Welcome to the third edition of the ANAO’s Audit Matters newsletter. The purpose of Audit Matters is to provide updates on the ANAO’s work and provide insights on what we are seeing in the Australian Government sector.

Audit Matters complements the range of reports we table in the Parliament as well as our insights products and events and seminars. I hope you find it useful and please forward it on to your colleagues, and encourage them to sign-up for future editions.

Rona Mellor PSM, Deputy Auditor-General

The objective of this audit was to examine the effectiveness of the Department of Defence’s development and implementation of Australia’s approach to providing military assistance to the Government of Ukraine.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the management and oversight of compliance activities within the Child Care Subsidy program.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of cyber security risk mitigation strategies implemented by selected non-corporate Commonwealth entities to meet mandatory requirements under the Protective Security Policy Framework, and the support provided by the responsible cyber policy and operational entities.

The audit objective was to assess whether the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has effectively established and implemented the Indigenous Advancement Strategy to achieve the outcomes desired by government.

Please note: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images of deceased people.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the administration of procurement initiatives to support opportunities for Indigenous Australians.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the governance board in the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the department’s delivery of the Wildlife and Habitat Bushfire Recovery Program.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Education and Training’s design and implementation of the Vocational Education and Training (VET) Student Loans program.

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the administration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation targets in intergovernmental funding agreements in achieving policy objectives.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Finance and selected entities’ implementation of the Australian Government’s campaign advertising framework.

The ANAO Corporate Plan 2023–24 outlines how we intend to deliver against our purpose over the next four years (2023–24 to 2026–27). The corporate plan is the ANAO’s primary planning document – it outlines our purpose; the dynamic environment in which we operate; our commitment to building capability; and the priorities, activities and performance measures by which we will be held to account. The corporate plan is complemented by the annual audit work program, which reflects the ANAO’s audit strategy for the coming year.

This corporate plan was updated on 26 March 2024:

• organisational structure changes — ‘Professional Services and Relationships Group’ to ‘Professional Services Group’
• Measure 3 — change type from ‘Efficiency / Qualitative’ to ‘Efficiency / Quantitative’
• Measure 15, reporting mechanism 4 — replaced text to reflect updated JCPAA feedback process
• Measure 16, reporting mechanism 3 — replaced references to ‘insights’ with ‘lessons’

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Parliamentary Services’ arrangements for managing contracts and retail licences, including the extent to which the department has implemented recommendations from the previous ANAO audit.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of procurement complaints handling by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, the Department of Finance, the Department of Industry, Science and Resources and the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The objective of the audit was to assess whether select Australian Government entities are effectively managing and controlling the use of Commonwealth credit and other transaction cards for official purposes in accordance with legislative and policy requirements.

The objective of this audit was to examine the efficiency and economy of the Department of Defence’s management of its general stores inventory.

The objective of the audit was to assess whether the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts’ management of service delivery arrangements for the external territories was effective.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Australian Public Service Commission's (APSC) administration of statutory functions relating to upholding high standards of integrity and ethical conduct in the Australian Public Service (APS).

This report updates the ANAO's assessment of audit findings relating to major entity internal control structures, including governance arrangements, information systems and control procedures through to March 2004. The findings summarised in this report arise from the interim phase of the financial statement audits of major Australian Government entities for 2003/2004. Examinations of such findings are designed to assess the reliance that can be placed on control structures to produce complete, accurate and valid information for financial reporting purposes.

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 objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority’s management of Commonwealth fisheries.

The ANAO, provided a country paper to the 8th ASOSAI Symposium held virtually on 8 September 2021. The paper was titled Responding to disaster and pandemic issues.

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Health's and the Department of Human Services' administration of the Radiation Oncology Health Program Grants Scheme.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the design and establishment of the Regional Investment Corporation.

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s administration of the Future Fit Program.

The objective of the audit was to examine the effectiveness of the implementation of frameworks to support ethical behaviours within the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the framework in place to have a regulatory Ministerial Statement of Expectations and a responding Statement of Intent in place.

The speech delivered by the Acting Deputy Auditor-General and the presentations by ANAO speakers at the Financial and Performance Reporting Forum held on Friday 5 July 2024 are now available.

If you would like a copy of the video recording please contact External.Relations@anao.gov.au

Grant Hehir, Auditor-General for Australia, attended the Institute of Internal Auditors-Australia ‘Public Sector Internal Audit Conference’ on 31 July 2018, and presented an opening keynote session titled Strategic governance of risk: Lessons learnt from public sector audit. The accompanying paper to the speech, which was delivered against a conference theme of ‘internal auditor as a trusted advisor’, is available here.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the governance board in the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation.

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Human Services’ administration of the Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of Comcare’s administration of claims for Australian Government entities under its workers’ compensation scheme.

The corporate plan is the ANAO’s primary planning document. Our strategic planning process allows us to continually improve practices and capabilities to demonstrate value in the delivery of services to the Parliament. The corporate plan is complemented by the annual audit work program, which reflects the ANAO’s audit strategy for the coming year.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Defence's planning and administrative arrangements to support the provision of emergency Defence Assistance to the Civil Community (DACC).

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 corporate plan is the ANAO’s primary planning document. Our strategic planning process allows us to continually improve practices and capabilities to demonstrate value in the delivery of services to the Parliament. The corporate plan is complemented by the annual audit work program, which reflects the ANAO’s audit strategy for the coming year.

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Human Services' administration of the Financial Information Service.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the administration of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the award of funding under the first round of the Safer Streets programme.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Australian Taxation Office’s administration of annual compliance arrangements with large corporate taxpayers.

The audit objective was to assess the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman's effectiveness in managing complaints.

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the administration of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation's (CSIRO's) Gift to the Science and Industry Endowment Fund.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Employment’s administration of the Fair Entitlements Guarantee.

This edition of Audit Insights summarises key messages for all Australian Government entities from a series of recent Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) performance audits assessing the delivery of key components of the Australian Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It discusses the importance of planning, good governance and sound risk management in managing an emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the governance board in Hearing Australia.

The audit objective was to examine the effectiveness of the Department of Human Services’ administration of the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the governance of the Northern Land Council under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, the Native Title Act 1993 and the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Education’s design and implementation of programs and initiatives to improve the access and participation of regional and remote students to higher education.

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness to date of the management of the approach to transition the disability services market to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) market arrangements.

The objective of the audit was to assess whether the award of funding under the Building Better Regions Fund was effective as well as being consistent with the Commonwealth Grant Rules and Guidelines.

An Audit Committee Chairs Forum was held on Wednesday, 14 June 2019 from 10am until 12:30pm. The venue was the Galambany Centre, Department of Finance, One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT. The agenda, slides and communique from the forum are available on this events page.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Home Affairs' management of family-related visas.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources' implementation of the new biosecurity legislative framework.

The objective of this audit was to examine whether the selected entities within the Attorney-General’s portfolio have implemented all agreed recommendations from parliamentary committee and Auditor-General reports within the scoped timeframe.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the governance of the Northern Land Council under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, Native Title Act 1993 and Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the National Indigenous Australians Agency’s (NIAA’s) processes to design and transition to a new remote employment program.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Finance’s administration of the Parliamentary Expenses Management System project.

The audit objective was to assess whether the Department of Health is effectively managing financial assistance under the Medical Research Future Fund.

The objective of this audit was to examine whether Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) is effectively meeting the requirements of the Statutory Funding Agreement (SFA).

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Health’s monitoring and implementation of both ANAO performance audit and internal audit recommendations.