The main objectives of the audit were to examine and form an opinion on:

• the efficiency, economy and administrative effectiveness with which the Commonwealth planned and coordinated implementation of the gun buy-back scheme;
• the management of firearms surrender and destruction in the Australian Capital Territory by the Australian Federal Police; and
• the management of the competitive tendering process for the national public education campaign.

Audit criteria were developed which examined program policy and planning, coordination with and payment of funds to the States.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the CPA Australia National Public Sector Convention, Perth

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of DFAT's management of the overseas leased estate. In particular, the audit examined whether DFAT:

• has effective governance, reporting and funding arrangements in place to support the sound management and oversight of the overseas leased estate;
• effectively manages overseas leased chancery and residential property on a day-to-day basis; and
• manages relationships with landlords and attached agencies effectively and adequately consults with stakeholders.

The audit reviewed the productivity and client service of IP Australia, a division of the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, which provides intellectual property rights in respect of patents, trade marks and designs. The objective of the audit was to examine the effectiveness of IP Australia's management of productivity and client service.

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 audit reviewed the policy advising functions of the Departments of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business, and Family and Community Services. The objective of the audit was to determine whether departmental quality management systems for policy advising were appropriate and the advice provided met expected standards for policy outputs.

The audit reviewed the Australian Taxation Office's fraud prevention and contol arrangements in relation to the Goods and Services Tax. The audit objective was to assess whether the ATO has implemented administratively effective GST fraud control arrangements, consistent with the Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines.

The objective of the audit was to examine whether the UP and CPP services provided by the Australian Federal Police Protection Service are being managed effectively. In particular, the audit examined:

• whether the Protection function has been effectively integrated into the AFP, and sound arrangements are in place to strategically plan Protection services and manage risks;
• whether Protection staff have access to appropriate training and guidance; and
• the management arrangements for UP and CPP services.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Tax Office’s administration of the LCT, including aspects of the tax administered by Customs on behalf of the Tax Office.

The objective of the audit was to assess the administrative effectiveness of FaHCSIA's and IBA's management of the HOIL program. In particular, the audit examined the administrative design of the program, its implementation and progress in achieving the expected results.

Mr Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Leadership Development Network Breakfast Seminar

The audit objectives were to establish whether Comcare took an effective leadership role in helping to manage the cost of occupational stress to the Commonwealth; and whether agency management of occupational stress was efficient and effective. The ANAO criteria for the audit focused on how well Comcare understood the impact of occupational stress across APS employment, and supported agencies in their management of the disability. They also dealt with how well agencies understood and measured the impact of stress, and planned for its prevention or minimisation.

The audit examined some key aspects of HRD in relation to Centrelink's Customer Service Officers (CSOs). The objective of the audit was to determine whether Centrelink had appropriate systems and strategies in place to ensure that its CSOs had access to the skills and knowledge necessary to meet expected levels of performance and customer service.

This is the second year of what may be a three-year longitudinal study of the effectiveness and efficiency of all aspects of people management in 13 agencies, covering some 36% of APS employees. The study assessed each people management practice area against four criteria: quality, HR integration, effectiveness & efficiency and business contribution.

The objective of the audit was to ascertain how efficiently and effectively the ATO administers sales tax collections. The audit excluded an examination of the Australian Customs Service's sales tax administration, although it did examine coordination and liaison arrangements between the ATO and ACS. The audit approach involved analysing the ATO's performance against the five elements of the ATO's established compliance improvement process, namely:

• interpreting and clarifying sales tax law;
• identifying and understanding clients and markets (enabling tax officers to identify and analyse risks of non-compliance);
• providing education and information to clients regarding sales tax obligations, based on identified compliance risks;
• implementing administrative arrangements which ensure and/or assist taxpayers to meet their obligations; and
• detecting non-compliance and taking action to remedy instances of non-compliance.

Annual Performance Reporting, No 11 2003-04 The audit reviewed the 2001-02 annual reports of the departments of : Communications, Technology and the Arts; Education, Science and Training; Employment and Workplace Relations; Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs and the Australian Customs Service. The objectives of this audit were to determine whether agencies had: established a sound annual reporting performance information framework; developed arrangements to ensure performance information is accurate and coherent; and appropriately analysed performance information in their annual reports.

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 objective of the audit was to assess the Tax Office's strategies to address tax haven compliance risks. Particular emphasis was given to the Tax Office's:

• management arrangements relating to the administration of tax haven compliance risks;
• risk management framework for the identification and evaluation of compliance risks, specifically the activities of the Offshore Compliance Program (OCP); and
• risk mitigation strategies.

The audit did not include an examination of cases related to the promoters of tax haven related schemes nor the criminal use of tax havens.

The objectives of this audit were to:

• assess the current status of BCM and EM arrangements in Centrelink and identify opportunities for improvement; and
• review Centrelink's response to the recommendations.

The objectives of this audit were to:

• examine whether the appointment of CMAX Communications Pty Ltd as a provider of communications support and advice for the 2020 Summit was consistent with the Commonwealth procurement framework and sound principles of public administration; and
• assess the effectiveness of the administration of the CMAX Communications contract by PM&C.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship's management of the Settlement Grants Program. The ANAO assessed DIAC's performance in terms of how effectively it planned for funding rounds, assessed and allocated grants, monitored and evaluated the program, and managed relationships with its stakeholders. In doing so, the ANAO focused on SGP projects that received funding in the 2007–08.

Consistent with the ANAO's practices, and in response to a request from AusAID, a follow-up audit was conducted in the period May to November 1998 to assess the extent of implementation of the recommendations of a 1996 audit into the Management of Funding to Non-Government Organisations (NGOs)and whether the implementation of recommendations has effectively improved the management of funding to NGOs. The ANAO examined AusAID's key funding accountability documentation, tested the revised accountability arrangements and consulted a number of key stakeholders, including NGO representatives.

The objective of this audit was to form an opinion on the Australian Research Council's (ARC's) management of research grants. To achieve this, ANAO centred the audit around the following aspects of ARC's grants administration: governance and structure, particularly the roles and responsibilities of those parties involved in administering ARC's grants (Chapter 2); the processes for assessing and selecting ARC grants (Chapter 3);post-award management of grants under the Funding Agreements (Agreements) between ARC and those universities that receive and administer the ARC grants to researchers (Chapter 4); and ARC's monitoring of its grant programs for management, performance improvement and reporting (Chapter 5). In its assessment, ANAO considered ARC's compliance with relevant sections of the Australian Research Council Act 2001 (ARC Act) and the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act). The assessment also took account of the ANAO's Better Practice Guides, particularly the Better Practice Guide—Administration of Grants. The audit focused mainly on ARC's administration of Discovery Projects, the largest scheme in ARC's National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP).

The objective of the audit was to form an opinion about DVA's management of the current and future demand for VHC services. To form an opinion, the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) examined whether DVA:effectively planned the distribution of VHC resources; distributed VHC resources according to its planning; and monitored and evaluated how effectively it managed the demand for VHC services. To form an opinion against the audit objective, the ANAO interviewed DVA personnel, examined DVA documents, interviewed personnel at a selection of Agencies, Service Providers and stakeholders, and reviewed relevant literature.

The audit objectives were to assess the appropriateness of the use of confidentiality provisions in Australian Government contracts and whether selected agencies had compiled Internet listings of contracts, as required by the Senate Order and agreed to by the Government.

The audit reviewed the corporate governance framework of the Australian Electoral Commisson (AEC). The objective of the audit was to review whether the AEC's corporate governance framework was sound.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of DIAC’s administration of the character requirements of the Citizenship Act.

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.

Aviation traffic data plays an important role in informing decisions about the safety of the airways system, including such matters as the need for navigation facilities, communication links, air traffic control towers and rescue/fire fighting services. The objective of the limited scope audit was to examine the accuracy of the data on air traffic movements collected by Airservices Australia.

This report is the second in a series of reports to be tabled at six-monthly intervals. It summarises the audit and other activities of the ANAO in the period July to December 1997.