This report complements the Interim Report on Key Financial Controls of Major Entities financial statement audit report published in May 2020. It provides a summary of the final results of the audits of the Consolidated Financial Statements for the Australian Government and the financial statements of Australian Government entities for the period ended 30 June 2020.

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) publishes two reports annually addressing the outcomes of the financial statement audits of Commonwealth entities, and the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Australian Government, to provide Parliament an independent examination of the financial accounting and reporting of public sector entities. This report focuses on the results of the interim audit phase, including an assessment of entities’ key internal controls, of the 2015–16 financial statements audits of 21 departments and other major General Government Sector (GGS) entities. These entities contribute 95 per cent of GGS revenues and expenses.

This report complements the Interim Report on Key Financial Controls of Major Entities financial statement audit report published in June 2018. It provides a summary of the final results of the audits of the Consolidated Financial Statements for the Australian Government and the financial statements of Australian Government entities for the period ended 30 June 2018.

An Audit Committee Chairs Forum was held on Friday, 3 July 2020. The forum was held virtually, keeping in line with COVID-19 social distancing rules.

The forum agenda and slides are available in the related documents sections of this events page. The text on this page is the communique from the forum. 

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education’s (DIISRTE’s) administration of the Education Investment Fund grants program.

(DIISRTE was the department that had responsibility for the administration of the EIF grants program during the course of the audit. The recommendations and suggestions for improvement are, however, directed to the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education because this department now has responsibility for the administration of the program).

The Australian National Audit Office has undertaken a pilot project to assess the status of the Australian Government performance measurement and reporting framework as a basis for implementation of a future program of audits of entities’ key performance indicators, and to develop a suitable audit methodology. This report presents a summary of the work completed to date.

An Audit Committee Chairs Forum was held at the Hotel Realm on Friday, 9 December 2022. The communique from the forum is now available here.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the CPA Forum 2004

An Audit Committee Chairs Forum was held on Friday, 3 December 2021. It was both an in-person and virtual event.

The text on this page is the communique from the forum.

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

Mr Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the lAustralasian Council of Public Accounts Committees Mid-term meeting, Canberra

The audit objective was to assess the adequacy of the Commonwealth's administration of three key components of the Agriculture - Advancing Australia package: the FarmBis II program, the Farm Help program and the Farm Management Deposits scheme. Broadly, the audit examined the areas of strategic management, managing compliance, program promotion, performance monitoring and evaluation, and performance results.

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 general objectives of the audit were to:

• obtain and report quantitative and qualitative benchmarks of performance in the public sector; and
• compare the public sector benchmarks with equivalent international data to identify better practices and highlight opportunities for improvement.

In relation to internal audit, given the three-year duration of the study, these generic objectives have been extended to include an analysis of trends in internal audit over the past three years.

Address by Richard Rundle, Executive Director, Business Assurance Services, at the Security in Government 2002 Conference

This report outlines the ANAO’s assessment of the internal controls of major entities, including governance arrangements, information systems and control procedures. The findings summarised in this report are the results of the interim phase  of the financial statement audits of 23 major General Government Sector entities that represent some 95 per cent of total General Government Sector revenues and expenses.

An Audit Committee Chairs Forum was held on Friday 12 July 2024. The text on this page is the communique from the forum.

An Audit Committee Chairs Forum was held on Friday 14 July 2023. The communique from the forum is now available here.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of Regional Australia’s management of the design and implementation of the first application round of the RDAF program.

The establishment of a new infrastructure program to fund projects identified by Regional Development Australia committees in regional areas was one of the initiatives established to deliver on the Government's September 2010 agreement with the Independent Members for Lyne and New England. The program was to fund projects that support the infrastructure needs and economic and community growth of Australia’s regions.

The Auditor-General responded on 29 April 2019 to correspondence from the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, the Hon David Littleproud MP, dated 23 April 2019, requesting that the audit of purchases of environmental water by the Commonwealth, and on behalf of the Commonwealth, currently listed as a potential audit be brought forward and expanded. 

The aim of Audit Lessons is to communicate lessons from our audit work and to make it easier for people working within the Australian public sector to apply those lessons.

This edition is targeted at security, information communications technology (ICT) and human resources officials responsible for managing ICT system access and the offboarding process for employees and contractors separating from an entity.

An Audit Committee Chairs Forum was held virtually on Friday, 15 July 2022. The text on this page is the communique from the forum.

The audit objective was to examine the effectiveness of the department's establishment of the P21 element of the BER program. The focus of the audit was on: the establishment of administrative arrangements for BER P21 in accordance with government policy; the assessment and approval of funding allocations; and the arrangements to monitor and report BER P21 progress and achievement of broader program outcomes. An examination of individual BER P21 projects was outside the scope of the audit.

The objectives of the follow-up audit were to assess DFAT's implementation of the six recommendations made by the ANAO in the previous audit. It also sought to determine whether implementation of these recommendations, or alternative action, had improved DFAT's administration of consular services. The audit focused on management processes and supporting systems for the delivery of consular services. It also reviewed DFAT's implementation of recommendations of the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee that were outstanding from the previous audit.

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.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to The Joint Committee of Public Accounts

The Audit Committee Chairs Forum is a joint initiative of the Department of Finance and the ANAO and includes the general government and non-general government sector Audit Committee Chairs. This communique covers the outcomes of the discussion at the forum on 15 June 2018 including updates from the Auditor-General and the ANAO, and from the Department of Finance.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the 2nd Annual New Directions in Australian Auditing Accounting Standards Conference

This audit would assess the effectiveness of the implementation of the APS Strategic Commissioning Framework by the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) and a selection of Australian Government entities.

The APSC issued the APS Strategic Commissioning Framework in October 2023. It is intended to strengthen APS capability through reduced reliance on contractors and consultants for core work. Under the framework, certain core functions must be done by the APS and must not be outsourced to an external workforce. At an APS-wide level these include: developing cabinet submissions; drafting legislation and regulation; leading policy formulation; and roles on an agency’s executive team. Other core functions should be brought back in-house: procurement; contract management; cost benefit analyses; grant administration; and program delivery.

The framework initially applies to all entities that employ staff under the Public Service Act 1999, but the APSC encourages all Australian Government entities to follow the framework. Entities are guided by the framework’s seven principles: start with rigorous planning; APS employment is the default; use APS networks first; use external support in limited circumstances; maximise the benefits and minimise the risk of any external arrangements; apply merit when converting roles; and monitoring and accountability. The APSC received $4.8 million in additional funding in 2024–25 to update and enhance the APS Employment Database to provide improved insights into the APS workforce.

The objective of the audit was to assess whether Customs has implemented effective measures to control IUU fishing in the Southern Ocean. The audit examined Customs' management and coordination of enforcement operations in the Southern Ocean, with particular emphasis on:

• the approach to assessing and reporting SOMPR program performance, and whether outcomes are being met;
• coordination with other stakeholder agencies to meet program outcomes;
• the operational planning framework, management of human and physical resources and contract management; and
• the management of the deployment and operation of program maritime assets.