The purpose of the Australian National Audit Office is to support accountability and transparency in the Australian Government sector through independent reporting to the Parliament, and thereby contribute to improved public sector performance.

The ANAO adopts a range of communication practices to strengthen the impact of its work and facilitate the sharing of audit insights. Communication practices had included the publication of better practice guides on aspects of Commonwealth administration, for the information of Australian Government entities.

The independent Review of Whole-of-Government Internal Regulation recommended that the ANAO take the opportunity to review whether there is a continuing need to develop and maintain separate guidance, where regulators and policy owners have developed or are developing policy guidance material. The ANAO consulted the Australian Parliament and public sector entities, including audit committees within these entities, about the future of better practice guides. The feedback received was that where another entity has produced, or will produce, a similar resource and has committed to continue to do so, the ANAO could add more value by monitoring the effectiveness of this resource. On this basis, the ANAO decided to discontinue and cease distribution of a range of better practice guides from 1 July 2017. Refer to our previously published message from July 2017 (below) for more information about the guides that were removed at this time.

It was also determined in July 2017 that the ANAO would retain three guides and withdraw three guides following a transition period:

Since July 2017, the ANAO has continued to work with policy owners as they have developed or revised their guidance material in relation to the six remaining guides.

In April 2018 we sought feedback from the accountable authorities of policy-owning entities on our intention to withdraw the six remaining guides. All relevant entities supported the removal of the guides, although the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet raised that the outcome of the work being conducted by the APS Reform Committee may lead to new guidance which supersedes the Successful Implementation of Policy Initiatives guide.

In May 2018 the Auditor-General wrote to the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA) seeking the Committee’s feedback on the proposal to withdraw the remaining better practice guides. The Committee advised:

the JCPAA has no overall objection to the withdrawal of the Better Practice Guides from the ANAO website. We note the ANAO’s commitment to continue to monitor the effectiveness of the replacement guidance material, as appropriate, under its audit program. We further appreciate that the ANAO’s Audit Insights now provide information on audit issues and examples of good practice, as identified through financial statement and performance audit work, by way of shared learnings for all Commonwealth entities.

Considering the feedback from the JCPAA and policy-owning entities’ support, the remaining guides have now been removed from the ANAO website:

• Successful Implementation of Policy Initiatives
• Public Sector Audit Committees
• Public Sector Governance
• Public Sector Financial Statements
• Developing and Managing Contracts
• Administering Regulation

In 2017-18 the ANAO developed audit insights, a new product which identifies and discusses common recurring issues, shortcomings and good practice examples, identified through our financial statement and performance audit work. The objective of audit insights is consistent with the objective of better practice guides: improved public sector administration.

The ANAO will continue to monitor the effectiveness of guidance material, as appropriate, under our audit program.

If you require access to the withdrawn better practice guides listed above, you can find them through the National Library of Australia’s Australian Government Web Archive.

The objective of this follow-up audit was to provide assurance to the Parliament on the cost-effectiveness of public sector travel by:

• ascertaining the degree of acceptance, and the extent of implementation, of the previous audit recommendations and better practice principles; and
• establishing whether organisations were managing travel effectively, taking into consideration recommendations and findings detailed in the above Audit Reports and the Better Practice Guide Public Sector Travel.

The objectives of the audit were to: examine the efficiency and administrative effectiveness of grant programs administered in the APS; and identify any specific problem areas and evidence of better practice in both program administration and agency guidelines not already included in the ANAO's 1994 Better Practice Guide on the Administration of Grants. The ANAO also sought to incorporate in the revision of the better practice guide the lessons learned through the audit to help ensure its continued relevance in public sector administration at all levels of government.

Mr Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the CPA Australia 2013 International Public Sector Convention

The primary objective of this audit was to review the management and administration of travel undertaken by public sector employees to determine whether, and to what extent, it complied with approved policies and procedures. The other objective of this audit, as with all across-the-board FCA audits, is to identify, develop and report better practices. The audit dealt with short-term travel by Commonwealth public sector employees on official business.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AO) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the National Institute for Governance Seminar, Canberra

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to the Australian Communications Authority's Business Planning Workshop

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the International Quality & Productivity Centre Seminar

Mr Ian McPhee, PSM - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the CPA Australia, International Public Sector Convention, Melbourne

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association, Old Parliament House, Canberra

Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the CPA Australia Public Sectore Finance and Management Conference

Grant Hehir, Auditor-General for Australia, attended the Institute of Internal Auditors-Australia ‘Public Sector Internal Audit Conference’ on 31 July 2018, and presented an opening keynote session titled Strategic governance of risk: Lessons learnt from public sector audit. The accompanying paper to the speech, which was delivered against a conference theme of ‘internal auditor as a trusted advisor’, is available here.

Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Public Sector Governance Forum of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and The Institute of Internal Auditors - Australia

Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the CPA Australia - CFO Public Sector Lunch

The audit objective was to assess entities’ progress in implementing the corporate planning requirement under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and related PGPA Rule 2014.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to the Central Agency Broker Seminar - Towards a Best Practice Australian Public Service - Hobart

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Joint Launch by the ANAO, the Department of Industry, Science and Tourism and the Management Advisory Board

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to the National Public Sector Accountants Conference; Sydney

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the National Public Sector Accountants Conference, Adelaide

Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Australian Institute of Company Directors Public Sector Governance Conference

The objective of the audit was to assess the selected entities’ progress in implementing the corporate planning requirements under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and related PGPA Rule 2014.

This audit assessed corporate plans for the 2016–17 reporting period, and complements the report published in August 2016 which assessed corporate plans for the 2015–16 reporting period.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to the Australasian Council of Public Accounts Committees (ACPAC)

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Risk Management in the Public Sector Seminar

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the CPA Australia's Government Business Symposium, Melbourne

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the CPA Australia National Public Sector Convention, Perth

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presentation to Macquarie University

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the management of underperformance in the Australian Public Service (APS) and identify opportunities for improvement.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, Address to ANZSOG Students at ANU

The objective of the audit was to assess the compliance by selected Australian Public Service entities with legislation and other relevant requirements relating to staff leave.

The audit objective was to assess how effectively the selected public sector entities manage risk.