The objective of the audit was to assess whether Services Australia has effective arrangements to comply with domestic and international travel requirements.

The objective of the audit was to examine whether strategic water procurements by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment were conducted consistent with government policy, were supported by appropriate program design, were planned and executed appropriately, and achieved value for money.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of the Environment’s administration of the Biodiversity Fund program.

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relation's administration of the Digital Education Revolution program, focusing on the major component of the program, the National Secondary Schools Computer Fund.

The objective of the audit was to assess the Australian Agency for International Development's (AusAid) planning for, and management of, the delivery of aid to East Timor. The audit examined Australia's emergency and humanitarian response following the crisis in East Timor in 1999; AusAID's post-crisis strategy for assisting East Timor; coordination with overseas donors; and financial contributions to multilateral reconstruction assistance. Australia's bilateral assistance, comprising shorter-term transitional assistance and medium-term development assistance, was also examined.

This annual report documents the performance of the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) in the financial year ending on 30 June 2003. It includes a comment by the Auditor-General; an overview of the report; a report on performance; details about management and accountability, and the financial statement for the year.

In a military context, individual readiness refers to the ability of an individual member to be deployed, within a specified notice period, on operations, potentially in a combat environment, to perform the specific skills in which he or she has been trained. Individual readiness is the foundation on which military preparedness is built. Maintenance of a specified level of individual readiness in peacetime (along with other factors such as equipment readiness and collective training) influences the speed with which personnel can deploy on operations. The objective of this audit is to ensure that members can be deployed on operations, potentially in a combat environment, to perform their specific skills within a notice period of 30 days.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment’s administration of referrals, assessments and approvals of controlled actions under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the ANAO’s quarterly Audit Matters newsletter. The purpose of Audit Matters is to inform external audiences — primarily those working in Commonwealth entities — of 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.

Carla Jago, Acting Deputy Auditor-General

The Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing, Mr Stephen Smith, wrote to the Auditor-General on 11 March 2002 formally requesting an investigation into certain matters in relation to the 'Co-Location of National General Practice Organisations', a message detailed in the Health Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements 2001-02. The Federal President of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) Limited wrote to the Auditor-General on 11 March 2002, requesting a comprehensive audit of funding decisions by the Minister for Health and Ageing. The Australian National Audit Office has undertaken a preliminary examination of relevant papers relating to the 'GP House' matter. The preliminary examination focussed on whether or not due process was followed in making the decision to transfer funds between Outcomes. The preliminary examination also considered the procedures adopted by the Department of Health and Aged Care in developing the funding proposal, the advisory role played by the Department of Finance and Administration and specific advice provided by both departments to their Ministers. The examination further considered the disclosure of the related budget measure.