The ANAO could assess the Department of Defence’s (Defence) administration of sponsorship arrangements. Defence works with industry and other partners to develop capability (personnel and technology). A sponsorship arrangement could be entered into to support this capability development including for events, awards, training/education and other activities. The Department of Finance has provided a guidance document published in July 2015 that sets out the Australian Government Charging Framework in accepting sponsorships and directs the reader to Resource Management Guide: 302 Implementing the Charging Framework.

The ANAO could assess Aboriginal Investment NT’s administration of grants. Aboriginal Investment NT, established in 2022, administers various community and business grant programs in the Northern Territory. A five-year strategic investment plan outlines key objectives for over $600 million in investment capital from the Aboriginals Benefit Account. Auditor-General Report No. 17 2024–25 found that Aboriginal Investment NT was partly effective in the management of conflicts of interest and made two recommendations to the entity.

The ANAO could 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 have found shortcomings in performance across routine areas of public administration (e.g. record keeping, governance, procurement and risk management). 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 ANAO could review the entities’ design, implementation and governance arrangements to ensure compliance with relevant requirements.

The ANAO could examine 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. In Auditor-General Report No. 26 2024-25 Governance of Artificial Intelligence at the Australian Taxation Office, the ATO expressed:

“There is a risk that the ATO (or those the ATO shares data or analysis with) does not lawfully or appropriately use its data and analysis, caused by a failure in its or its partners’ 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 ANAO could examine the measures to reduce the backlog in processing of visas, modernise the visa system and embed simplification. The ANAO agreed to consider 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 Department of Home Affairs has introduced new measures in its performance framework that relate to efficiency, quality, timeliness and output in visa processing. An audit could also consider the extent to which the introduction of the new performance measures has been supported by, or driven the development of, improved visa program management practices.

Construction of Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport is underway and expected to begin operations in 2026. WSA Co Limited (WSA Co), a government business enterprise (GBE), was established in 2017 to develop and operate the Western Sydney airport. The ANAO could assess WSA Co’s strategies to manage the transition from building the infrastructure to operating the airport. This may include examining WSA Co’s transition activities such as the management of cargo and passenger services, infrastructure and key airport management contracts.

The ANAO could assess Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s regulation of supermarkets through the mandatory Food and Grocery Code of Conduct. The Food and Grocery Code of Conduct is a mandatory code to regulate the conduct of large grocery businesses towards their suppliers. The code has been in place since April 2025.

The ANAO could 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.

The ANAO could assess the management of coordinated whole-of-government procurement arrangements and whether they are achieving the intended objectives as well as realising efficiencies in process, price, service and quality for the Commonwealth.

The ANAO could assess the governance arrangements in selected entities for monitoring and implementing agreed parliamentary committee and 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.