Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to the PA Congress 1997:'CPAs for Today and Tomorrow', Adelaide

The audit reviewed the Australian Taxation Office's use of audit of individual taxpayers as part of its approach to encouraging taxpayer compliance. The objective of the audit was to examine the use of audit as an element of the compliance management function within the Individuals Non-Business line of the ATO.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Public Seminar Series, Graduate Program in Public Policy, 'Democratic Governance: Improving the Institutions of Accountability', The Australian National University

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 this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the action taken by the Australian Institute of Marine Science in response to the recommendations contained in 'External Funds Generation', Audit Report No.48, 1991-92.

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 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.

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

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

This performance audit is the first property management audit that the ANAO has conducted since the FMA Act came into effect in 1997, with the associated devolution of responsibility to agency heads. The audit included coverage of office accommodation currently leased in Australia from the private sector. This office accommodation was housing the functions and activities of clerical, technical or professional staff, including conference and meeting rooms and ministerial suites but excluding basements, car parks, theatrettes, and cafeterias.

The objectives of this audit were to assess the progress of the M113 Armoured Personnel Carrier Upgrade Project against stated schedule, cost and technical performance objectives; and Defence Materiel Organisation's (DMO's) progress in implementing the recommendations and addressing the findings of ANAO Audit Report No. 3 2005–06, Management of the M113 Armoured Personnel Carrier Upgrade Project.

In late 1996, the Government announced its commitment to establish new facilities for the National Museum of Australia and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies on Acton Peninsula in Canberra. The objectives of the audit were to examine the project's compliance with the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines for the procurement of public works and effectiveness of the project's management.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Australian Taxation Office’s administration of debt relief arrangements.

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) administration of the veterans’ children education schemes.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s administration of the Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy. The ANAO examined whether the department had established effective:

• administrative and governance arrangements to support NAQS;
• processes for identifying biosecurity risks and conducting scientific activities to address identified risks;
• arrangements for managing the quarantine aspects of Torres Strait border movements; and
• public awareness activities that reflect identified biosecurity risks and support the program’s objectives.

The Service Chiefs of Navy, Army and Air Force are accountable to the Chief of the Defence Force for the way that equipment is used by their Service. They are also accountable for the safety, fitness for service and environmental compliance of the equipment. The audit report deals with the way that the Service Chiefs are assured of the safety and suitability for service of the Australian Defence Force's (ADF's) ordnance systems. Ordnance systems include munitions such as missiles, shells and mines, and the auxiliary material necessary to aim, launch and guide munitions.

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

The objective of the follow up audit was to assess the extent to which Customs has implemented seven of the previous audit's recommendations; the two recommendations relating to strategic and tactical taskings and dissemination of intelligence will be considered in the context of the planned performance audit of Illegal Foreign Fishing in Australia's Northern Waters.

In the light of the concerns raised by the Leader of the Opposition and some other Members of Parliament about the allocation of financial assistance approved under the NHT, it was decided to undertake preliminary inquiries. The inquiries focussed on the transparency and rigour of the decision-making process for projects approved for NHT funding.

This is a follow-up audit to Audit Report No.7, 1993-94 titled Department of Social Security: Data-matching. It reports upon the effectiveness of the DSS actions in response to the recommendations of the original 1993-94 audit. In noting the considerable progress made by the Department against the original audit recommendations, the ANAO considers that several recommendations have yet to be fully addressed. These are covered in this report and include reducing the variability in review results across offices, enhancing the TFN registration process, and validating savings assumptions.

The focus of this audit was to ascertain how the Family Court had spent Justice Statement monies and to form an opinion on the current and projected financial position of the Court. The ANAO undertook the review of the Family Court in a two-stage process. The first stage, the findings of which appear in this report, to allow consideration in the Budget context, was undertaken as a project audit and had the objective of addressing the issues of immediate concern to the Attorney-General.

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

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Tax Office's administration of the PRRT. The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) identified four key areas for review: general administration; compliance; promoting certainty in administering the PRRT; and governance arrangements.

Special Benefit is a social security income support payment for people who are unable to support themselves or their dependents, and who are not otherwise entitled to any other income support payment. Its objective is to ensure that such people have adequate levels of income. The objective of the audit was to assess the extent to which new claims for Special Benefit had been determined in compliance with the Social Security Act, the Guide to the Act and other relevant guidelines, and whether Centrelink and FaCS had appropriate procedures to help ensure such compliance.

The objective of the audit was to assess the ATO's administration of the Surcharge. Specifically, the audit sought to: report on the environment into which the Surcharge was introduced, including the legislative intent behind the Surcharge, and the current Surcharge environment; examine and report on aspects of Surcharge governance; assess the systems, processes and controls the ATO uses to: match Member Contributions Statements (MCS) data with income tax return data using Tax File Numbers (TFNs); process Surcharge information; and issue Surcharge liability assessments. assess the mechanisms the ATO uses to assess, classify, manage and rectify existing Surcharge exceptions, and prevent future exceptions from occurring; and examine the mechanisms and strategies the ATO uses to provide assurance that members and holders of contributions are complying with their Surcharge obligations.

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).

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.

Mr Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to the Institute of Public Administration Australia, ACT Division

The Navy Operational Readiness audit examined the systems that Navy uses to manage readiness and concludes coverage of Navy: readiness organisation and management structures (as well as the interface between these systems and Defence enabling operations); management and maintenance of operational readiness (covering personnel, collective training and other components of operational readiness); and readiness performance information processes. The objective of the audit was to provide assurance to Parliament concerning the progress that Navy has made in the development of operational readiness management and evaluation systems and to identify areas for improvement in these systems.

The objectives of this audit were to improve: the accountability of the Australian Taxation Office to Parliament and the Government by the provision of advice that follows up on the ATO's implementation of the previous ANAO Report; and on the recommendations of the then Joint Committee of Public Accounts arising from its consideration of that Report and the efficiency, effectiveness and equity of debt collection by the ATO.

The audit objectives were to report on the implementation status of the parliamentary resolutions and other actions arising out of the six recommendations made in the final PSC Report, Review by the Parliamentary Service Commissioner of Aspects of the Administration of the Parliament. The audit also broadly examined the impact of implementation of the parliamentary resolutions on aspects of: the level of services provided to the Parliament generally following amalgamation of the three former parliamentary departments into the Department of Parliamentary Services; and accommodation space within Parliament House. The designated audit agency was the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS).

The objective of the audit was to assess DIMIA's management of offshore measures to prevent and detect unlawful entry, and to identify opportunities for improvement. The audit did not cover the processing arrangements, referred to as the Pacific Strategy, introduced as part of the legislative changes in September 2001. Nor did it cover the range of measures use for prevention and detection at the border and on shore. As DIMIA is the lead agency responsible for the development of immigration policy, the audit focussed in the administrative effectiveness of the governance framework used by the department to implement and to support the achievement of Government strategies to prevent unlawful entry to Australian Territory.

Following on from the 2002 audit, the ANAO decided to conduct an audit of trust monies in entities operating under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (CAC Act). The objectives of the current audit were to: · assess whether the selected entities were managing trust monies in accordance with legal and administrative requirements and better practice principles; · identify better practice in the management of trust monies; and · as necessary, recommend improvements in the controls and practices relating to the management of trust monies.

The objective of the audit was to examine the quality and integrity of DVA's income support records and to report on the effectiveness of the department's management of the data and how it impacts on service delivery.

The audit reviewed the planning and management of the Australian Defence Force deployments to East Timor, including the support of those deployments. The audit focused on planning for the deployments and the role of Australia as the lead nation in the International Force in East Timor (INTERFET); and financial, personnel, logistic and other systems used to deploy and sustain Australia's military presence in East Timor.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of DIMIA's management of its detention agreements with ACM to operate Australia's mainland immigration detention centres. In particular, the ANAO examined: DIMIA's strategic approach to the management and coordination of the contract; how DIMIA defined the services to be delivered by ACM; the systems in place to monitor and report against contract performance; the effectiveness of controls over contract payment arrangements; and DIMIA's management of infrastructure through the detention agreements.

The audit was conducted in response to a November 2000 resolution of the Senate that the Auditor-General examine all expenditures and entitlements accruing to Parliamentarians in 1999-2000. The objectives of the audit were to:

• provide assurance to the Parliament regarding the administration by Finance, the chamber departments and the portfolio departments of all expenditures and entitlements accruing to Parliamentarians, including Ministers, in 1999-2000;
• assess the administrative and control structures governing expenditures and entitlements accruing to Parliamentarians and Ministers in 1999-2000; and
• identify opportunities to improve the current framework.

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Parliamentary Budget Office in conducting its role since being established in July 2012.

The objective of the audit was to assess whether the WHM programme is administered effectively and in accordance with relevant laws and policies. In particular, the ANAO focused on four key areas: the implementation of eWHM visa; authority for the WHM programme; decision-making for WHM visas; and programme performance information. A feature of the audit was the computer-aided scrutiny of over 300 000 visa application records to test DIMA's decision-making processes.

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 audit covered major program elements within the Department of Primary Industries and Energy and Environment Australia that are managed:

• directly by DPIE or Environment Australia;
• through the One-Stop-Shop project assessment process administered by the States/Territories; or
• by non-government organisations.

The purpose of the audit was to examine and benchmark the administrative processes established for these programs. The primary focus of the audit was to draw on the best elements of past practice (particularly in relation to programs involving the One-Stop-Shop) and highlight any shortcomings so that the risks to program effectiveness and accountability could be addressed in the implementation of the Natural Heritage Trust.

The objective of the preliminary study was to form a view regarding the quality of, and controls over, the Budget estimates and to inform the decision whether to proceed to a full performance audit at this time. On the basis of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the budget process undertaken during the study, the ANAO concluded that there are no apparent systemic problems in the cash-based estimating processes in the agencies reviewed that would, in themselves, lead to material statistical inaccuracies in the Budget's projected outcomes. The ANAO decided not to proceed with a full performance audit at this time.

The Australian Political Parties for Democracy Programme is administered by Finance. The programme aims to strengthen democracy internationally by providing support for the international activities of Australia's major political parties. Funding of up to $1 million is provided annually under the programme to each of the Australian Labor Party and to the Liberal Party of Australia. Guidelines for the programme provide for the parties to re-apply for funding each year and set out the criteria against which applications for funding are assessed. The proposed audit would examine the administration of the program by Finance, including the adequacy of assessment of acquittal documentation and requests to roll over funding.

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.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the 'Ensuring Accountability and Ethics with Corporate Governance in the Public Sector' - IIR Conference, Canberra

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 sale of leases for the 14 Phase 2 Federal airports was completed by 30 June 1998, in accordance with the Government's timetable. This represented a significant achievement given that it constituted the largest completed airport trade sales program in the world to that date and achieved the Government's sales objectives.

The report summarises the audit and other related activities of the ANAO in the period July to December 2001. Key issues arising from performance audits tabled in this period are summarised.

The objective of this audit was to assess and report on the progress being made by Government agencies in achieving better practice in green office procurement and sustainable office management. The scope of the audit included agencies incorporated under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 as well as a sample of bodies incorporated under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997. Sixty-three agencies were included in an audit survey. Detailed validation was carried out in nine of these agencies.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Tribunals' management of their operations. To this end, the audit examined whether the MRT and the RRT:

• have achieved intended operational efficiencies from the introduction of common facilities, services and resourcing;
• have established appropriate arrangements for governance, business planning and guidance of Members and staff, and for performance monitoring and reporting of Tribunal operations;
• finalise cases within Tribunal time and productivity standards; and
• provide applicants with services in accordance with service standards.

The audit covered Tribunal operations for review of visa decisions. The correctness of individual decisions was not assessed as part of the audit.

The audit focused particularly on developments in the Tribunals' management performance in the four year period from 2001–02 to 2004–05.

The audit assessed whether Centrelink effectively manages customer debt, excluding debt relating to Family Tax Benefit, consistently across its network, ensuring integrity of payments made on behalf of the Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS). The audit assessed five components of Centrelink's debt management processes, including administration, prevention, identification, raising and recovery.

The objective of the audit was to assess the extent to which the Department of the Treasury and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have improved the management of tax expenditure estimates by implementing the six recommendations in the 2008 ANAO audit and the three recommendations made by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA) following its inquiry.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, Address to University of Canberra students participating in the Graduate Certificate in Performance Auditing

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs management of complaints and other feedback to support service delivery. The audit criteria were that DVA has:

• a well-designed framework for managing complaints and other feedback;
• effective processes and practices to manage complaints; and
• appropriately analysed complaints to inform service delivery.

The audit objective was to assess how well agencies manage their websites. Particular attention was given to the audited agencies' website purposes, risk management and planning, policies, content management procedures, and performance monitoring and reporting. These elements provide the framework for the design, implementation and operation of websites.

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 form an opinion and report on the efficiency, economy and administrative effectiveness of the management of the investigation and recovery of the proceeds of crime. The audit examined a sample of cases of serious crime investigated by the NCA and the AFP and prosecuted by the DPP.

The second audit, which is the subject of this report, is a broader and more in-depth cross-portfolio audit. Its objective was to assess:

• the planning and delivery of capital works projects by proponent agencies;
• the extent to which projects have delivered on what was intended; and
• the extent to which proponent agencies have complied with the requirements of the Public Works Committee Act 1969 and approved procedures.

Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Queensland Regional Heads Forum

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of ASIO’s arrangements for providing timely and soundly based security assessments of individuals to client agencies.