Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at a Lunchtime Seminar, Canberra

This edition of audit insights outlines key messages from Auditor-General reports which have examined the rapid implementation of government initiatives. The focus is on key lessons learned from audits of past activities, which are likely to have wider applicability to the Australian Public Service as it supports the national COVID-19 pandemic response. Topics covered include risk management, governance, resource mobilisation, accountability and program oversight in the context of rapid implementation.

This report complements the interim phase report published in June 2014 (Audit Report No.44 2013–14), and provides a summary of the final audit results of the audits of the financial statements of 251 Australian Government entities, including the Consolidated Financial Statements for the Australian Government.

The ANAO Audit Report No. 51 of 2001/02, Research Project Management, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, assessed the effectiveness of CSIRO in administering research projects to deliver required results. The audit made nine recommendations designed to improve project management in CSIRO. The purpose of this follow-up audit was to assess the extent to which CSIRO has implemented the recommendations of the previous audit and of the JCPAA.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (Canberra Chapter) in conjunction with the Institute of Internal Auditors (Canberra Branch)

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of arrangements for implementing and monitoring the implementation of ANAO performance audit recommendations in the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Human Services.

The objective of this audit is to examine DIAC's implementation of the nine recommendations made in the earlier audit. The audit has also taken into account changed circumstances since the original audit. These include a heightened security environment after 11 September 2001 and the results of other relevant ANAO performance audit and financial statement work. The audit also examined ETA decision-making processes to gain assurance about its robustness in a changing risk environment. This issue came to attention in recent audits of visa management processes.

The campaign aims to promote the role of travel advisories and encourage Australians to use them as a routine part of overseas travel preparation. It seeks to reduce the number of Australians encountering difficulties overseas, and by leading more Australians to use safe travel tools, the campaign aims to improve the Government's ability to be able to communicate with and assist Australians in the event of a consular emergency.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) management of confidential information.

The ATO manages commercially and legally sensitive information as part of its administration of the taxation and superannuation systems. Mobility between the public and private sector presents challenges to entities like the ATO to ensure that confidential information is not compromised. The provisions of the APS Code of Conduct, the Public Service Regulations 1999, the Privacy Act 1988, the Crimes Act 1914 and specific secrecy offences in Commonwealth laws outline the responsibilities of employees and agencies to manage confidential information.

An Audit Committee Chairs Forum was held on Friday 5 December 2025. The text on this page is the communique from the forum.

The campaign's objective is to promote the National Security Hotline (NSH) and remind Australians to be vigilant and report possible signs of terrorism to the NSH.

This edition of Audit Insights is targeted at Australian Government officials who have responsibility for the implementation of cyber security controls or strategy for government systems. The aim 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 in 2019–20, 2020–21 and 2022–23 into management of cyber security risks.

An Audit Committee Chairs Forum was held on Friday 6 December 2024. The text on this page is the communique from the forum.

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.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Forum of Commonwealth Agencies Seminar, Sydney, NSW

An Audit Committee Chairs Forum was held on Friday 4 July 2025. The text on this page is the communique from the forum.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of personnel security arrangements at selected Australian Government organisations, including whether they satisfied the requirements of the PSM.
To address this objective, the audit examined the extent to which the selected organisations implemented the 14 recommendations from the three previous reports.

Following a request from the Minister for Finance in October 2021, the ANAO is expanding the performance statements audit program from three audits to six audits in 2021–22. The ANAO will continue the program of work with Department of Veterans Affairs, the Attorney-General’s Department and the Department of Social Services and will add three new entities, being the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, the Department of Education, Skills and Employment, and the Treasury.

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.

The Auditor-General is assisted by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) in delivering against the mandate established by the Auditor-General Act 1997. Under the Act, the ANAO consists of the Auditor-General and staff.

The audit objective was to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of the Department of Health’s implementation of the recommendations made in the ANAO Report No.25 2014–15 Administration of the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement.

The Auditor-General for Australia is an independent officer of the Parliament with responsibility under the Auditor-General Act 1997 for auditing Commonwealth entities and reporting to the Australian Parliament. The Auditor-General is supported by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO).

The office of Auditor-General is a ten year statutory appointment made by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime Minister. In recognition of the Auditor-General’s status as an officer of the Parliament, the Australian Parliament’s Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA) must approve any proposed recommendation for appointment.

The objective of the current audit was to assess Army's progress in implementing the ANAO recommendations and to examine and assess any developments in relation to AIRN since the 1999?2000 audit report and the 2001 JCPAA report. Army updated AIRN policy in 2001 and 2004, and the ANAO has assessed, where appropriate, the implementation of the 1999?2000 audit recommendations for these two policy reissues.

This edition of audit insights focuses on quality in the public sector. Quality is an important concept that can be applied to all areas of government business. Quality applied through policy, services, regulations and program design and delivery supports community trust in government. A positive approach to quality, implemented through a quality framework that is embedded into the organisational culture at all levels of a government agency, is essential to meeting community and parliamentary expectations.

This report complements the Interim Report on Key Financial Controls of Major Entities financial statement audit report published in May 2023. It provides a summary of the final results of the audits of the Consolidated Financial Statements for the Australian Government and the financial statements of 243 Australian Government entities for the period ended 30 June 2023.

This report complements the interim phase report published in June 2015, and provides a summary of the final audit results of the audits of the Consolidated Financial Statements for the Australian Government and the financial statements of 253 Australian Government entities.

The objective of this audit was to determine whether Health adequately assessed the State and Territory Governments' compliance with their obligations under the terms of the AHCAs. In conducting the audit, ANAO addressed the following criteria:

• if Health assessed whether the States and Territories were adhering to the AHCAs clause 6 principles that all eligible persons had equitable access to free public health and emergency services on the basis of clinical need within an appropriate period;
• if Health assessed whether the States and Territories were increasing their own source funding at the rate specified in the AHCAs; and
• if Health assessed whether the States and Territories were meeting the performance reporting requirements set out in the AHCAs.

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 this audit was to examine if Social Services and Human Services drive improvements in the Disability Support Pension program using data and information from multiple sources, including agreed Auditor-General and parliamentary committee recommendations. 

The ANAO Quality Assurance Framework is the system of quality control that the ANAO has established to provide the Auditor-General with reasonable assurance that the ANAO complies with the ANAO standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements and reports issued by the ANAO are appropriate in the circumstances.

The Audit Quality Report demonstrates the ANAO assessment of the implementation and operating effectiveness of the elements of the ANAO Quality Assurance Framework. The report provides transparency in respect of the processes, policies, and procedures that support each element of the ANAO Quality Assurance Framework, and reports audit quality indicators measuring ANAO performance against target benchmarks.

This report also includes the achievement of the quality assurance strategy and deliverables set out in the ANAO Quality Assurance Framework and Plan 2019–20.

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) Corporate Plan is the ANAO’s key strategic planning document. It guides our operating environment and sets out how we will deliver on our purpose.

The Quality Assurance Framework and Plan complements the Corporate Plan. The ANAO Quality Assurance Framework is the system of quality control that the ANAO has established to provide the Auditor-General with reasonable assurance that the ANAO complies with the ANAO standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements and reports issued by the ANAO are appropriate in the circumstances.

This Audit Quality Report demonstrates the ANAO assessment of the implementation and operating effectiveness of the elements of the ANAO Quality Assurance Framework. The report provides transparency in respect of the processes, policies, and procedures that support each element of the ANAO Quality Assurance Framework, and reports audit quality indicators measuring ANAO performance against target benchmarks.

This report also includes the achievement of the quality assurance strategy and deliverables set out in the Quality Assurance Framework and Plan 2020–21.

This report complements the interim phase report published in August 2016, and provides a summary of the final results of the audits of the Consolidated Financial Statements for the Australian Government and the financial statements of Australian Government entities.

The objective of this audit was to assess the extent to which the recommendations and major findings of the ANAO's 1999 audit of Commonwealth Debt Management have been addressed, and the impact of any changes.

The objective of this follow-up audit was to examine Centrelink's progress in implementing the recommendations of the 2004–05 audit and the subsequent JCPAA inquiry.

The audit will examine the effectiveness of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s (WGEA’s) management of compliance with the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (the Act).

The Act requires non-public sector employers with 100 or more employees to submit an annual report containing data on workplace gender equality to the WGEA. Employers with 500 or more employees must also comply with minimum standards for gender equality. Employers that fail to comply with the Act may be publicly named by the WGEA and may be excluded from tendering for Australian Government contracts, receiving Australian Government grants, or tendering for contracts with some state governments. On 30 March 2023, the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Bill 2023 was passed, which requires the WGEA to publish employer gender pay gaps for private sector and Commonwealth public sector employers, and from 2024, employees will have access to information about their employer’s performance on pay parity.

The audit may examine the WGEA’s use and assurance of data, identification and monitoring of non-compliant employers, and certification of compliance. The audit may also examine whether non-compliant employers have been awarded Australian Government contracts and grants.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, Address to ANZSOG Students at ANU

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the International Quality & Productivity Centre Seminar

Mr P.J. Barrett (AO) - Auditor-General for Australia, Opening Address to the inaugural conference of the Risk Management Institution of Australasia - Bringing Risk Management Together - What the Future Holds

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the InfoHRM Conference, Gold Coast

The audit objective was to assess Defence’s implementation of the five recommendations in  ANAO Report No.19 2014-15 Management of the Disposal of Specialist Military Equipment and the related recommendation in JCPAA  Report 449 Review of Auditor-General's Reports Nos. 1-23 (2014-15).

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of monitoring arrangements (by the Accreditation Agency) and compliance activities (by DoHA) put in place to achieve residential aged care homes’ compliance with the Accreditation Standards and their other, related, responsibilities under the Act and its associated instruments.

The ANAO’s assessment considered whether:

— a sector-wide compliance strategy was in place and aligned with effective monitoring and compliance activities at the operational level;
— there was a clear articulation of the separat but complementary roles and responsibilities of DoHA and the Accreditation Agency; and
— performance information gathered by both agencies to support public reporting and business improvements was useful and enabled comparison of performance over time.

Mr Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, participated in a panel discussion at the Australian Government Leadership Network Annual Conference (Queensland)

The objective of this audit was to determine the progress made by the AEC in implementing the ANAO's recommendations, taking into account any changed circumstances, or new administrative issues, affecting implementation of those recommendations.

This annual report documents the performance of the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) in the financial year ending 30 June 2016. It addresses all applicable obligations under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and the Auditor-General Act 1997, the performance measures set out in the outcome and programs framework in the ANAO’s 2015–16 Portfolio Budget Statements and the ANAO’s 2015–19 Corporate Plan and annual reporting requirements set out in other legislation.

The audit will assess the effectiveness of selected entities in meeting one or more Australian Government requirements related to climate change and may assess the effectiveness of policy owners with respect to supporting entities to meet requirements.

The Australian Government has developed policies and requirements aimed at supporting the public service to respond to climate change. These include: APS Net Zero Emissions by 2030; the Climate Risk and Opportunity Management Program; and the Commonwealth Climate Disclosure policy.

• APS Net Zero Emissions by 2030 aims to support the achievement of net zero in government operations by 2030. It includes the requirement for non-corporate Commonwealth entities to develop Emissions Reductions Plans.
• The Climate Risk and Opportunity Management Program aims to support entities to consider climate risk and opportunities as part of decision-making processes and enterprise risk management.
• The Commonwealth Climate Disclosure policy is the Government’s policy for Commonwealth entities and Commonwealth companies to publicly report on their exposure to climate risks and opportunities, as well as their actions to manage them, delivering transparent and consistent climate disclosures to the Australian public.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented an Occasional Paper

The Commonwealth has significant involvement in national emergency management arrangements through its roles in planning, coordination between agencies, operational response, financial support, education and training, public awareness and research activities. The objectives of this performance audit were to identify the Commonwealth's current emergency management arrangements; to provide assurance to Parliament concerning the adequacy of the arrangements; and to highlight areas for improvement.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the CPA Forum 2004

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

Address by Richard Rundle, Executive Director, Business Assurance Services, at the Security in Government 2002 Conference

The Auditor-General, Grant Hehir, delivered a presentation to the 15th Biennial Australasian Council of Public Accounts Committees (ACPAC) Conference held at Parliament House, Canberra, on 7 November 2019. The presentation was titled Maintaining Trust in the Parliamentary Process — PACs and Officers of the Parliament.

The Auditor-General responded on 11 December 2019 to correspondence from Senator Kimberley Kitching dated 14 November 2019, requesting that the Auditor-General consider undertaking proposed audits of parliamentary departments listed in the work program. 

The objectives of the audit were to determine whether FaCS and Centrelink had: a valid Business Case for the Edge project, as revised from time to time, including estimated costs, actual costs, and expected benefits; effective governance of the project, including reviews at critical points in the project and subsequent decisions to continue or, in the final analysis, to discontinue; an appropriate contract with SoftLaw, which was adequately managed; delivered appropriate advice on progress, project viability, and acceptable solutions to technical issues to Executive of FaCS and Centrelink during the project; and valid reasons for discontinuing the project. The ANAO began this audit in March 2004, four months after the Edge project was terminated, following the Auditor-General's agreement to a suggestion by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit that the project was a suitable subject for audit.

The objective of this audit was to assess the extent to which the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (Agriculture) has addressed the recommendations from ANAO Audit Report No. 46 of 2011–12, Administration of the Northern Australia Quarantine Strategy (NAQS).

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 shared content volume of the ANAO Audit Manual applies to all assurance activity performed by the ANAO, including financial statements and performance auditing. The shared volume addresses key matters affecting compliance with the Auditor-General Act 1997 and other aspects of the ANAO’s legislative framework. It sets out the main requirements of the ANAO’s overall system of quality control in accordance with ASQC1 Quality Control for Firms that Perform Audits and Reviews of Financial Reports and Other Financial Information, Other Assurance Engagements and Related Services Engagements.

The Auditor-General responded on Thursday 27 February 2020 to correspondence from Mr Andrew Giles MP dated 4 February 2020, requesting that the Auditor-General undertake a performance audit of the Urban Congestion Fund. The fund is administered by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications. The Auditor-General provided follow-up responses to Mr Giles MP on 24 July 2020 and 19 August 2020. 

The Performance Audit Services Group (PASG) volume of the ANAO Audit Manual applies to the performance audit activity performed by PASG in collaboration with the Systems Assurance and Data Analytics (SADA) group. Relevant policies and guidance from the PASG volume are also applied to assurance reviews performed by PASG. Policies and guidance in the PASG volume address the planning, execution and reporting stages of the performance audit process.

This report complements the Interim Report on Key Financial Controls of Major Entities financial statement audit report published in June 2024. It provides a summary of the final results of the audits of the Consolidated Financial Statements for the Australian Government and the financial statements of Australian Government entities for the period ended 30 June 2024. 

This report complements the Interim Report on Key Financial Controls of Major Entities financial statement audit report published in June 2022. It provides a summary of the final results of the audits of the Consolidated Financial Statements for the Australian Government and the financial statements of Australian Government entities for the period ended 30 June 2022.