Recent performance audit priority for the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) in the Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government portfolio has been directed at the administration of funding for land transport. Accordingly, this audit is one of a series ANAO is undertaking of land transport funding programs. Four audits have already been completed, namely:

• ANAO Audit Report No. 31 2005–06, Roads to Recovery;
• ANAO Audit Report No. 45 2006–07, The National Black Spot Program;
• ANAO Audit Report No. 22 2007–08, Administration of Grants to the Australian Rail Track Corporation; and
• ANAO Audit Report No. 29 2008–09, Delivery of Projects on the AusLink National Network.

The audit objective was to form an opinion on the effectiveness of DEST's planning, assessment, and Funding Agreements management for the Australian Technical Colleges programme. At the time of the audit fieldwork (prior to the 2007–08 Budget) the Government had announced the establishment of 21 of the then target of 25 colleges. After fieldwork was completed the Government announced its intention to fund an additional three colleges in three new regions.

The criteria for this audit were designed to test whether DEST's management of the programme complied with its plans, procedures and guidelines, with the Act, and better practices for grants administration. For these purposes, the ANAO focused on DEST's:

• planning for the implementation of the programme;
• assessment of proposals to establish and operate the colleges; and
• management of the Funding Agreements.

The ANAO conducted separate audits of the Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS) Children and Schooling program and the Safety and Wellbeing program, the findings and conclusions of which are presented in this report. The objective of the audits was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s and the National Indigenous Australians Agency’s administration of the IAS Children and Schooling and the Safety and Wellbeing programs.

This audit would assess whether the award of funding under the Urban Rivers and Catchments Program was effective and consistent with the Commonwealth Grants Framework.

The Urban Rivers and Catchments Program is a $200 million grants program that comprises two rounds. The 2022–23 October Federal Budget provided $91 million (from 2022–23) for the first round of the program, and the 2023–24 May Federal Budget provided $109 million (from 2024–25) for the second round of the program. The second round closed on 13 February 2024.

The objective of the audit was to examine whether the design and early delivery of the Australian Government's $443.3 million partnership with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation has been effective.

In two letters dated 19 and 22 June 2009, the Prime Minister requested a performance audit of a range of matters relating to representations to the Treasury regarding automotive finance arrangements for car dealers. In response to these requests, the Auditor-General decided that ANAO would undertake a performance audit under section 18 of the Auditor-General Act 1997 (Auditor-General Act). The audit objective, based on the matters raised in the Prime Minister's correspondence and in the Parliament, was to examine and report on:

• any representations to the Treasury since October 2008 from all sources regarding automotive finance arrangements for car dealers, including any made in relation to John Grant Motors;
• the nature of these representations;
• the manner in which the representations were responded to by officials, having regard to any relevant standards and procedures; and
• any related administrative matters that came to attention.

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.

Justice reinvestment is a long-term, community-led approach that aims to prevent crime, address the drivers of contact with the justice system, and improve justice outcomes for First Nations peoples in a particular place or community. Justice reinvestment aligns with Outcomes 10 and 11 and the Priority Reforms under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, to reduce the overrepresentation of young people and adults in the criminal justice system. In the October 2022 Budget $69 million was committed over 4 years (from 2022–23) to establish a National Justice Reinvestment Program to support up to 30 community-led justice reinvestment initiatives, with ongoing funding of $20 million per year from 2026–27. In the 2023–24 Budget, an additional $10 million was committed over 4 years to support place-based justice reinvestment initiatives in the Central Australia region of the Northern Territory. Funding was delivered through open, non-competitive grant funding rounds. As of May 2025, information in relation to 25 grant agreements had been published valued at $55.4 million across the two funding rounds (with two assessment cycles in each round). A potential audit would examine the award of funding was in accordance with the Commonwealth Grant Rules and Principles.

The Auditor-General responded on 6 October 2020 to correspondence from Senator Murray Watt dated 18 September 2020, requesting that the Auditor-General conduct an investigation to examine the conduct of Senator Pauline Hanson, relevant government ministers — particularly the Minister for Sport, Senator the Hon Richard Colbeck and the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, the Hon Michael McCormack MP — and the relevant departments in relation to the announcement of $23 million in Commonwealth Government funding for the Victoria Park stadium in Rockhampton. Senator Watt also requested that the Auditor-General conduct an investigation to examine the assessment process of the project undertaken by the relevant government ministers and their departments before awarding the $23 million grant.