The objective of the audit were to assess the extent to which agencies' performance management systems, strategies and plans are consistent with the strategic framework set out in the Managment Advisory Committee Report; provide assurance that the administration of performance managment is being implemented efficiently and effectively in accordance with better practice principles; provide assurance that performance linked remuneration reported in anual reports complies with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Requirements for Annual Reports; and quantify the cost of performance linked remuneration, both performance bonuses and performance linked advancements (salary increments), across the APS.

The objectives of the audit were to: assess the extent to which the Government's sale objectives were achieved; assess the effectiveness of the management of the public share offer; and identify principles of sound administrative practice to facilitate improved administrative arrangements for future Commonwealth public share offers.

Since 2000, there has been a requirement under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) for Commonwealth agencies to report annually on their environmental performance as well as their contribution to Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD). The audit objective was to examine and report on the quality of Commonwealth agencies' annual reports on ESD and environment performance. The audit reviewed current practice in light of legal requirements, and provided examples of better practice.

The primary objective of the audit was to assess FaCS' management of the Internet portals for which it had responsibility as lead agency, www.youth.gov.au, www.community.gov.au, and www.families.gov.au. The ANAO also included in the audit a website directed towards youth. The source which provided many of the services expected of a portal. The audit considered governance structures for the portals; measurement of efficiency and effectiveness; and control factors, such as change management,security, and legal issues.

The audit reviewed the sales of DASFLEET, Works Australia and DAS Interiors Australia. Separate audit reports have been produced for each of the sales. This report focuses on the management of the overall sale processes for all business units.

The objective of the audit was to evaluate the policies and practices of selected organisations to determine whether they had established sound arrangements for, and maintained effective control over, the administration of security incidents and investigations.

The objective of the follow-up audit was to assess how well the ATO has implemented the recommendations of Audit Report No.3 of 2001-2002, The Australian Taxation Ofiice's Administration of Taxation Rulings. As part of the audit we also considered the ATO's progress in addressing the JCPAA's suggestions resulting from its review of Report No.3 of 2001-2002.

This audit was a follow-on to Audit Report No.21 1997-98 Protective Security, which reviewed, among other things, information security other than computer and communications security, against the policy and procedures outlined in the 1991 PSM. That audit found inconsistencies in the identification and marking of classified information and weaknesses in the handling and storage of classified information, as well as other breakdowns impacting on information security.

The objective of the audit was to examine the effectiveness of the management and control framework established by the Australian National Training Authority to assist its administration and achievement of its objectives. The ANAO's investigation was limited to an analysis of ANTA's internal administrative framework. The audit work focused on key components of the framework: planning, monitoring, and financial and control frameworks.

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 audit is a follow-up of ANAO Audit Report No.33 of 1997-98, which assessed the effectiveness and efficiency of the Commonwealth's management of the Great Barrier Reef and made seven recommendations for improvement. The objective of the follow-up audit was to assess the extent to which the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, which is responsible for advising the Commonwealth on the care and developement of the Marine Park, has implemented the recommendations of the earlier audit.

The objective of this follow-up audit was to review Centrelink's progress in implementing the findings and recommendation relating to Centrelink's Customer Charter from Audit Report No.32
2004–05, Centrelink's Customer Charter and Community Consultation Program. This audit covers Centrelink's Customer Charter only and does not follow-up on the findings and recommendation on the Community Consultation Program aspect of the 2004–05 audit report.

The objective of this audit was to assess the extent to which PV applications in Australia are processed in accordance with relevant laws and policies, and whether DIMIA employs appropoiate mechanisms to ensure compliance with those laws and policies.

The primary objective of the audit was to assess the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of DoTRD's implementation of Annex 17 in the Australian aviation environment. The ANAO concluded that DoTRD has established a regulatory regime which ensures Australia's compliance with the standards embodied in Annex 17. However, there are areas where Australia's aviation security regime can be strengthened even further including; developing a more robust approach to risk management, developing a longer-term perspective to DoTRD's planning structure, development of proactive alliances with aviation regulators in neighbouring countries in the Asia-Pacific region, further improvement of the airport audit process, development and implementation of an evaluation strategy, development of a formal transparent approach to enforcement.

Members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) have informal and formal complaint mechanisms available to them to address grievances. Initially, members are advised to seek resolution of their complaint at the lowest possible level, through the normal command channels and administrative arrangements. A member who is not satisfied that a complaint has been resolved in this manner may use the Redress of Grievance (ROG) system to submit a formal complaint to the commanding officer of the member's unit. The objective of this audit was to ascertain whether the ROG system could be refined to improve the efficiency and timeliness of processing of complaints while preserving the equity and transparency the current system provides.The Redress of Grievance system is clearly time-consuming and resource intensive. Some grievances have taken as long as four years to resolve. Some could be resolved by administrative means rather than through recourse to grievance processes. The system contains various inefficiencies that detract from its cost-effectiveness from the viewpoint of the ADF and individual members. In addition many members are unaware of the system or do not have a high level of confidence in its effectiveness.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to the Conference on 'Surviving the Year 2000 Computer Crisis' Canberra

The objective of the audit was to evaluate the Department's performance in pursuit of selected PBS program objectives and outcomes, including to investigate and evaluate the economy, efficiency, administrative effectiveness and accountability of the management of the listing process as a significant element of the program. This involved a review of the developments in the listing process over recent years including: the establishment of a comprehensive database of major applications for PBS listing between 1991 and 1996, which facilitated a detailed analysis of the time taken to list drugs on the PBS schedule; a technical consultancy into the DHFS' Guidelines to industry for preparation of applications for PBS listing, and into the use of the economic analysis in assessing proposals for PBS listing; and a review of the selection process including the operations of the PBS advisory committees.

The overall objective of this audit was to assess the management of the physical protection of Australian missions and staff overseas. The high-level criteria for the audit are set out at Appendix 1 of the report.

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 assess whether the APVMA is performing its key regulatory functions effectively. In particular, the audit examined the APVMA's arrangements for:

• planning and overseeing the delivery of regulatory functions;
• registering pesticides and veterinary medicines in a timely manner;
• obtaining external scientific advice to support the registration function;
• monitoring the quality of pesticides and veterinary medicines approved for sale in Australia; and
• administering its cost recovery framework.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Global Working Group Meeting, Wellington, New Zealand

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, address to the ACT Chapter of the Australasian Institute of Risk Management

The objective of this follow-up audit is to assess the Tax Office's progress in implementing the recommendations of Audit Report No.59 2002–03, Administration of Australian Business Number Registrations, having regard to any changed circumstances, or new administrative issues, affecting the implementation of those recommendations.

The ANAO reviewed arrangements for the development of the department's fraud policy, fraud risk assessment and fraud control plan within the core functional areas of the department that are responsible for these activities. The audit also examined the operational procedures and guidelines that were in place to implement the department's fraud policy. The objective of the audit was to assess whether AFFA has implemented appropriate fraud control arrangements in line with the Fraud Control Policy of the Commonwealth and whether these arrangements operate effectively in practice.

The objective of this audit was to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the Commonwealth's management of the Great Barrier Reef as implemented by the Authority. This audit was undertaken because of the environmental significance of the Great Barrier Reef Region; its growing economic importance; recent changes to the Authority's budget arrangements; and because the Authority had not been subject to a performance audit since its establishment approximately 20 years ago.

The objective of the audit was to assess the workforce planning systems used by the Australian Defence Force with a view to identifying better practice and making recommendations where appropriate to promote overall effectiveness of planning systems. The main issues were the management of the workforce planning function and determination of workforce requirements. The audit concentrated on the full-time military workforce, but also included the issue of the flexibility for military units to employ reserves or civilians where appropriate.

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 Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) completed a performance audit of the ATO's use of AUSTRAC data in August 2000, titled The AustralianTaxation Office's Use of AUSTRAC Data, Audit Report No. 7 2000-2001. It found that the ATO had used AUSTRAC data to achieve a significant improvement in the collection of taxation revenue. The ANAO considered that the ATO could build on this success by using AUSTRAC data more effectively at both the strategic and operational levels. The audit made six recommendations. The ATO agreed with all recommendations. The objective of this follow-up performance audit was to assess the ATO's progress in implementing the recommendations of Audit Report No 7 2000-2001, The Australian Taxation Office's Use of AUSTRAC Data.

The objective of the audit was to review AusAID's management of funding to Non-Government Organisations, to assess whether:

• the objectives of overseas development programs to be delivered by NGOs were clearly established;
• funding mechanisms for the delivery of aid programs by NGOs were clearly defined, consistently applied, and in compliance with the law; and
• whether AusAID could provide assurances that NGOs delivering development projects using Commonwealth monies are accountable for: proper expenditure of Commonwealth monies; the achievement of stated objectives; and the achievement of value for money.

The ANAO examined AusAID documentation on overseas development programs delivered by NGOs, looking particularly for clear objectives, performance measures, and evaluation mechanisms. Three levels of documentation were examined:

• government programs;
• grants schemes; and
• individual projects.

The objective of the audit was to examine and report on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of the courts' client service arrangements for family law clients. The audit also assessed the effectiveness of the coordination between the two courts, and of their administration of Primary Dispute Resolution (PDR) services.