Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at a Laboratory for Politicians and Top Managers from Different Public Institutions in Europe

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, Address to University of Canberra Students - Graduate Certificate in Performance Audit

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to the Senior Staff of the Board of Audit - Tokyo, Japan

The objective of the audit was to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of the management of the Family Relationships Services Program (FRSP) by the Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS) subsequent to that department becoming responsible for the administration of the Program in December 1998. The audit focussed on issues related to Program risk management, the development and management of contractual agreements and whether the performance management and reporting framework enabled an assessment of service provider performance and overall program outcomes.

The Audit Activity Report: July-December 2002 summarises performance audit, financial audit and other related activities for the ANAO for the period. The key issues arising from the performance audits are summarised against the ANAO themes. The appendices in the report provide a short summary of each of the audits tabled for this period, the audits in progress as at 1 January 2003 and a list of the presentations and papers given by the Auditor-General and ANAO staff.

The objective of the audit was to examine the effectiveness of Centrelink's approach to investigating and responding to external fraud. The ANAO's assessment was based on four key criteria. In particular, the ANAO assessed whether Centrelink:

• had established a management framework, business systems and guidelines, that support the investigation, prosecution and reporting of fraud;
• had implemented appropriate case selection strategies and controls to ensure resources are targeted to the cases of highest priority;
• complied with relevant external and internal requirements when investigating fraud and referring cases for consideration of prosecution; and
• had implemented an effective training program that supports high quality investigations and prosecution referrals.

The objective of the audit was to examine and report on the key management factors that assist in ensuring value for money in learning and development.

The audit reviewed the fraud control arrangements in the Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS), a policy formulation, and advising body and major purchaser of social welfare services from Centrelink. The objective was to assess whether FaCS had:

• implemented appropriate fraud control arrangements in line with the Fraud Control Policy of the Commonwealth and that these arrangements operated effectively in practice; and
• fulfilled its responsibilities as a purchaser of services in relation to fraud control.

This audit is one in a series of fraud control audit and is complemented by a similar audit of Centrelink, a major provider of services on behalf of FaCS.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, Sydney, 30 Sept

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ and the Department of Defence’s administration of the Australian Government’s $55 million support package announced in the May 2010 Budget for former F-111 fuel tank maintenance workers and their families. The audit examined the implementation of the 14 agreed recommendations in the Government Response to the 2009 Parliamentary Inquiry into the F-111 deseal/reseal issues, which formed the basis of the May 2010, F-111 support package.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Australian Government Solicitor Seminar

Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to the Australian Institute of Company Directors, in conjunction with the Institute of Internal Auditors Australia

The objectives of this performance audit were to provide assurance that there were effective measures in place to safeguard the national collections and that institutions had processes in place to provide access to them. The ANAO also examined the extent to which the national cultural institutions have implemented the eleven recommendations from the previous report, Safeguarding Our National Collections (Audit Report No.8 1998-99).

The objective of the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) was to examine how the ATO manages its responsibilities under the Taxpayers' Charter as an important element of its performance. This involved an examination of the ATO's: systems and processes used to develop, maintain and update the Charter; strategic commitment to implementing the principles of the Charter; integration of Charter principles with its business processes; and monitoring and reporting of its performance against commitments in the Charter.

The Department of Defence spends some $2.4 billion a year on major equipment acquisition projects. The audit objective was to assess Defence's arrangements for higher-level management of major equipment acquisition projects. The principal aim was to formulate practical recommendations that would both enhance Defence's management of major acquisition projects and provide a degree of assurance about its ongoing apparent capacity to do so efficiently and effectively.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AO) - Auditor-General for Australia, Opening Address to the inaugural conference of the Risk Management Institution of Australasia - Bringing Risk Management Together - What the Future Holds

The objective of the audit was to assess how effectively Geoscience Australia provides geoscientific and geospatial information and services to assist the Australian Government and key stakeholders. Particular emphasis was given to:

• the collection and management of geoscientific and geospatial data and information, including accessibility;
• the provision of products and services; and
• governance arrangements.

The ANAO examined a number of datasets and product and service projects to assess Geoscience Australia's performance in providing geoscientific and geospatial information and services.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of DHS' management of the tender process for a replacement BasicsCard to support the delivery of the income management scheme.

In conducting the audit, the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) assessed the following five key areas of the replacement BasicsCard procurement process, which are described in the Department of Finance and Deregulation's (Finance) Guidance on the Mandatory Procurement Procedures :

• planning for the procurement;
• preparing to approach the market;
• approaching the market;
• evaluating tender submissions; and
• concluding the procurement, including contract negotiation.

The objective of the audit was to assess the Child Support Agency's effectiveness in managing the implementation of the Building a Better Child Support Agency program.

The audit reviewed the management of unscheduled absence in 74 APS agencies. The objective of the audit was to assess the extent and cost of unscheduled absence in the APS; to examine whether unscheduled absence in the APS was being managed efficiently and effectively; and to identify opportunities for improvement.

The purpose of the audit was to examine how efficiently and effectively the ATO managed its collection of outstanding tax debt. A framework for analysing the ATO's approach to collecting outstanding debt was established by the ANAO. This framework reflected five key criteria in the collection process as they apply to managing outstanding debt, namely:

• initiatives to promote timely payment;
• identification of outstanding debt;
• setting priorities for collecting outstanding debt;
• management of collection practices; and
• collection results.

The objective of the audit was to examine the application of the Australian Taxation Office's Compliance Effectiveness Methodology in evaluating the effectiveness of key compliance activities and shaping the development of strategies to promote voluntary compliance.

The objective of the audit was to report to Parliament on the progress Defence has made since June 2001 in implementing appropriate strategies for recruiting, developing and retaining skilled IT personnel. The audit focused on management of specialist information system skills and did not examine skills needed by users of information systems, although the latter is of obvious importance for overall performance. In June 2001, the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA), after reviewing the ANAO's Audit Report No. 11 Knowledge System Equipment Acquisition Projects in Defence, commented that its major concern about Defence's ability to develop a knowledge edge with adequate coherence, centred on Defence's ability to recruit, develop and retain skilled individuals needed in all parts of the DIE. The JCPAA recommended that the ANAO conduct an audit of Defence's strategies for recruiting, developing and retaining skilled IT personnel.

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 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 objective of the audit was to express an opinion on the effectiveness of HOP management having regard to: compliance with applicable Australian Government policies; compliance with internal guidelines to assist loans officers to assess applications and manage loans; and programme performance reporting.

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

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).

Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the National Archives of Australia Seminar, Parliament House, Canberra

The objective of the audit was to determine the extent to which the new employment services market had been implemented effectively and efficiently in accordance with announced Government policy and timeframe.