The objective of this audit was to determine whether selected Australian Government organisations had effective processes for managing the annual leave entitlements of their staff, and whether systems and controls over the processing of annual leave were working as intended. In addressing this objective, the audit also assessed progress being made by the audited organisations in implementing the recommendations in ANAO Audit Report No.16 2005-06.

The objective of this follow-up audit is to assess the Tax Office's progress in implementing the recommendations of Audit Report No.59 2002–03, Administration of Australian Business Number Registrations, having regard to any changed circumstances, or new administrative issues, affecting the implementation of those recommendations.

The audit objectives were to assess the appropriateness of the use of confidentiality provisions in Australian Government contracts and whether selected agencies had compiled Internet listings of contracts, as required by the Senate Order and agreed to by the Government.

The objective of the audit was to review the operation of the ATO's Tax Agent and Business Portals. In conducting the audit the ANAO examined three key areas: governance – the governance arrangements supporting ongoing management of the Portals; portals development, user satisfaction and realisation of expected benefits – the ATO's processes for involving users in developing the Tax Agent and Business Portals, assessing user satisfaction, and evaluating business benefits arising from uptake of the Portals; and information technology (IT) security and user access controls – the ATO's IT security environment and user access controls supporting the operation of the Tax Agent and Business Portals.

The audit objective was to examine the adequacy of Defence's and DMO's management of the nearly completed elements of Project Air 5276. The ANAO identified a number of causes for time delays and cost escalation in those elements. Those causes are outlined in the overall audit conclusions, to assist in the achievement of improvements in future planning and management of capital equipment acquisitions.

The audit examined the process of identifying the ADC Weston Creek property for sale and leaseback and the management of the sale process. The objective of the performance audit was to examine the efficiency and effectiveness of the management of the sale process by Defence, including assessing whether the sale and long term leaseback arrangements adequately protect the Commonwealth's interests.

This report relates to the fourth audit of Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act) agencies' compliance with the Order of the Senate for Departmental and Agency Contracts, (the Senate Order) to list, on the Internet, contract details for the reporting period 4 February 2002 to 3 February 2003. The audit was conducted in accordance with the Senate Order request for the Auditor-General to undertake twice-yearly examinations of agency contracts listed on the Internet, and to report whether there had been any inappropriate use of confidentiality provisions. The objectives of the audit were to assess agency performance in relation to compiling the Internet listings required by the Senate Order and the appropriateness of the use of confidentiality provisions in Commonwealth contracts.

The general objectives of the audit were to:

• obtain and report quantitative and qualitative benchmarks of performance in the public sector; and
• compare the public sector benchmarks with equivalent international data to identify better practices and highlight opportunities for improvement.

In relation to internal audit, given the three-year duration of the study, these generic objectives have been extended to include an analysis of trends in internal audit over the past three years.

The objective of the audit was to assess key aspects of the Australian Taxation Office's administration of the PAYE system in relation to employers' remittances and to identify opportunities for improvement. The audit focussed on four areas:

• remittance monitoring, especially managing late remittances;
• follow-up action for end of year reconciliation, including discrepancies;
• handling compliance intelligence gained from the public; and
• ATO compliance projects.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Senior Executive Leadership Program - Preparatory day, Hill Station, Canberra