This audit would assess the effectiveness of Defence’s management of the disposal of specialist military equipment.

At 30 June 2024, Defence reported that it manages $145.9 billion of total assets, including $88.6 billion of specialist military equipment. When one of these items is no longer suitable for or is surplus to Defence’s requirements, Defence disposes of it by either: transferring it to an Australian Government agency or another government, selling it, gifting it or destroying it. An audit would examine whether the disposal of selected equipment was conducted in accordance with Defence policy and applicable Commonwealth legislative requirements.

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 the effectiveness of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s administration of post entry quarantine.

Imported plants and animals, including cats, dogs, birds and horses, complete quarantine at the department’s Post Entry Quarantine facility in Mickleham, Victoria.

The audit is to assess whether the Department of Parliamentary Services’ procurement and contract management activities are complying with the Commonwealth Procurement Rules and demonstrating the achievement of value for money.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of Services Australia’s management of automated decision making. Automation can support timely, efficient and consistent decision making. The Commonwealth Ombudsman’s 2025 Better Practice Guide on Automated Decision-Making and the Australian Government’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Ethics Principles provide entities with guidance on key principles for the design, implementation and monitoring of automated decision-making processes.

The Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme report of 7 July 2023 highlighted risks relating to automation, particularly where the automated processes remove any element of human decision-making and limit a citizen’s ability to challenge the decision. The Australian Government accepted the Royal Commission’s recommendation relating to introducing a consistent legal framework for automated decision-making. In the response to the Privacy Act Review Report released on 28 September 2023, the Australian Government agreed to increase the transparency and integrity of decisions made using automated decision-making that uses personal information.

This audit would examine the management of Commonwealth fisheries including the implementation of recommendations from Auditor-General Report No. 45 of 2020–21, Management of Commonwealth Fisheries. The Australian Government is involved in the management of 16 fisheries located between three and 200 nautical miles from the Australian coast. Nine fisheries are managed solely by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) on behalf of the Australian Government. Seven fisheries are managed jointly by AFMA and regional or international partners.

AFMA’s legislated functions and objectives require the pursuit of efficient and cost-effective fisheries management, balancing the principles of ecologically sustainable development with maximising net economic returns.

In the 2021 audit, the ANAO found that AFMA’s overall management of Commonwealth fisheries was partly effective and provided nine recommendations. AFMA agreed to all recommendations.

This audit would examine the effectiveness of the Australian Public Service Commission’s (APSC’s) implementation of reporting against the Australian Public Service (APS) Strategic Commissiong Framework (the framework), including its methodology for determining whether the intended outcomes of the framework are being achieved.

The APSC issued the framework in October 2023, with the first round of reporting by Australian Government entities due for 2024–25. The framework is intended to strengthen APS capability through reduced reliance on contractors and consultants for core work. The APSC issued an update on 4 November 2024, stating that entities had reported targets totalling $527 million of core capability to be brought in-house in 2024–25.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) management of confidential information.

The ATO manages commercially and legally sensitive information as part of its administration of the taxation and superannuation systems. Mobility between the public and private sector presents challenges to entities like the ATO to ensure that confidential information is not compromised. The provisions of the APS Code of Conduct, the Public Service Regulations 1999, the Privacy Act 1988, the Crimes Act 1914 and specific secrecy offences in Commonwealth laws outline the responsibilities of employees and agencies to manage confidential information.

This audit would assess the effectiveness (including cost effectiveness) of efforts to grow the care and support workforce, including the coordination of workforce strategies across the Australian Government.

In September 2021, the National Skills Commission released a report which noted that multiple federal and state and territory government program areas (aged care, disability support, veteran care and mental health care) draw upon a common pool of care and support workers, and that multiple workforce strategies exist in relation to this pool. In 2023, the Australian Government established a Care and Support Economy Taskforce and a draft National Care and Support Economy Strategy (the draft Strategy). The draft Strategy notes that the care and support economy is one of the fastest growing parts of the Australian economy and faces enormous projected demand. The draft Strategy states that it complements the substantial work already being undertaken in each of the aged care, disability support, veterans’ care and early childhood education and care sectors, by developing whole-of-system solutions.

The draft Strategy notes that ‘More nuanced approaches to market stewardship are required in thin markets, and across the care and support economy, to ensure people have access to the care and support they need’. The capability review of the Department of Health and Aged Care (endorsed in July 2023) found that systemic consideration of the health and aged care workforce is an area for improvement. The 2023 National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Review made 26 recommendations, including to the Australian Government to develop an integrated approach to workforce development in the care and support sector.

In the 2024–25 Budget, funding was allocated to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to help deliver on reforms relating to the care and support economy. As at April 2025, the draft national Strategy has not been finalised, the Taskforce has been disbanded and a Care and Support and Aged Care Branch has been established in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing published a National Nursing Workforce Strategy in December 2024.

This audit would examine the effectiveness of Defence’s establishment and use of the Major Service Provider (MSP) Panel.

The MSP Agreement 2018–2026 was established to facilitate the engagement and management of large, long-term, multi-discipline and integrated work packages across the air, land and maritime capability domains. Defence selected four consortia (comprising 13 companies) as MSPs under the panel arrangements, which commenced in February 2018. AusTender data in December 2024 indicated that the four MSPs had been awarded 380 contracts with a reported total of $5.63 billion since the commencement of the panel in February 2018.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of Services Australia’s use of enforcement powers in its child support program.

In 2023–24, Services Australia delivered $153.2.3 billion in social security and welfare payments on behalf of the Australian Government, including facilitating $1.9 billion in child support payments. In ensuring recipients receive only the payments to which they are entitled, Services Australia has a range of enforcement powers it applies through compliance activities. These include powers to require individuals to provide information, produce documents, answer questions, and make payments (including through the use of garnishee orders).

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.

The audit would assess the administration of procurement on the construction and development of the National Security Office precinct.

The Department of Finance is leading the development of a National Security Office Precinct (Precinct) at the York Park in Barton, ACT. The Precinct will provide a permanent solution to the critical accommodation and capability requirements of several national security and other Commonwealth agencies. The Precinct is expected to accommodate up to 5,000 workers.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of the Department of Parliamentary Services’ (DPS) management of assets. According to its 2025–26 Portfolio Budget Statements, DPS is responsible for the management of approximately $3.4 billion in combined administered and departmental assets.

Key assets include: land and buildings ($3 billion); heritage and cultural assets, including the Parliament House art collection ($134 million); and property, plant and equipment ($166 million).

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.

This audit would be a follow-up to Auditor-General Report No. 49 2018–19 Management of Commonwealth National Parks. The previous audit found that the Director of National Parks had not established effective arrangements to plan, deliver and measure the impact of its operational activities within the six terrestrial national parks. The previous audit made seven recommendations to the Director of National Parks.

This audit would examine the effectiveness of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s (DAFF) management of Approved Arrangements for the importation of live animals. The Biosecurity Act 2015 allows DAFF to approve public or private industry entities (or biosecurity industry participants) to carry out certain border biosecurity risk management activities, in accordance with specified conditions. Approved arrangement (AA) holders are approved to undertake certain biosecurity actions.

The potential audit would examine the effectiveness of measures to reduce the backlog in processing of visas, modernise the visa system and embed simplification.

The ANAO agreed to consider an audit into this topic in response to Recommendation 17 of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration in its September 2024 report Migration, Pathway to Nation Building.

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

This audit would assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the Department of Home Affairs’ and Australian Border Force’s customs duty administration.

Border and customs operations generate the Commonwealth’s second largest source of revenue. In 2023–24 there was $15.4 billion in revenue collected from customs duty ($13.8 billion), passenger movement charges ($1.1 billion) and import processing charges ($451 million). This was $3.4 billion less than had been estimated, meaning the department had not met its performance target for revenue collection. In its 2023-24 Annual Report, the department noted that it supports revenue protection through a range of activities, including through sampling refund and duty drawback applications to ensure eligibility and administering the voluntary disclosure program that encourages compliance with revenue payment to the Commonwealth.

This audit would examine the effectiveness of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s (DCCEEW) administration and operation of the Recycling Modernisation Fund (RMF).

The RMF was established in 2020 to support industry to transition to the regulation of waste exports, by increasing Australia’s onshore capacity to collect, reuse, recycle ad recover waste materials. The Australian Government has committed to over $200 million towards new and upgraded recycling infrastructure through the RMF, with funding provided to states and territories via the Federation Funding Agreement–Environment and the National Partnership on Recycling Infrastructure.

The DTA is the Australian Government’s adviser for the development, delivery, and monitoring of whole-of-government strategies, policies, and standards for digital and ICT investments, including ICT procurement. This audit would assess the administration and assurance of selected frameworks administered by the DTA for the use of emerging technologies in the public sector. This would include the delivery of the Data and Digital Government Strategy and Implementation Plan. This is the first combined data and digital strategy for the Australian Government, as a blueprint for the use and management of data and digital technologies through to 2030.

The audit would assess the effectiveness of Aboriginal Investment NT’s administration of grants programs.

Aboriginal Investment NT, which was established in 2022, administers various community and business grant programs. Auditor-General Report No1 7 of 2024-25 Management of conflicts of interest by Aboriginal Hostels Limited, Aboriginal Investment NT and Outback Stores Pty Ltd found that Aboriginal Investment NT was partly effective in the management of conflicts of interest and made two recommendations to the entity.

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.

The goal of the $250 million Emerging Markets Impact Investment Fund (EMIIF) is to help address access to finance challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South and South East Asia. It invests in funds and other financial intermediaries that in turn invest in early and growth stage SMEs with investments in the range of USD5,000 to USD2 million. The May 2023–24 Federal Budget measure that increased the size of the EMIIF stated that the majority of assistance would be provided via equity and loans (rather than grants), the cost of which will be met from Australia’s existing Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding.

EMIIF is an investment trust with DFAT as the sole beneficiary. Day to day management is undertaken by the investment manager appointed by DFAT and investment decision making is undertaken by the investment committee appointed by DFAT, as well as representatives from the investment manager. The design of EMIIF was intended to enable appropriate DFAT oversight by a DFAT delegate for the EMIIF being responsible for making any contractual and strategic decisions, who would be advised by an SES-level Impact Investing Advisory Group to provide advice, guidance and support regarding the overall direction and implementation of EMIIF and DFAT’s other impact investing programs. In addition, a Secretariat within DFAT is responsible for the day-to-day management of EMIIF, including interaction with counterparties to monitor ongoing performance, disseminate information and prepare relevant reporting to the advisory group or decision-makers. The audit would examine DFAT’s establishment and oversight of the EMIIF.

This audit would examine whether the Pacific Maritime Security Program has been designed and implemented effectively.

The 2023 Defence Strategic Review and 2024 National Defence Strategy emphasised the increasing economic, military and strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific and re-iterated the strategic importance of Defence’s Pacific Maritime Security Program. The program commenced in 2015 with the award of two contracts to Austal, comprising a construction contract for 24 Guardian Class Patrol Boats to be gifted to 12 Pacific Island countries and a sustainment contract for in-service support work for seven years. As of November 2024, 22 of the boats had been delivered and the reported values of the contracts were $493.8 million and $172.7 million, respectively. Other aspects of the program involve the provision of related infrastructure, disposal of the 22 previously gifted vessels and deployment of 33 technical advisors to assist with capacity building in the Pacific Island countries. This audit would include examining the objectives of the program and the extent to which those objectives have been achieved.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of the administration of the Paid Parental Leave scheme (PPL scheme) by the Department of Social Services (DSS) and Services Australia.

The Australian Government provides a range of payments to support families with children. The PPL scheme provides up to 22 weeks of payment to support parents to take time off paid work after a birth or adoption. This entitlement will be expanding to 24 weeks for births and adoptions on or after 1 July 2025 and to 26 weeks for births and adoptions on or after 1 July 2026. DSS has policy responsibility for the PPL scheme and Services Australia administers payments on behalf of DSS. In the October 2022–23 Budget, $531.6 million was allocated over four years to ‘modernise’ the PPL scheme and promote a more equal distribution of work within households. In 2023–24, the PPL scheme cost $2.83 billion and 246,725 people received payment under the PPL scheme.

This audit would examine the effectiveness of the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) regulation of Self-Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSFs), and include a follow-up audit on employer compliance with Superannuation Guarantee requirements.

Australians generally rely on superannuation as their main asset (other than the family home) to save for their retirement. The ATO’s role in the superannuation system includes regulating and supporting Self-Managed Superannuation Funds to comply with superannuation and taxation laws to safeguard retirement incomes, and to support employers to meet their superannuation obligations.

The ATO corporate plan 2024–25 identifies the maintenance of high levels of compliance across the superannuation system and avoiding any deterioration in performance as a core priority. The ANAO last examined the ATO’s approach to managing SMSFs in 2007, and addressing Superannuation Guarantee non-compliance in 2022.

The Australian Border Force (ABF) is responsible for management of onshore detention centre contracts through its contracted service providers. According to Home Affairs public reporting, as of 31 December 2023 there were 872 people in immigration detention facilities (inclusive of 859 people in immigration detention centres and 13 in alternative places of detention).

The Department of Home Affairs publicly reports on the number of critical incidents in immigration detention facilities. In 2022–23, Home Affairs reported that there were 73.6 critical incidents per 1,000 detainees, compared to 46.8 per 1,000 detainees during 2021–22. A performance audit would examine the effectiveness of the Australian Border Force’s management of critical incidents in detention.

The VET Student Loans (VSL) program commenced on 1 January 2017 and provides income contingent loans to eligible students studying approved courses. In 2022, the program provided $222.7 million towards the cost of tuition (out of total of $235 million in total fees charged) for around 30,000 students. The design and implementation of the VSL was audited in 2018–19. This audit would assess the effectiveness of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relation’s management of the VSL program.

This audit would examine the effectiveness of the Future Drought Fund (FDF). The FDF was established in 2019 to provide funding for drought resilience initiatives. The Future Drought Fund (Drought Resilience Funding Plan 2024–2028) Determination 2024 includes funding principles. The Funding Plan provides a high-level principles-based framework to guide all FDF spending. The Productivity Commission carried out a review of the Future Drought Fund (FDF) and released their Inquiry Report on 26 September 2023, which included 14 recommendations.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of the Australian National University’s financial management framework, and processes to support the Council, Committees, Vice-Chancellor and other senior executives to make informed decisions.

The Australian National University (ANU), established in 1946, is an accredited higher education provider under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and a corporate Commonwealth entity under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of the processes to design and co-ordinate programs to address rates of family and gendered violence, and out of home care, under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

Target 12 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap is to reduce the rate of over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care by 45 per cent by 2031. Target 13 is to reduce the rate of all forms of family violence and abuse against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children by at least 50 per cent by 2031. Both targets seek to achieve the goal of stronger families. The Australian government has agreed to commitments under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032 and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan 2023–25. The Department of Social Services plays a leading role in supporting the achievement of targets 12 and 13. The National Indigenous Australians Agency is responsible for leading and coordinating the development and implementation of Australia’s Closing the Gap targets in partnership with Indigenous Australians.

The ANAO agreed to consider an audit into target 13 in response to recommendation 8 of the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs’ August 2024 report into Missing and Murdered First Nations Women and Children.

The audit would assess the effectiveness of the design and implementation of the National Housing Accord and the Housing Australian Future Fund.

The National Housing Accord is an agreement between all levels of government, institutional investors and the construction sectors. It aims to increase the supply of housing with: ‘an initial, aspirational target of delivering a total of one million new, well-located homes over five years from 2024; and immediate and longer-term actions for all parties to support the delivery of more affordable homes’.

The Housing Australia Future Fund was established in November 2023. It is a $10 billion investment fund managed by the Future Fund Board. The income generated by the fund is expected to provide funding to deliver 20,000 new social and 10,000 affordable homes over five years. Housing Australia is responsible for administering the majority of disbursements from the fund through the Housing Australia Future Fund Facility. In the 2025–26 Budget, the Government increased in the cap on the Commonwealth’s guarantee of Housing Australia’s liabilities from $10 billion to $26 billion including support for commitments for projects under the Housing Australia Future Fund and the National Housing Accord Facility.

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.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of Defence’s administration of Defence export permits.

The Department of Defence is responsible for the implementation of the 2018 Defence Export Strategy. The aim of the strategy is to achieve greater export success by building a stronger, more sustainable and more globally competitive Australian defence industry. Defence administers various programs in support of this, including providing assistance to Australian industry participants with entry into international and global Defence supply chains.

Before military goods can be exported, industry participants must apply for and be issued with a Defence export permit. Defence is also Australia’s military and dual-use goods export regulator. It is responsible for assessing applications to export, supply, publish or broker military goods and technology, as well as conducting permit compliance activities. This audit would include examining whether any tension or competing priorities exist between Defence’s export-related responsibilities.

This audit would assess the effectiveness and efficiency of cost recovery activities conducted by IP Australia. Areas to be examined would be cost recovery models used by IP Australia, including business processes, fee structures, how this links to the delivery of its business and how IP Australia ensures arrangements remain fit for purpose with changes to its operating environment. Following the Productivity Commission inquiry in 2016 and the government’s response, IP Australia has completed two fee reviews. In 2023–24 IP Australia recovered more than 98 per cent of its costs by charging for its services.

This audit would examine the effectiveness of Defence’s management of the Integrated Investment Program with a focus on Defence’s costing and approval processes for the projects that comprise the IIP.

The Integrated Investment Program sets out the specific defence capabilities the government will invest in to give effect to the 2024 National Defence Strategy (NDS). The government announced in the 2024–25 Budget process an additional $5.7 billion over the next four years to 2027–28 and $50.3 billion over the next decade to 2033–34, above the previous trajectory over that period. The total funding of $765 billion over the decade includes $330 billion in allocated funding for the capabilities set out in the Integrated Investment Program.

This audit would provide assurance to the Parliament on Defence’s processes for managing its Integrated Investment Program and its reported program and project costs.

This audit would examine the effectiveness of Defence’s procurement and implementation of the Defence Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Program to date.

The ERP Program is a Defence-wide priority and a key part of the Defence transformation agenda. The most recent release in May 2025 — ERP Tranche 1B Main release — was Defence’s fifth and largest ERP capability release to date, and was to deliver the finance, procurement, supply chain management, transport management, land maintenance and engineering components of the ERP system. Defence intended for this release to significantly expand the number of users accessing ERP in the course of their day-to-day activities within Defence.

This audit would examine whether the ERP system delivered is consistent with the capability and specifications approved by government.

This audit would assess whether the award of funding under the Urban Rivers and Catchments Program was effective and consistent with the Commonwealth Grants Framework.

The Urban Rivers and Catchments Program is a $200 million grants program that comprises two rounds. The 2022–23 October Federal Budget provided $91 million (from 2022–23) for the first round of the program, and the 2023–24 May Federal Budget provided $109 million (from 2024–25) for the second round of the program. The second round closed on 13 February 2024.

This audit would examine the effectiveness of the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) governance of data and analytics.

The ATO has established a new enterprise risk relating to misuse of data and analytics: ‘There is a risk that we (or those we share our data or analysis with) do not lawfully or appropriately use our data and/or analysis, caused by a failure in our data and analytics governance, resulting in adverse impacts on individuals, loss of revenue and/or loss of public trust and confidence and reduction in willing participation.’

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

This audit would review the progress of selected components of the Australian Government’s Digital Identity program including the effectiveness of the implementation, design and functionality of the Digital Identity System, roles and responsibilities of stakeholders and the allocation and expenditure of funding, including contract management.

The Digital Identity program is delivered by the Department of Finance (policy and program lead), with Services Australia and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) delivering critical operational functions. Components of the program include the Digital ID Act 2024, the Identity Exchanges (delivered by Services Australia), myID (the Commonwealth’s Identity Provider, delivered by ATO) and connected services to the system.

The Digital ID Act 2024 and the Digital ID (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Act 2024 commenced on 1 December 2024 and support the expansion of the Australian Government Digital ID System and introduce a voluntary accreditation scheme for digital ID services providers. The Digital ID Regulator is the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission; and the Office of the Information Commissioner as the privacy regulator and Digital ID Data Standards Chair.

The audit would examine the effectiveness of systems and processes to evaluate Australian Government programs aimed at First Nations peoples.

Auditor General Report 47 2018–19 Evaluating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Programs found that, five years after the establishment of the Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS), the development of an evaluation framework was still in the ‘early stages’. The audit made three recommendations. The May 2019 Order to Establish the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) as an Executive Agency lists ‘to analyse and monitor the effectiveness of programs and services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including programs and services delivered by bodies other than the Agency’ as one of NIAA’s key responsibilities.

The Productivity Commission published the Indigenous Evaluation Strategy in October 2020. Section 24 of the Productivity Commission Act 1998 (PC Act) requires at least one commissioner to have extensive skills and experience in dealing with policies and programs that have an impact on Indigenous persons. A new Indigenous Policy Evaluation Commissioner was appointed to the Productivity Commission on 25 June 2024.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of Services Australia’s processes to ensure that payments are made in accordance with the law.

Services Australia delivers a wide range of services and payments on behalf of other Australian Government entities, including social security, child support, student payments, family assistance, aged care, and health programs. Services Australia operates under a legal framework that includes various pieces of legislation and regulatory commitments including the Human Services (Centrelink) Act 1997, Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988, Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989, Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, and the Commonwealth Fraud Control Framework. Services Australia operates a compliance program that aims to maintain the integrity of Australia’s welfare system and ensure that all operations are conducted within the legal framework. Components of the approach include payment reviews, data-matching and data mining, investigations, and various compliance activities, including identity checks and educating customers about their rights and obligations to support voluntary compliance.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of the design and implementation of the Consumer Data Right (CDR).

The CDR is a secure online system that enables consumers to get value from data that is collected about them through the provision of specific goods and services by consenting to that data being shared with trusted accredited third parties. CDR is an economy-wide reform that will be rolled out sector by sector. The CDR has already been rolled out to banking and energy, with non-bank lending to follow as the third sector. The Treasury, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), and Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) are the key agencies leading the CDR initiative. The Treasury leads policy development and determines which sectors should be included in the CDR, while the ACCC focuses on accreditation and compliance of data recipients, and the OAIC handles privacy and data breach notifications. The Data Standards Body develops the technical standards for how data is shared under the CDR, working closely with the Treasury, ACCC, and OAIC.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) in the design and implementation of its new customer relationship management (CRM) system named ‘PACE’, including the broader supporting program known as ‘3P’ (Participant, Platform and Process).

PACE will replace existing business and payments systems and portals with a new embedded CRM system. PACE is intended to improve system controls, including controls to validate payments for services. Following a pilot of PACE that started in November 2022 for Tasmanian participants and providers, PACE implementation began across all remaining NDIA locations on 30 October 2023. Full implementation was expected to take 18 months with NDIA’s existing systems continuing to be used alongside PACE during that period.

This audit would examine the effectiveness of the allocation of funding for assistive technology supports under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), including how the NDIA assesses these supports as reasonable and necessary for each participant and manages associated fraud risks.

Assistive technology is a support category for devices, mobility aides, software, equipment, vehicle modifications or animals that assist people with disability to do things more easily, safely or independently. Funding for assistive technology under the NDIS must meet ‘reasonable and necessary’ decision criteria. In the twelve months to 30 September 2023, assistive technology accounted for 3 per cent ($1.4 billion) of annualised committed supports in current participant plans.

This audit would examine whether the Department of Defence is managing fatigue-related risks in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) effectively.

The Defence Safety Manual provides Defence’s corporate policy framework to support compliance with its legislative obligations under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) and Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011. The manual includes a fatigue management policy which applies to all Defence workers, and is supplemented by specific fatigue management guidance developed individually by Army, Navy and Air Force. An audit would provide independent assurance to the Parliament that Defence is appropriately managing fatigue-related risks in accordance with its legislative obligations.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of the Department of Education’s administration of the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

NCRIS provides funding for national research infrastructure including physical assets (such as the National Computational Infrastructure that supports Australia’s weather and climate modelling capability) and intangible assets (such as the Australian Research Data Commons, a portal that supports researchers to access and reuse existing data). It would examine areas relating to the department’s allocation of funding and ongoing engagement with NCRIS projects.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of the Department of Education’s regulation of recurrent school funding under the Australian Education Act 2013 ($30.1 billion in 2024–25).

In 2023–24, via the Strengthening non-government schools funding integrity measure, the Australian Government announced it would ‘strengthen policy and financial assurance and compliance to ensure funding for non-government schools is used appropriately for school education’.

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.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of the Fraud Fusion Taskforce, to determine how government agencies work together to detect, resolve and prevent fraud and serious organised crime in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and other government programs.

The Fraud Fusion Taskforce is a multi-agency partnership working to disrupt fraud and criminal activity, including serious and organised crime. The Fraud Fusion Taskforce commenced in November 2022, co-led by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and Services Australia, with 21 other government agencies including the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. In the October 2022–23 Federal Budget $126.3 million was allocated over four years to establish the taskforce. In the 2024–25 Budget additional funding of $23.5 million over two years was provided to Services Australia.