The audit examined whether the Department of Health and Ageing had the performance information necessary to administer the Australian Health Care Agreements. A strong focus of the audit was accountability for performance given the significant size of Commonwealth financial assistance, more than $29.6 billion over 5 years, provided to the States and Territories for the provision of health care services.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association and the Australian Institute of Administrative Law Conference on Outsourcing

Mr Ian McPhee, PSM - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to the Senate Occasional Lecture, Parliament House Canberra

This report summarises audit and other related activities of the Australian National Audit Office in the period January to June 2000.

The audit reviewed the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement (CSHA). CSHA is a joint arrangement between the Commonwealth and the States under which both the Commonwealth and the States contribute funding in the form of grants, which are used by State Housing Authorities to provide a variety of housing assistance programs to households on low incomes and those with special needs. The overall objective of the audit was to assess and report to Parliament on how effectively the Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS - formerly the Department of Social Security) administered the CSHA and to identify any areas where improvements could be made.

The objective was to assess the extent to which staff reductions have been managed in a sound strategic and cost-effective manner consistent with the Government's guidelines and the ANAO's 1996 better practice guide Managing APS Staff Reductions. The audit focussed on 3 agencies - the Australian Taxation Office, the former Department of Primary Industry and Energy, and the former Department of Transport and Regional Development. The ANAO found that the majority of staff reductions were achieved through retrenchment rather than natural attrition; and that decisions on the number of retrenchments were not always supported by an assessment of the impact of the reductions on the agencies' abilities to conduct their business.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Public Sector Risk Management Conference

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented t the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants Annual Research Lecture - Canberra

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the IIR Conference 'Risks in Outsourcing in the Public Sector'

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Launch of MAB/MIAC Report 22: Guidelines for Managing Risk in the Australian Public Service, Canberra