A Business Support Process audit of the administration of grants in small to medium organisations was undertaken across six Commonwealth organisations to assess whether agencies had implemented appropriate risk management strategies for grant programs; evaluate whether grants had been administered in accordance with the appropriate legislation, Commonwealth guidance, and other accepted internal controls; and to recommend improvements in the controls and practices relating to grants administration.

The management of Australia's overseas posts has not previously been scrutinised by the ANAO from a performance perspective. This audit is the first in a series planned to examine different aspects of the administration of Australian representation abroad, focusing particularly on DFAT and Austrade, as the agencies responsible for managing almost all overseas posts.

The diversity and complexity of issues at overseas missions of different sizes mean that posts generally cannot be treated as if they were all the same. This audit concentrated on small and medium-sized posts. The findings and conclusions should, therefore, not be regarded as automatically applicable to large posts.

The objectives of the audit were to:

• assist OGIT in the timely identification and correction of any deficiencies in the evaluation process;
• provide advice to the Parliament, the Government and other interested parties on the probity of the evaluation process; and
• test for adherence to legislative and other specified requirements, such as in industry development.

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 Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing, Mr Stephen Smith, wrote to the Auditor-General on 11 March 2002 formally requesting an investigation into certain matters in relation to the 'Co-Location of National General Practice Organisations', a message detailed in the Health Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements 2001-02. The Federal President of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) Limited wrote to the Auditor-General on 11 March 2002, requesting a comprehensive audit of funding decisions by the Minister for Health and Ageing. The Australian National Audit Office has undertaken a preliminary examination of relevant papers relating to the 'GP House' matter. The preliminary examination focussed on whether or not due process was followed in making the decision to transfer funds between Outcomes. The preliminary examination also considered the procedures adopted by the Department of Health and Aged Care in developing the funding proposal, the advisory role played by the Department of Finance and Administration and specific advice provided by both departments to their Ministers. The examination further considered the disclosure of the related budget measure.

The objectives for the audit were to assess the:

• economy, administrative effectiveness, and accountability of DVA's management of the purchase of hospital services from State and Territory governments; and
• strategies adopted by DVA to manage change associated with its purchase of hospital care services from State and Territory governments.

The twin aims were to provide assurance to stakeholders and to identify any area in which improvements could be made to achieve better results.

The objective of the audit was to provide assurance about the Australian Taxation Office's risk management approach and to add value to its administration by analysing the economy, efficiency, administrative effectiveness, equity and accountability of the related processes employed within the organisation. The ANAO reviewed the formal risk management process that the ATO uses to deal with all sources of risk for the organisation.

The objective of the audit was to review the efficiency and administrative effectiveness of the Commercial Compliance Branch's risk management processes and to establish whether the approach provided a sound foundation for the development and application of risk management across the Australian Customs Service. The ANAO also examined the wider risk management context across ACS in order to appreciate how risk management processes in the Branch related to the agency as a whole.

The objective of the audit was to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of Austrade's management of customer services to Australian exporters, with particular reference to:

• performance as a customer-focused organisation;
• achievement of quality customer service through its client service initiatives; and
• measurement and evaluation of its customer service performance.

The objective of the audit was to determine whether:

• councils essentially met their objectives as stated in the IT Acquisition Council Guidelines;
• council members substantially fulfilled their roles and responsibilities, including providing advice regarding relevant government policy; and
• councils add value and assurance in meeting accountability requirements to the acquisition process.

In November 1998, the Minister for Communications wrote to the Auditor-General requesting an assessment of the actual costs of Phase 1 digital conversion for the ABC and SBS, the sources of funds applied and the efficiency with which the funds had been used before the government considered further funding. The purpose of this limited scope performance audit was to assess a range of financial issues associated with the ABC and SBS conversion to digital broadcasting.

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.

The objective of the audit was to form an opinion on the adequacy of the Indigenous Land Corporation's (ILC's) operations and performance in: assisting Aboriginal persons and Torres Strait Islanders to acquire land; and assisting Aboriginal persons and Torres Strait Islanders to manage indigenous-held land; so as to provide economic, environmental, social or cultural benefits for Aboriginal persons and Torres Strait Islanders.

Personnel security, including the security clearance process, is a valuable and essential element of managing the risk inherent in allowing Commonwealth and other personnel access to sensitive information. This audit was designed to review security clearance and vetting policies and practices in a number of Commonwealth organisations and to consider if organisations were managing these processes effectively and efficiently and in accordance with Commonwealth policy, as outlined in the Protective Security Manual.

The audit reviewed the broadcasting planning and licensing operations of the Australian Broadcasting Authority, which is responsible for planning the availability of segments of the broadcasting services bands used by radio and television for analogue and digital broadcasting. The objective was to assess the ABA's management of licence area planning and the subsequent issue of broadcasting licences, focussing on analogue radio planning and identifying improved administrative practices, where possible, together with the main factors that have contributed to the delays to date in achieving the planning timetable.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of Army's management of the move of 1st Brigade to Darwin. The audit criteria directly related to implementation of the project. These criteria addressed planning as well as identification and management of longer-term risks to the success of the project.

The audit reviewed six budget-funded agencies (Australian Customs Service, Australian Taxation Office, Centrelink, Department of Defence, Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, and Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) and two off-budget entities (Airservices Australia and Reserve Bank of Australia). The ANAO also examined the Office for Government Online's (OGO, formerly the Office of Government Information Technology, or OGIT) whole-of-government coordination of the Commonwealth's Year 2000 efforts.

Closing the books processes sometimes referred to as 'month-end or year-end processing' are those processes undertaken by organisations in order to generate periodic financial information. This audit focused on the monthly closing the books processes undertaken at six of the material Commonwealth organisations, in order to provide some generic conclusions on the operation and effectiveness of these periodic processes in the Commonwealth and to identify opportunities for improvement.

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 30 per cent Private Health Insurance Rebate is a financial incentive for individuals to purchase health insurance cover. The rebate provides for a reimbursement or discount of 30 per cent of the cost of private health insurance. It is available to all Australians who are eligible for Medicare and have private health insurance. The objective of the audit was to determine the effectiveness of Commonwealth Government agencies administration of the rebate.

The objectives of the audit was to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of DIMIA's decision-making processes and management systems for delivering the parent and partner aspects of the family stream of the Migration Program.

The family stream of Australia's Migration Program enables the reunion of immediate family members of Australian citizens, permanent residents or eligible New Zealand citizens. It consists of four main categories;

• Partner;
• Child;
• Parent; and
• Other family.

The objective of the audit was to form an opinion on the administrative effectiveness and efficiency of DHAC's processes for planning the Commonwealth's Aged and Community Care program, in particular, on the questions of how well the planning process has contributed to realising the program objectives of achieving an equitable distribution of places between regions, and selecting suitable service providers.

The Australian Diplomatic Communications Network was developed to provide a secure communication and automation capability for domestic offices and overseas posts. The audit focussed on project management of the ADCNET project, and in particular:

• how effectively the ADCNET project was managed;
• how effectively project risks were managed; and
• the extent to which project management processes have established whether ADCNET meets the specifications set by, and the expectations held by, DFAT, as well as any lessons to be learnt for this and other future projects.

The audit assessed the effectiveness of the governance framework for the management of the transition from the existing red meat industry structures to new structures which increased industry's role in self determination and self regulation and minimised the involvement of Government. Matters considered included the effectiveness of:

• planning for the implementation of the new arrangements;
• management of the risks associated with the implementation of the new arrangements;
• management structures used in the transition arrangements; and
• accountability arrangements for ongoing Commonwealth involvement.

The objective of this audit was to assess the administration of internal fraud control arrangements in the ATO and to identify areas with potential for improvement as well as identified better practice. To achieve this objective the ANAO focussed on five key areas. These were:

• the application of the ATO's corporate governance processes to the internal fraud control activities;
• the prevention of internal fraud within the ATO;
• the related use of information technology to minimise fraud risks;
• the detection of internal fraud within the ATO; and
• ATO fraud investigation procedures and practices.

To improve educational outcomes for Indigenous Australians, two main forms of assistance administered by the Commonwealth, namely the Indigenous Education Strategic Initiatives Programme (IESIP) and the Indigenous Education Direct Assistance programmes (IEDA), are currently available. The objective of the audit was to assess whether the department had efficiently and effectively managed the development and implementation of the IESIP agreements for the 2001 to 2004 quadrennium.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) was established on 1 July 1998 as the prudential regulator of banks and other authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs), life insurance companies (including friendly societies), general insurance companies, superannuation funds and retirement savings accounts. ANAO's objectives for this audit were to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of APRA's prudential supervision of banks. Prudential supervision aims to protect depositors by ensuring that financial institutions adopt prudent risk management practices designed to ensure their continuing solvency and liquidity. APRA is a relatively new organisation, established in July 1998 and becoming responsible for prudential supervision of all ADIs from July 1999. ANAO concluded that there are steps APRA can take in a number of areas to improve its supervisory practices, including improving the administration of the ADI supervisory levy; strengthening its risk management approach; and maintaining closer adherence to international standards for prudential supervision issued by the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision. ANAO made five recommendations concerning administration of levies, risk-based supervision and supervision of cross-border banking. APRA agreed, or agreed with qualifications, to all recommendations, as well as agreeing with the overall audit conclusions.

Fedlink was to comprise two elements: a high capacity telecommunications infrastructure (phase 1) and information technology applications which support Internet and Intranet communication, and transactions in a secure environment (phase 2) [which never went ahead]. OGIT sought the services of the ANAO to provide an opinion on the probity of the methodology and procedures applied in the evaluation process for phase 1. Therefore the objectives of this audit were to assist OGIT in the timely identification of any deficiencies in the evaluation of responses from suppliers and options for addressing the deficiencies.

The objectives in auditing the sale were to assess the extent to which the Government's sale objectives were achieved; review the efficiency of the management of the sale process; assess whether the sale arrangements adequately protected the Commonwealth's interests, including minimising ongoing Commonwealth risk; and identify principles of sound administrative practice to facilitate improved arrangements for future trade sales, particularly the later phases of airport sales.

The objectives of the audit were to: assess compliance with the Stevedoring Levy (Collection) Act 1998 and Stevedoring Levy (Imposition) Act 1998 and other relevant legislation; assess the effectiveness of the administrative and financial controls regarding the collection of the Stevedoring Levy by DoTRS and the provision of redundancy payments to eligible employees of stevedoring companies and the management of the funding of those payments by way of borrowings by MIFCo; and review the administrative efficiency of the redundancy payment and Stevedoring Levy collection aspects of the waterfront redundancy scheme.