The objectives of the audit were to assess the cost-effectiveness of the management and administration of the accounts receivable function in the ‘general government' sector and to identify, develop and report better practice to promote overall improvements in the management of accounts receivable. The audit was limited in scope to agencies whose accounts receivable consist of trade debtors (normally for goods and services), levies, other charges and recoveries from staff.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the IPAA Conference, Canberra

The objectives for the audit were to examine Commonwealth guarantees, indemnities and letters of comfort in relation to:

• the potential size of the Commonwealth's exposure to these instruments;
• the extent to which the overall exposures of the Commonwealth are managed and monitored;
• the adequacy of administrative reporting arrangements;
• areas of better administrative practice relating to their management; and
• to raise agencies' awareness of appropriate risk management and accountability practices in relation to these instruments.

The audit set out to quantify the Commonwealth's exposure to guarantees, indemnities and letters of comfort.

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 objectives of the audit were to provide assurance that Artbank was effectively meeting its charter of: acquiring art by contemporary artists; expanding the number of public places that Artbank's collection is rented and displayed; and managing its collection and rental scheme. The audit also examined Artbank's governance arrangements, and its programmes for marketing, client development, performance management, budgeting, debt management and also sought client feedback on Artbank's operations via a survey.

The examined the $1 billion Federation Fund program, which was established by the Government to mark the Centenary of Federation. The objectives of the examination were to assess the:

• extent to which the administration of the FCHP program complied with better practice in the assessment of applications, especially in relation to the transparency and rigour of the decision-making process;
• equity of the geographic spread of grants to States and electorates; and
• process for the announcement of the results of grant applications.

The objective of the audit was to:

• assess, in a selection of FMA Act and CAC Act agencies, how well the revised Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines had been implemented; and
• identify any better practice or common problem areas to assist other agencies in their future procurement activities.

The audit focused on procurement requirements that had changed as a result of the revised CPGs, rather than being a more general audit of compliance with all procurement requirements.
The audit was conducted in the following entities:

• Australian Federal Police;
• Bureau of Meteorology;
• Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO);
• Department of Defence;
• Department of Education, Science & Training;
• Family Court of Australia; and
• National Museum of Australia.

This audit examined the management of contracts for business support processes in eight Commonwealth organisations-six operating under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997, and two operating under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997. The objectives of this audit were to:

• provide assurance on the effectiveness of the management of contracted business support processes in selected organisations; and
• identify and disseminate better practices in related contract management.

The objectives of the audit were to: assess the extent to which the Government's sale objectives were achieved; assess the effectiveness of the management of the public share offer; and identify principles of sound administrative practice to facilitate improved administrative arrangements for future Commonwealth public share offers.

The objectives of the audit were to examine and evaluate the efficiency, economy and administrative effectiveness of the non-judicial activities of the Family Court of Australia. A major aim of the audit was to identify administrative better practices that could be promulgated throughout the Court. The criteria for the audit address the following issues: corporate planning; performance measurement; organisational structure; human resource management; human resource development; management information and reporting systems; and operational processes and procedures.