Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to The Joint Committee of Public Accounts

Mr Ian McPhee - Deputy Auditor-General, presented to the Public Service and Merit Protection Commission (PSMPC)

Mr Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Institute of Public Administration Australia (ACT Division)

Mr Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to the Institute of Public Administration Australia, ACT Division

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to the ASCPA Annual Public Sector Accounting Convention, Canberra

This audit would assess the implementation of the Australian Public Service (APS) ethical frameworks by the Australian Taxation Office. The APS ethical frameworks comprise the legal framework (the basis of which is the Public Service Act 1999 and the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013); activity-specific frameworks (such as the Commonwealth Procurement Rules and Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines); government policies; and entity-specific frameworks (including the requirements of enabling legislation, Accountable Authority Instructions and other internal policies).

This is part of a series of audits on the implementation of ethical frameworks in APS Agencies.

This report addresses the role and responsibilities of audit committees in all Commonwealth public sector entities including departments and similar agencies, and commercial and non-commercial statutory authorities. A better practice model was developed, based primarily on a review of literature dealing with private and public sector governance models and the requirements of the proposed financial management legislation.

The objective of the audit was to examine whether selected entities implemented agreed ANAO performance audit, the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, and other parliamentary committee recommendations.

The objective of the audit was to examine the implementation of the annual performance statements requirements under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and the enhanced Commonwealth performance framework.

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.