the ANAO Quality Assurance Framework and reflects the ANAO’s quality assurance strategy and deliverables for the coming year.

The ANAO Quality Assurance Framework is the ANAO’s established system of quality control to provide the Auditor-General with reasonable assurance that the ANAO complies with the ANAO Auditing Standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements, and reports issued by the ANAO are appropriate in the circumstances.

The Quality Assurance Strategy and Plan component of this document identifies the key activities that the ANAO conducts to provide the Auditor-General with confidence that the controls established within the Quality Assurance Framework are implemented and operating effectively.

The ANAO reports on the audit quality indicators that measure the ANAO performance against target benchmarks in the annual Audit Quality Report published on the ANAO website. The Audit Quality Report also provides transparency with respect to the processes, policies and procedures that support each element of the ANAO Quality Assurance Framework and the achievement of the quality assurance strategy and deliverables set out in the Quality Assurance Framework and Plan.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Australian Taxation Office’s procurement of IT managed services.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the delivery of the first and second funding rounds of the Filling the Research Gap program by the Department of Agriculture.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s management of Artificial Intelligence use in supporting health provider compliance.

The objective of the audit was to assess the completeness and reliability of the estimates reported in Tax Expenditures Statement 2006 (TES 2006). That is, the audit examined the development and publication of the detailed statement of actual tax expenditures required by Division 2 of Part 5 of the CBH Act. The development and publication of aggregated information on projected tax expenditures included in the Budget Papers pursuant to Division 1 of Part 5 of the CBH Act was not examined.