This audit would assess the effectiveness of selected entities’ administration of sponsorship arrangements.

Commonwealth entities are solicited to enter into sponsorship arrangements, including for events. A two-page guidance document published in July 2015 sets out sponsorship considerations, better practice processes and directs the reader to Resource Management Guide: 302 Australian Government Charging Framework.

This information report would cover Australian Government grants reporting following on from Auditor-General Report No. 7 2021–22 Australian Government Grants Reporting. The report would provide transparency of, and insights on government grants expenses and Commonwealth entities’ self-reporting of grants on GrantConnect.

The ANAO will conduct a program of audits of entities’ compliance with legislative and Australian Government policy requirements derived from the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, the Public Service Act 1999 and other legislative and policy frameworks. These audits include a focus on public sector ethics, integrity and probity.

Topics that may be considered for audit include compliance with: requirements to establish audit committees; requirements relating to recruitment and remuneration in the Australian Public Service; requirements related to privacy; and information management requirements.

ANAO audits continue to find that in routine areas of public administration (e.g. record keeping, governance, procurement and risk management), performance consistently falls short. Compliance — not just with mandatory requirements, but also their intent — is a hallmark of integrity, and essential to the craft of public administration.

The selection of entities for these audits will be based on relevance, materiality, representativeness and performance history. Audits may include any Commonwealth entities and companies. The audits would examine the effectiveness of entities’ design, implementation and governance arrangements to ensure compliance with relevant requirements.

The audit would assess the delivery of outcomes achieved by selected entities as intended by government approved New Policy Proposals.

The audit would assess the effectiveness of Department of Finance’s administration of coordinated procurement arrangements and procurements of goods or services by selected entities.

Coordinated procurement arrangements are established for commonly used goods or services by the Commonwealth, to realise efficiencies in process, price, service and quality for the Commonwealth. Arrangements managed by the Department of Finance include travel, government advertising, management advisory services and property services.

The audit would assess the effectiveness of the administration of statutory functions by selected Inspectors-General. This may include assessing how relevant entities address recommendations made by Inspectors-General.

There are several Commonwealth Inspectors-General including: Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security; Inspector-General of Biosecurity; Inspector-General of the Australian Defence; Inspector-General of Aged Care; Inspector-General of Water Compliance; Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman; and the Inspector-General of Animal Welfare and Live Animal Exports.

The audit would assess the effectiveness of the management of Machinery of Government changes by selected Australian Government entities.

This audit series assesses the effectiveness of governance arrangements in selected entities for monitoring and implementing agreed parliamentary committee and Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) performance audit recommendations.

Parliamentary committee and Auditor-General reports identify areas where administration can be improved and make recommendations to improve the delivery of outcomes. Once entities have agreed to implement performance audit recommendations, or in the case of parliamentary committee reports, the Australian Government has committed to the implementation of recommendations, timely implementation in line with the intended outcome of the recommendation is important in achieving the full benefit of the recommendation.

This audit would continue the ANAO’s series of audits on cyber security.

The scope would include assessing selected entities’ cyber security frameworks and controls against the controls required under the Protective Security Policy Framework and the Australian Signals Directorate’s Essential Eight Maturity Model.

This audit would assess whether the arrangements under the Federation Funding Agreement (FFA) framework are effective in supporting payment and program objectives. On 28 August 2020, the Council on Federal Financial Relations (CFFR) implemented new governance arrangements for Commonwealth-state funding agreements, known as the Federation Funding Agreements (FFA) Framework. The sectoral FFAs covering Health, Education and Skills, Infrastructure, Environment, and Affordable Housing, Community Services and Other, consolidated all existing National Partnership Agreements, Streamlined Agreements and Project Agreements as schedules.

This audit would examine FFA Framework arrangements, through sample arrangements or through specific programs, for example the Housing Support Program.

This audit would assess whether entities’ procurement activities have been conducted in accordance with the Commonwealth Procurement Rules as applicable.

The National Intelligence Community (NIC) was officially formed in 2017 and comprises agencies from the Home Affairs, Defence, Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister and Cabinet portfolios. This audit would examine whether the procurement activities of selected NIC entities have demonstrated value for money and were appropriately managed. It would include procurements used to develop capabilities of individual NIC agencies, as well as those that are for a shared capability across the sector.

The audit will assess the effectiveness of selected entities in meeting one or more Australian Government requirements related to climate change and may assess the effectiveness of policy owners with respect to supporting entities to meet requirements.

The Australian Government has developed policies and requirements aimed at supporting the public service to respond to climate change. These include: APS Net Zero Emissions by 2030; the Climate Risk and Opportunity Management Program; and the Commonwealth Climate Disclosure policy.

• APS Net Zero Emissions by 2030 aims to support the achievement of net zero in government operations by 2030. It includes the requirement for non-corporate Commonwealth entities to develop Emissions Reductions Plans.
• The Climate Risk and Opportunity Management Program aims to support entities to consider climate risk and opportunities as part of decision-making processes and enterprise risk management.
• The Commonwealth Climate Disclosure policy is the Government’s policy for Commonwealth entities and Commonwealth companies to publicly report on their exposure to climate risks and opportunities, as well as their actions to manage them, delivering transparent and consistent climate disclosures to the Australian public.