This follow-up audit reviewed the operations of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) which is responsible for ensuring the sustainable use and efficient management of Commonwealth fisheries resources. The objective of this follow-up audit was to assess the extent to which AFMA addressed the issues that gave rise to the recommendations of ANAO Report No.32 1995-96, and the related recommendations of the House of Representatives Standing Committee Report 1997, that were supported by the Government.

The follow-up audit focussed on the key issues identified in the recommendations and grouped these in the themes of:

• strategic and performance management;
• management of the advisory process;
• implementation of fisheries management methods;
• managing AFMA's environmental responsibilities as they relate to Commonwealth fisheries
  management;
• compliance, monitoring and enforcement responsibilities; and
• management of information and research.

This cross-portfolio audit reviewed the management of Internet security across ten Commonwealth agencies, with the objective of forming an opinion on the adequacy of Internet security management within the selected agencies. The audit pursued two strands - a review of the management systems employed within agencies including the adequacy of risk assessments, security policies and plans, day to day management and business continuity planning in connection with the agencies' Internet presence, and physical testing of the security arrangements of selected Internet sites. Staff from the Defence Signals Directorate were appointed under the Auditor-General Act 1997 to perform the site testing.

The audit reviewed the planning and management of the Australian Defence Force deployments to East Timor, including the support of those deployments. The audit focused on planning for the deployments and the role of Australia as the lead nation in the International Force in East Timor (INTERFET); and financial, personnel, logistic and other systems used to deploy and sustain Australia's military presence in East Timor.

This was a follow-up of Audit Report No. 29 2000-01, Review of Veterans' Appeals Against Disability Compensation Entitlement Decisions. That audit examined the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA's) and the Veterans' Review Board's (VRB's) management of the review of decisions for disability compensation. The objective of this audit was to assess the extent to which DVA and the VRB had implemented the four recommendations of Report No.29 2000-01, taking into account any changed circumstances, or new administrative issues, affecting implementation of these recommendations.

Networking the Nation was established with effect from 1 July 1997 to support activities and projects designed to meet a range of telecommunications needs in regional, rural and remote Australia. Funding is provided by the Regional Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund. The program provides total support of $250 million, of which $50 million was to be allocated annually for the five year period from 1997-98. Funding decisions for grants are the responsibility of an independent Board appointed by the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. The objectives of the audit were to examine the administration of the program with a view to ascertaining the scope for improving administration and to provide assurance on the equity, efficiency and effectiveness of the management and administrative processes applied in the administration of grants under the program.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AO) - Auditor-General for Australia, an Occasional Paper

The Audit Activity Report: January to June 2003 summarises the activity and outputs of the Australian National Audit Office for the second half of the 2002-03 reporting year. The Report outlines the key findings of performance and financial control audits, and summarises audits tabled and better practice guides published during January to June 2003.

The audit assessed the management by ISR and, in particular, by AusIndustry of the implementation of the changes arising from the Government's December 1997 policy statement in Investing for Growth. This statement required ISR to separate administration of policy from the delivery of products and to improve its service to customers through a ‘one stop shop' approach and by streamlining its processes. The audit focussed in particular on the overall strategic management of the change process by AusIndustry; the detailed implementation of the new service delivery arrangements, notably the separation of policy and product delivery; and the implementation of the enhanced customer focus.

The audit reviewed the Amphibious Transport Ship Project, involving the acquisition and modification of two second-hand US Navy ships . The objective of the audit was to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of Defence's management of the project, focusing on the capability development process, costs and schedule issues, contract issues, the management of project risks and project review processes.

The audit reviewed the Australian Taxation Office's administration of the payment of tax by non-residents. The audit objectives were to:

• provide Parliament with assurance about how efficiently and effectively the ATO administers the payment of tax in respect of non-residents;
• identify any scope for more effective and efficient administration of the function; and
• identify any opportunities for the cost-effective collection of additional revenue.

The IIF program is designed to redress the low level of provision in Australia of high risk venture capital for small new technology - based companies commercialising research and development. The objective of the audit was to determine whether the IIF program was being effectively managed by the Industry Research and Development (IR&D) Board and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources to achieve the program objectives. The audit focused on corporate governance arrangements for program administration, the selection process to award licences, the safeguards to protect the Commonwealth's financial interests, management of licence agreements, and program performance management. The audit also examined program results to date from available data.

The objective of the audit was to assess the Commonwealth's administration of the Automotive Competitiveness and Investment Scheme (ACIS) . The audit reviewed program governance, scheme promotion and registration, management of credit allocations, and compliance processes.

The audit reviewed the Commonwealth funding provided under the Home and Community Care Act 1985, for a range of personal, health and domestic services to frail aged and other people with disabilities and their carers. The objective of the audit was to form an opinion on the Department of Health and Aged Care's administration of the Home and Community Care program in particular to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of the services.

This audit is a follow-up to ANAO Audit Report No.31 1995-96 Environmental Management of Commonwealth Land: Site Contamination and Pollution Prevention (‘the original audit'). The objectives of the follow-up audit were to determine: the extent to which Defence has implemented the agreed recommendations contained in the original audit (relating to its environmental management and the management of unexploded ordnance (UXO) on non-Commonwealth land) and; the effectiveness of the implemented recommendations in improving the environmental management of Commonwealth land.

The Commonwealth electoral roll is managed by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) and lists the names and addresses of people entitled to vote in federal elections. The objectives of the audit were twofold. The first objective was to provide an opinion on the integrity of the electoral roll, for the purpose of the audit, integrity was defined as accuracy, completeness, validity and security. The second objective was to examine the effectiveness of the AEC's management of the electoral roll in ensuring the roll's integrity.

The audit assessed DITR's and the ATO's administration of the R&D Tax Concession including review processes for registration and subsequent expenditure claims, by eligible companies. In particular, the audit focussed on measuring performance, risk management, and information systems including security and data integrity.

The sale of leases for the 14 Phase 2 Federal airports was completed by 30 June 1998, in accordance with the Government's timetable. This represented a significant achievement given that it constituted the largest completed airport trade sales program in the world to that date and achieved the Government's sales objectives.

This annual report documents the performance of the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) in the financial year ending on 30 June 2006. It includes highlights and areas of focus for the coming year; a forward by the Auditor-General; an overview of the report; a report on performance; details about management and accountability, and the financial statement for the year.

The audit reviewed the management and recording of guarentees, warranties, indemnities and letters of comfort issued by the Commonwealth and also assessed action taken in the relation to the recommendations from ANAO Audit Report No. 47 1997-98. The objectives of the audit were to assess the extent of:

• improvement in agencies' management and monitoring of the Commonwealth's exposure to these instruments;
• changes in the size and nature of the exposure since 30 June 1997; and
• the approach of agencies to effective risk management and control of Commonwealth exposures to these instruments.

The objective of the preliminary study was to form a view regarding the quality of, and controls over, the Budget estimates and to inform the decision whether to proceed to a full performance audit at this time. On the basis of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the budget process undertaken during the study, the ANAO concluded that there are no apparent systemic problems in the cash-based estimating processes in the agencies reviewed that would, in themselves, lead to material statistical inaccuracies in the Budget's projected outcomes. The ANAO decided not to proceed with a full performance audit at this time.

The audit reviewed the use and operation of performance information in service level agreements between Centrelink and three agencies; the Department of Social Security, the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs and the Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business. The objective of the audit was to establish whether the performance assessment framework specified in the agreements enabled the adequate assessment of achievements under purchaser/provider arrangements entered into by DSS, DEETYA and Centrelink.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Health’s and Australian Hearing’s administration of the Community Service Obligations program for hearing services.

The 30 per cent Private Health Insurance Rebate is a financial incentive for individuals to purchase health insurance cover. The rebate provides for a reimbursement or discount of 30 per cent of the cost of private health insurance. It is available to all Australians who are eligible for Medicare and have private health insurance. The objective of the audit was to determine the effectiveness of Commonwealth Government agencies administration of the rebate.

This is the second year of what may be a three-year longitudinal study of the effectiveness and efficiency of all aspects of people management in 13 agencies, covering some 36% of APS employees. The study assessed each people management practice area against four criteria: quality, HR integration, effectiveness & efficiency and business contribution.

The audit reviewed the administrative effectiveness of ComSuper in providing benefits to members of the CSS and PSS. The objectives of the audit were to assess the effectiveness of ComSuper's performance in regard to the establishment of new purchaser/provider arrangements; the integrity of the ComSuper databases for the payment of CSS and PSS benefits; and the accuracy and effectiveness of benefit processing and payment for resignation, retirement and retrenchment.

The objectives of the audit were to:

• review the implementation arrangements in relation to the transfer of the delivery of AUSTUDY to Centrelink and its subsequent inclusion as part of the Youth Allowance; and
• to form an opinion on the efficiency and effectiveness of the front-end processing aspects of AUSTUDY applications.

The ANAO examined the performance information in the 2000-01 Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS) for a mix of ten small and large agencies. The objective of the audit was to assess the appropriateness of the performance information in the selected PBS, the reporting of performance information in annual reports and agency arrangements to identify and collect this information.

The objectives of the audit were to examine:

• the effectiveness of agencies' implementation of the current GBEs governance framework;
• the extent to which agencies and GBEs comply with the Governance Arrangements and legislative requirements; and
• whether the GBE monitoring system provides an effective level of accountability to Ministers and to the Parliament.

The audit reviewed Commonwealth National Parks involving total assets of $105 million with net operating costs of $41.77 million. Nineteen Commonwealth reserves are declared comprising six terrestrial national parks, one botanic garden and twelve marine parks and reserves totalling some 23 million hectares across Australia, its external territories and Commonwealth marine areas. The objective of the audit was to examine and report on the adequacy of the planning, management and reporting systems which support the Director of National Parks in the achievement of required functions under relevant legislation and agreed outputs and outcomes.

The audit is a follow-up to Audit Report 12, 1995-96 Risk Management by Commonwealth Consumer Product Safety Regulators. The objectives of this follow-up audit were to determine the extent to which ANZFA had implemented the agreed recommendations contained in the 1995 Audit Report, and to determine the effectiveness of the implemented recommendations in improving food safety regulation.

The objective of the audit was to report to Parliament on the economy, efficiency and administrative effectiveness of the risk management process in the Small Business Income business line. It follows Audit Report No.37 1996-97 and entitled Risk Management - Australian Taxation Office. That audit focused on broad strategic issues relevant to risk management in the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) as a whole. This audit follows the issues identified in that report into the day-to-day management of the Small Business Income as an example of how risk management operates in a significant element of the ATO.

The objectives of the audit were to: assess compliance with the Stevedoring Levy (Collection) Act 1998 and Stevedoring Levy (Imposition) Act 1998 and other relevant legislation; assess the effectiveness of the administrative and financial controls regarding the collection of the Stevedoring Levy by DoTRS and the provision of redundancy payments to eligible employees of stevedoring companies and the management of the funding of those payments by way of borrowings by MIFCo; and review the administrative efficiency of the redundancy payment and Stevedoring Levy collection aspects of the waterfront redundancy scheme.

The objectives of the audit were to assess the administrative and financial effectiveness of the Department of Finance and Administration's (Finance's) management of the Commonwealth's exposure under the DASFLEET Tied Contract; assess the effectiveness of Finance's monitoring of performance of the DASFLEET Tied Contract with Macquarie Fleet; and review the action taken by Finance in response to a recommendation of Audit Report No. 25 1998-99, Sale of DASFLEET.

This annual report documents the performance of the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) in the financial year ending on 30 June 2009. It includes a foreword by the Auditor-General, an overview of the Office, a report on performance, details about management and accountability, and the financial results.

The audit examined the ATO's management of its relationship with tax practitioners (tax agents and the wider group of professionals working on taxation matters for clients). However, our main focus was the ATO's management of its relationship with tax agents because they are the core element of the tax practitioner grouping and their role is fundamental to the effective operation of the tax system. The objective of the audit was to assess how well the ATO manages its relationship with tax practitioners, focussing on selected ATO relationships with tax practitioners, in particular its regulatory relationship with tax agents, its service support relationship with tax agents and its relationship with tax agents and members of the wider tax practitioner group in the professional bodies as key stakeholders in tax administration.

The audit addressed administration of migrant settlement services by DIMA, in particular:

• strategic management, including corporate planning, performance measurement and reporting arrangements; and
• operational management of some of the individual schemes operated by DIMA (the Adult English Migrant Program and Translating Interpreting Services were not covered as part of this audit).

This annual report documents the performance of the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) in the financial year ending on 30 June 2005. It includes highlights and areas of focus for the year; a forward by the Auditor-General; an overview of the report; a report on performance; details about management and accountability, and the financial statement for the year.

The audit reviewed the implementation of the purchaser/provider arrangements between the Department of Health and Aged Care and Centrelink. The objective of the audit was to determine the administrative effectiveness of the implementation of the service delivery arrangements between Centrelink and the Department by examining project planning for, and management of, the implementation, and the establishment of on-going purchaser/provider arrangements.

The audit reviewed Defence's higher-level management of its knowledge system equipment acquisition projects. These amount to $8.5b. The focus of the audit was on the opportunities for Defence to adopt a much more coherent and integrated approach to knowledge systems management prospectively rather than on emphasising current system compatibility issues.

The objective of the audit was to determine whether the controls and measures employed by FaCS and Centrelink to deliver Parenting Payment Single (PPS) payments were effective and efficient. To achieve this, the audit focused on four key areas. These were:

• the quality of performance measures used by FaCS and Centrelink;
• the effectiveness of FaCS' methodology for estimating the levels of risk of incorrect payment to PPS customers and the impact of these incorrect payments on the integrity of program outlays;
• the correctness of Centrelink's processing of reassessments; and
• the improvements to preventive controls such as training, guidance material, and the Quality On-Line system.

The audit reviewed the Australian Taxation Office's fraud prevention and contol arrangements in relation to the Goods and Services Tax. The audit objective was to assess whether the ATO has implemented administratively effective GST fraud control arrangements, consistent with the Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines.

The audit examined some key aspects of HRD in relation to Centrelink's Customer Service Officers (CSOs). The objective of the audit was to determine whether Centrelink had appropriate systems and strategies in place to ensure that its CSOs had access to the skills and knowledge necessary to meet expected levels of performance and customer service.

This annual report documents the performance of the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) in the financial year ending on 30 June 2011. It includes a foreword by the Auditor-General, an overview including the role and vision of the Office, a report on performance, details about management and accountability, and the financial results.

Australian Industry Involvement Program. Department of Defence The audit examined the management by Defence of its Australian Industry Involvement (AII) Program. AII is the major program through which Defence gives effect to government policy on Australian industry. The objective of the audit was to assess the extent to which the AII Program has achieved its two policy objectives, which are to :

• develop and sustain strategically important capabilities in Australian industry to support Australian Defence Force operations and Defence capability development; and
• maximise Australian industry involvement in Defence's procurement of goods and services, consistent with the government procurement policy objective of achieving best value for money to the Commonwealth.

The purpose of the report was to report to the Parliament on how effectively and efficiently the Australian Taxation Office administers the Tax File Number System, and to identify opportunities for improvement of that system. The ANAO developed a methodological framework for the evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of the ATO's administration of the TFN system. The framework examined the TFN system; individuals and their TFNs; TFN withholding tax arrangements; and TFN information matching.

As part of the Government's Taxation Reform Initiatives, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) was given responsibility for implementing the Australian Business Number (ABN) and Australian Business Register (ABR) initiatives. The objective of the audit was to assess the administrative effectiveness of the ABN registration process and the ATO's implementation and management of the ABR.

The objective of the audit was to ascertain how efficiently and effectively the ATO administers sales tax collections. The audit excluded an examination of the Australian Customs Service's sales tax administration, although it did examine coordination and liaison arrangements between the ATO and ACS. The audit approach involved analysing the ATO's performance against the five elements of the ATO's established compliance improvement process, namely:

• interpreting and clarifying sales tax law;
• identifying and understanding clients and markets (enabling tax officers to identify and analyse risks of non-compliance);
• providing education and information to clients regarding sales tax obligations, based on identified compliance risks;
• implementing administrative arrangements which ensure and/or assist taxpayers to meet their obligations; and
• detecting non-compliance and taking action to remedy instances of non-compliance.

Allegations were made to the Senate Economics References Committee that the Australian Taxation Office and Australian Customs Service (Customs) had failed to pursue several cases of detected sales tax fraud. The Committee believed that this alleged failure may have stemmed from coordination problems between the two agencies. The Committee requested the Auditor-General to investigate this matter and report his findings to the Parliament.

The objective of the audit was to assess whether the controls employed by the Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) and Centrelink to ensure the correctness of payments made under the Age Pension program were effective and efficient. The ANAO focused on:

• business arrangements between FACS and Centrelink and the Business Assurance Framework;
• whether the source of error was correctly attributed in customer records assessed by FACS and Centrelink as containing an error in the 2000-01 Age Pension Random Sample Survey:
• the correctness of Centrelink's processing of reassessments, including Pensioner Entitlements Reviews, Customer Initiated Reassessments and automated reassessments: and
• progress in implementing the recommendations of previous ANAO audits concerning the preventive quality controls that underpin correct payments.

The audit reviewed the National Aboriginal Health Strategy (NAHS) component of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission's (ATSIC) Community Housing Infrastructure Program (CHIP). A major NAHS objective is to improve environmental health in indigenous communities through the construction and housing and the provision of water, sewerage and related systems. The objective of the performance audit was to form an opinion on ATSIC's management of the National Aboriginal Health Strategy program in providing housing and related infrastructure to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and to identify areas where program administration could be improved.

In a military context, individual readiness refers to the ability of an individual member to be deployed, within a specified notice period, on operations, potentially in a combat environment, to perform the specific skills in which he or she has been trained. Individual readiness is the foundation on which military preparedness is built. Maintenance of a specified level of individual readiness in peacetime (along with other factors such as equipment readiness and collective training) influences the speed with which personnel can deploy on operations. The objective of this audit is to ensure that members can be deployed on operations, potentially in a combat environment, to perform their specific skills within a notice period of 30 days.

The audit reviewed whether DEWR is efficiently and effectively managing the provision of entitlements to eligible former employees under the Employee Entitlements Support Scheme (EESS) and its replacement, the General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme (GEERS). The audit sought to determine whether DEWR had a mechanism to ensure that claims were properly assessed, taking into account the prevailing risks, whether performance information was adequate, whether relationships with claimants and insolvency practitioners were managed appropriately and whether a cost-effective recovery strategy was in place.

The audit reviewed Defence's management of the Test and Evaluation (T&E) aspects of its capital equipment acquisition program. The audit sought to identify, from Defence T&E practice, any barriers that might limit the efficiency and effectiveness of its T&E activities.

The Navy Operational Readiness audit examined the systems that Navy uses to manage readiness and concludes coverage of Navy: readiness organisation and management structures (as well as the interface between these systems and Defence enabling operations); management and maintenance of operational readiness (covering personnel, collective training and other components of operational readiness); and readiness performance information processes. The objective of the audit was to provide assurance to Parliament concerning the progress that Navy has made in the development of operational readiness management and evaluation systems and to identify areas for improvement in these systems.

The objective of this report is to provide comprehensive information on the status of projects as reflected in the Project Data Summary Sheets (PDSSs) prepared by DMO, and a review by the ANAO.

The audit's objective was to assess, and report to Parliament on, the ATO's administration of petroleum excise collections. The audit examined whether the ATO had implemented effectively administrative arrangements for the collection of petroleum excise since the transfer of the function from Customs in 1999. Areas that were examined relating to administration of petroleum excise were:

• governance arrangements;
• licensing arrangements;
• compliance management;
• investigations; and
• revenue management.

The audit also reviewed the role of Customs in performing functions directly related to petroleum excise collections and key elements of the management relationship between the ATO and Customs in this area.

The audit reviewed the implementation of the Whole-of-Government Information Technology Infrastructure Consolidation and Outsourcing Initiative (IT Initiative). The objectives of the audit were to examine the administrative and financial effectiveness of the implementation of the IT Initiative, with the focus being on the first four tenders conducted. Accordingly, the audit assessed:

• the effectiveness of the overall planning and implementation of the IT Initiative, taking into account the tendering, contracting and monitoring processes undertaken in respect of Cluster 3, DEETYA/EN, ATO and Group 5;
• the extent to which those latter processes have contributed to the achievement of the objectives of the IT Initiative; and
• the extent to which the Commonwealth's interests have been adequately protected within this context.