The objective of the audit was to examine the effectiveness of the management of maintenance of the Defence estate, taking particular account of planning and delivery aspects.

The audit examined: Defence’s policies, procedures, processes and supporting tools related to the planning and delivery of the maintenance of the estate; and services provided to Defence by private sector firms in relation to maintenance activities. The audit did not focus on contract management matters, nor on the systems used by Defence to maintain information related to estate maintenance.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the MinterEllison Seminar Series

The objective of this audit was to evaluate whether selected Australian Government agencies were effectively managing security risks arising from the use of contractors. To address this objective, the audit evaluated relevant policies and practices in the audited agencies against a series of minimum requirements in the management of security issues in procurement and contracting activity. These minimum requirements were developed from the guidance and standards contained in the PSM and also from the ANAO's previous protective security audits.

The audit focused on two broad types of contracting arrangements: contracting of security functions; and contracting of any service or business function that requires, or which has the potential to require, contractors to access sensitive or security classified information.

The following Australian Government agencies were involved in this audit:

• Australian Customs Service (Customs);
• Commonwealth Superannuation Administration (ComSuper);
• Department of Finance and Administration (Finance); and
• Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

In addition, the Attorney-General's Department, which is responsible for the maintenance of the PSM and for providing advice on contemporary protective security policies and practices, was consulted during the audit.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of CSIRO in administering research projects to deliver required results. In particular, the audit examined:

• structures for project management in CSIRO;
• the alignment of project with strategic objectives;
• the adequacy of project planning; and
• CSIRO's approach to assessing project outcomes.

The audit's main objectives were to:

• examine the guidance on the use of confidentiality clauses in contracts and agencies' use of such clauses;
• develop criteria to assist agencies in determining what information in a contract is confidential; and
• assess the effectiveness of the existing accountability and disclosure arrangements for Commonwealth contracts.

The audit followed-up the ANAO's original audit report into the aviation safety regulatory activities of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) (Audit Report No.19 1999-2000 Aviation Safety Compliance). The objective of the follow-up audit were to determine, in respect of issues addressed by the original audit recommendations, whether CASA has made satisfactory progress to improve its aviation safety surveillance and compliance activities; and whether the introduction of new strategies for further improvement is being appropriately managed.

This audit examined the management of contracts for business support processes in eight Commonwealth organisations-six operating under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997, and two operating under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997. The objectives of this audit were to:

• provide assurance on the effectiveness of the management of contracted business support processes in selected organisations; and
• identify and disseminate better practices in related contract management.

The audit objective was to assess whether the Regional Partnerships Programme has been effectively managed by DOTARS, including the processes by which:

• applications are sought, received and assessed;
• Funding Agreements with grant recipients are developed and managed; and
• the achievement of project and programme outcomes is monitored and assessed.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the major elements of Centrelink's central, strategic level project management arrangements, as defined in the CPMF. It focused on how well:

• the CPMF supports better management and service delivery in Centrelink;
• the CPMF supports project managers and projects to comply with better project management principles, relevant legislation and guidelines; and
• Centrelink monitors project performance and encouraged the attainment of project objectives.

This report summarises audit and other related activities of the Australian National Audit Office in the period January to June 1999.