1. A variety of funding and delivery mechanisms have been employed by the Australian Government to address the immediate health and economic needs arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. These include income support payments, grants, procurements, loans and tax relief.

2. The following sections set out how the ANAO has responded in its audit program to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the on the risk environment faced by the Australian public sector. This strategy is a living document and was updated in November 2022.

Performance audit

3. In line with the objectives of the ANAO’s Annual Audit Work Program, the ANAO’s strategy for auditing COVID-19 related measures has been designed to: respond to the interests and priorities of the Parliament of Australia; provide a balanced program of activity that is informed by risk; and promote accountability and transparency of, and improvements to, public administration. The ANAO’s strategy is flexible and has evolved over time as the government has announced new initiatives or adjusted existing policies to address the changing pandemic situation and its impact on citizens and the Australian economy.

4. The ANAO’s multi-year strategy for COVID-19 performance audits focuses on the effective, efficient, economical and ethical delivery of the Australian Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes the economic stimulus and social support packages as well as the management of related risks, such as system and technology changes, fraud, information management, privacy, compliance and regulatory effectiveness. The strategy is being delivered in three phases.

Phase 1 audits

5. Five COVID-19 specific audits were completed in 2020–21, examining key aspects of the Australian Government’s early response to the COVID‑19 pandemic.

• Two audits examined how the Australian Taxation Office and Services Australia: managed and responded to risks related to rapid development and implementation of COVID-19 measures and the impact on business as usual activities and controls; and communicated and implemented revised risk tolerances across the business.
• Two audits focused on the National Medical Stockpile. The audits reviewed the procurement and deployment of personal protective equipment and medical devices to support the early response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• There was also an audit of the effectiveness of the approach taken to position the Australian Public Service to quickly and efficiently implement new response measures and deliver government policy, including coordination and communication across the public sector and the deployment and management of resources.

Phase 2 audits

6. This phase of the audit program has focused on the three main stages of program delivery: policy design; implementation; and performance assessment, evaluation and dissemination of lessons learnt. Along with an ongoing focus on risk management, areas of public administration being examined during this phase of the audit program are:

• governance arrangements and coordination within and across entities;
• preparedness and planning;
• fraud, compliance and system controls in high volume processing programs;
• proper use of public resources, including achieving value-for-money, in the procurement of goods and services to support the government’s response;
• regulatory responses, such as in border protection and biosecurity;
• information and communication services to citizens;
• financial assistance to individuals and to support the economy;
• grants to industry, communities and individuals;
• performance measurement and progress towards achieving intended policy objectives; and
• planning for and implementation of transition to business as usual.

7. As at August 2022, six performance audits have been completed under this phase, examining: arrangements for managing travel across the Australian border during COVID-19 and the return of overseas Australians; Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout; administration of the JobKeeper scheme; and support to the aviation sector.

8. The  2022–23 ANAO Annual Audit Work Program outlines additional potential audit topics that will be conducted during the second phase of the COVID-19 performance audit program.

Phase 3 audits

9. In the final phase of the COVID-19 performance audit program, the ANAO will review the outcomes of the Australian Government’s COVID-19 response. This may involve a post-pandemic assessment of the achievement of outcomes intended through the COVID-19 measures, recovery plans and programs; identification and dissemination of lessons learnt; and the readiness of government systems and processes to respond to future crises. One phase three audit has been proposed in the 2022–23 Annual Audit Work Program, examining the effectiveness of the Australian Government Crisis Management Framework.

Assurance reviews – Advances to the Finance Minister

10. The Advance to the Minister for Finance (AFM) is a provision in the annual Appropriation Acts which enables the Minister for Finance (Finance Minister) to provide additional urgently needed appropriation to agencies for expenditure in the current year. The Finance Minister may only agree to issue an AFM if satisfied that there is an urgent need for expenditure that is either not provided for or has been insufficiently provided for in the existing appropriations of the agency.

11. In 2019–20 and 2020–21, advances totalling $3.647 billion were provided to the Department of Health, the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications and the Australian Trade and Investment Commission. These advances were to fund: the procurement of masks and other emergency medical or emergency health equipment; the supply and production of COVID-19 vaccines; the purchase of oil stocks; the leasing of storage capacity in the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve; the delivery of road resilience and community infrastructure projects; and underwriting of domestic and international airfreight connectivity to support exporters of premium and perishable agricultural products.

12. The ANAO undertook seven assurance reviews of the AFM from April 2020 to October 2020, which were tabled in Parliament. These reviews were conducted in accordance with section 19A of the Auditor-General Act 1997. They provided timely assurance to the Parliament about the AFM, which significantly increased to support Australian Government activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.