The main objectives of the audit were to assess the management and administration of protective security across Commonwealth agencies and to identify, recommend and report better practice in security management. Particular attention was paid to:

• compliance with Government policy, standards and guidelines;
• the role of management in protective security; and
• the operation of security systems and practices.

The audit criteria and procedures to assess the management and administration of the individual organisations examined were largely based on the overall control framework of an organisation and the guidance provided in the current Commonwealth Protective Security Manual.

The audit objective was to review the effectiveness of the Department of Defence’s (Defence) arrangements for delivering selected non-platform sustainment.

The objective of the audit was to assess whether the Department of Defence’s Projects of Concern regime is effective in managing the recovery of underperforming projects.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the administration of tobacco excise and excise equivalent goods.

The Age Pension is a social security income support payment available to Australian residents and eligible Australians residing overseas who have reached Age Pension age and whose income and assets are under certain limits. In 1999-2000, approximately $14 billion was paid to approximately 1.7 million Age Pension recipients. Payment of Age Pension is made under the Social Security Law and in accordance with the Guide to the Social Security Law prepared by the Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS). FaCS has contracted Centrelink under a Business Partnership Agreement (BPA) to administer the payment of Age Pension to eligible customers. The objective of the audit was to assess the extent to which new claims for Age Pension had been assessed in compliance with the legislation and other relevant guidelines developed by Centrelink, and whether Centrelink employed appropriate mechanisms to help ensure such compliance. In particular, the ANAO sought evidence with respect to: payment at the right rate, from the right date, to the right person with the right product, for new claims assessed during the audit sample period (that is, in accordance with the working definition of accuracy within Centrelink); the accuracy of Centrelink?s own reporting on compliance, as reported to FaCS under the BPA; and the application of appropriate mechanisms to help ensure such compliance.

The Audit reviewed the Commercial Support Program (CSP) within the Department of Defence. The CSP was introduced in 1991 following a review of the report, The Defence Force and the Community. Its objective is to achieve best value for money in the acquisition of support services for the Department of Defence and to give the private sector an opportunity to participate in the provision of those support services. The objective of this audit was to assess whether CSP was meeting its objectives and to identify any areas where it may be possible to improve the timeliness, and therefore cost-effectiveness, with which CSP is implemented and the quality of the process itself to produce better outcomes.

The Auditor-General responded on 26 April 2016 to correspondence from Mr Pat Conroy MP on 16 February 2016 regarding the government advertising campaign Welcome to the Ideas Boom.

The audit reviewed the application by the Department of Finance and the portfolio departments of the 1993 Accountability and Ministerial Oversight Arrangements for Government Business Enterprises and any statutory monitoring and reporting requirements applying to the selected GBEs provided under their own establishing legislation. The objectives of the audit were to examine:

• the effectiveness of the GBE monitoring arrangements in providing appropriate performance information to the Government;
• the extent to which agencies and the selected GBEs comply with the monitoring arrangements and legislative requirements; and
• whether the GBE monitoring system provides an effective level of accountability to Ministers and to the Parliament.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's processes for the prudential regulation of superannuation entities.

The objective of the audit was to assess the framework and systems that DHAC has in place to prevent, control, monitor, detect and investigate fraud. The ANAO concluded that DHAC had taken appropriate steps to protect Commonwealth resources under its administration from fraudulent misappropriation by developing a sound fraud control framework, the effectiveness of which is illustrated by the relatively low incidence of reported fraud in the department over the last few years. The framework also includes key elements for preventing and dealing with fraud in line with the Commonwealth's Fraud Control Policy.

The audit objective was to assess whether Department of Health and Aged Care effectively developed and monitored suicide prevention measures.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Health's strategies for managing a communicable disease emergency.

The audit objective was to assess whether the Australian Government has established an appropriate framework for responding to crises.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Health’s administration of the Community Health and Hospitals Program.

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation's workforce planning to support key activities.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Finance’s and selected entities’ implementation of the Australian Government’s campaign advertising framework.

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the administration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation targets in intergovernmental funding agreements in achieving policy objectives.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the operations of the boards of four corporate Commonwealth entities in managing conflicts of interest.

The audit objective was to examine whether the selected entities have implemented a selection of agreed parliamentary committee and Auditor-General recommendations.

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the framework in place to have a regulatory Ministerial Statement of Expectations and a responding Statement of Intent in place.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the NDIS Commission in exercising its regulatory functions.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of the Treasury’s design and implementation of the Measuring What Matters framework.

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.

This edition of Audit Insights is targeted at Australian Government officials who have responsibility for the management and reporting of executive remuneration. The aim of Audit Insights is to communicate lessons from our audit work to make it easier for people working within the Australian public sector to apply those lessons. It is drawn from audit reports tabled between 2019–20 and 2022–23.

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Home Affairs’ administration and regulation of critical infrastructure protection policy.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Australian Digital Health Agency’s (ADHA) procurement relating to My Health Record system infrastructure.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the management of cyber security risks by three government business enterprises or corporate Commonwealth entities. The entities selected for audit are ASC Pty Ltd, the Australian Postal Corporation and the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The objective of the audit was to assess whether the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) had complied with gifts, benefits and hospitality requirements.

The objective of the audit was to assess the arrangements established by the Department of Education and Training to monitor the impact of Australian Government school funding.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Defence's planning and administrative arrangements to support the provision of emergency Defence Assistance to the Civil Community (DACC).