Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Australian Institute of Project Management, Hobart

Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Public Sector Governance Forum of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and The Institute of Internal Auditors - Australia

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, addressed the Senior Executive Leadership 20. Canberra.

The audit focused on the sale of properties from that portion of the domestic property estate managed by the Department of Finance and Administration and identified for sale via a three year divestment strategy of the Commercial Office Estate by Government in April 1997. The audit sought to assess the effectiveness of the management of the sales process for selected property sales, including the extent to which the Government's sale objectives have been achieved; review the long-term sale and leaseback arrangements for selected divested properties and whether they adequately protect the Commonwealth's interests; and identify principles of sound administrative practice to facilitate improved administrative arrangements for future property sales.

The objectives of the audit were to assess agency performance in relation to compiling their Internet contract listings as required by the Senate Order and the appropriateness of the use of confidentiality provisions in Commonwealth contracts. The audit involved a review in seven agencies of the processes used to compile their Internet contract listings and the use of confidentiality provisions in contracts.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Health’s and Australian Hearing’s administration of the Community Service Obligations program for hearing services.

The effective use of financial information is a critical component of an organisation's performance management framework. The appropriate combination of financial and non-financial data reflects overall organisational performance, and performance at program and work unit levels. The objective of this audit was to assess what financial information is currently used, who uses it and how well it is used. The audit also assessed whether the current processes for defining, accumulating and producing financial information were appropriate for the new accrual based performance management framework, which is to be in place for 1999/2000.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at a Joint Seminar by IPAA and ASCPAs as part of a Panel Discussion on 'Governance and the Role of the Senior Public Executive', Canberra

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.

The audit reviewed the operations of the Civil Aviation Authority (CASA), which has prime responsibility for regulating aviation safety in Australia. The audit objectives were to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the management systems and procedures used by CASA to ensure compliance with regulatory controls by Air Operator's Certificate holders operating passenger-carrying aircraft within High Capacity Regular Public Transport; Low Capacity Regular Public Transport and charter industry sectors; and Certificate of Approval holders. Aviation safety compliance includes entry control, surveillance and enforcement.