The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education’s (DIISRTE’s) administration of the Education Investment Fund grants program.

(DIISRTE was the department that had responsibility for the administration of the EIF grants program during the course of the audit. The recommendations and suggestions for improvement are, however, directed to the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education because this department now has responsibility for the administration of the program).

The ANAO first examined asset management in the general government sector in 1995. The outcome of that review was presented in Audit Report No. 27, 1995-96, Asset Management. The primary objectives of the current review were to:

• ascertain the degree of acceptance of the previous audit recommendations;
• establish the extent to which organisations were managing their assets in accordance with the asset management principles espoused in the Asset Management Handbook; and
• examine any central coordination initiatives in asset management.

Meeting these objectives permits the ANAO to express an updated opinion on the state of asset management in the general government sector other than for specialised military equipment.

The objective of the audit was to examine the application of the Australian Taxation Office's Compliance Effectiveness Methodology in evaluating the effectiveness of key compliance activities and shaping the development of strategies to promote voluntary compliance.

The Procedures for Determining Breaches of the (APS) Code of Conduct must be complied with in determining whether an Australian Public Service (APS) employee has breached the Code of Conduct (the Code) set out in section 13 of the Public Service Act 1999 (PS Act), and in determining what, if any, sanction is to be imposed on an APS employee who has breached the Code of Conduct.

This audit reviewed:

• the methods used by the Department of Social Security (DSS) to determine and allocate staff numbers to Regional Offices. It sought to ascertain whether the allocations resulting from these methods met the demands placed on Regional Offices and the scope for improvement to these methods; and
• the scope for improvements to the benefit delivery process and other aspects of Regional Office operations that could lead to significant productivity gains or client service benefits.

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Industry's administration of the Commercialisation Australia Program.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to the Corporate Management Network Meeting, Rydges Lakeside, Canberra

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of FaHCSIA’s administration of Communities for Children under the Family Support Program.

Mr Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Global Working Group of Auditors-General, Stockholm, Sweden

The audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Health and Ageing and the Australian National Preventive Health Agency in fulfilling the Commonwealth’s role in implementing the Council of Australian Government’s National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health, to achieve the Agreement’s objectives, outcomes and outputs, including supporting all Australians to reduce their risk of chronic disease.