The audit reviewed the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement (CSHA). CSHA is a joint arrangement between the Commonwealth and the States under which both the Commonwealth and the States contribute funding in the form of grants, which are used by State Housing Authorities to provide a variety of housing assistance programs to households on low incomes and those with special needs. The overall objective of the audit was to assess and report to Parliament on how effectively the Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS - formerly the Department of Social Security) administered the CSHA and to identify any areas where improvements could be made.

The objective of the audit was to determine whether DIMIA's workforce planning systems are effectively supporting human resource management practices, which contribute to the efficient and effective achievement of project outcomes.

The Audit reviewed the Commercial Support Program (CSP) within the Department of Defence. The CSP was introduced in 1991 following a review of the report, The Defence Force and the Community. Its objective is to achieve best value for money in the acquisition of support services for the Department of Defence and to give the private sector an opportunity to participate in the provision of those support services. The objective of this audit was to assess whether CSP was meeting its objectives and to identify any areas where it may be possible to improve the timeliness, and therefore cost-effectiveness, with which CSP is implemented and the quality of the process itself to produce better outcomes.

The audit was conducted in response to a November 2000 resolution of the Senate that the Auditor-General examine all expenditures and entitlements accruing to Parliamentarians in 1999-2000. The objectives of the audit were to:

• provide assurance to the Parliament regarding the administration by Finance, the chamber departments and the portfolio departments of all expenditures and entitlements accruing to Parliamentarians, including Ministers, in 1999-2000;
• assess the administrative and control structures governing expenditures and entitlements accruing to Parliamentarians and Ministers in 1999-2000; and
• identify opportunities to improve the current framework.

The objectives for the audit were to examine Commonwealth guarantees, indemnities and letters of comfort in relation to:

• the potential size of the Commonwealth's exposure to these instruments;
• the extent to which the overall exposures of the Commonwealth are managed and monitored;
• the adequacy of administrative reporting arrangements;
• areas of better administrative practice relating to their management; and
• to raise agencies' awareness of appropriate risk management and accountability practices in relation to these instruments.

The audit set out to quantify the Commonwealth's exposure to guarantees, indemnities and letters of comfort.

The objective of the audit was to assess the administrative effectiveness of Australian Customs Services (Customs) drug detection strategies for air and containerised sea cargo and small craft activity. Within the scope of the audit, the following areas were examined :

• intelligence and law enforcement cooperation;
• air and containerised sea cargo;
• cargo examinations and technology;
• small craft activities;
• Customs funding arrangements (including funding for NIDS initiatives): and
• governance, including performance reporting.

The purpose of this audit was to assess the Department of Social Security's approach to customer service against a recognised good practice methodology, and to identify opportunities for DSS to improve the quality of its customer service, its administrative effectiveness and its overall performance. The ANAO's intention was to identify opportunities to improve customer focus, particularly for those aspects of DSS's administration impacting on customer service. The audit criteria included: customer service environment; human resource management practices; communication with customers; customer-friendly approaches; and systematic approaches to continuous improvement.

The objectives of the audit were to:

• assess the extent to which major program objectives were achieved;
• identify major strengths and weaknesses related to the economy, effectiveness and efficiency of the program administration; and
• identify areas of improvements and risks which should be addressed in arrangements with a private sector project manager.

Audit criteria were developed to address the areas of program planning and implementation, performance measurement and monitoring, responsiveness to emerging issues, dispute resolution mechanisms, risk management and program improvement measures.

This annual report documents the performance of the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) in the financial year ending 30 June 2016. It addresses all applicable obligations under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and the Auditor-General Act 1997, the performance measures set out in the outcome and programs framework in the ANAO’s 2015–16 Portfolio Budget Statements and the ANAO’s 2015–19 Corporate Plan and annual reporting requirements set out in other legislation.

The Australian National Audit Office Enterprise Agreement 2024–2027 was approved by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) on 22 March 2024 and operates from 29 March 2024. The agreement will nominally expire on 28 February 2027. The signatories page of this agreement is available on the FWC website.