The objectives of the audit were to provide assurance to Parliament concerning the adequacy of Commonwealth security planning and preparations for the Games and to identify areas for improvement early enough for any corrective action to be taken.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to the Australasian Council of Auditors-General Conference, Melbourne

Mr Mr Ian McPhee, AO PSM - Auditor-General for Australia, presented an Australian Country Paper at the 6th ASOSAI Symposium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Fedlink was to comprise two elements: a high capacity telecommunications infrastructure (phase 1) and information technology applications which support Internet and Intranet communication, and transactions in a secure environment (phase 2) [which never went ahead]. OGIT sought the services of the ANAO to provide an opinion on the probity of the methodology and procedures applied in the evaluation process for phase 1. Therefore the objectives of this audit were to assist OGIT in the timely identification of any deficiencies in the evaluation of responses from suppliers and options for addressing the deficiencies.

Government service delivery through the Internet presents both significant opportunities and challenges in the delivery of on-line services. Depending on the level of sophistication of the application, the Internet allows Commonwealth agencies to publish information, interact with clients in the exchange of information, and/or transact business electronically. The over-all objective of this audit was to determine Commonwealth agencies' preparedness to achieve the Government's goal of all appropriate services being Internet-deliverable by 2001. The audit sought to assess:

• the extent to which agencies considered that they would be able to achieve that goal;
• what type of services agencies were delivering or planning to deliver on the Internet; and
• whether agencies had identified barriers and possible solutions to that delivery.

Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the World Bank Seminar, Washington DC By Teleconference

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

The examined the $1 billion Federation Fund program, which was established by the Government to mark the Centenary of Federation. The objectives of the examination were to assess the:

• extent to which the administration of the FCHP program complied with better practice in the assessment of applications, especially in relation to the transparency and rigour of the decision-making process;
• equity of the geographic spread of grants to States and electorates; and
• process for the announcement of the results of grant applications.

The objective of the audit was to form an opinion on the administrative effectiveness and efficiency of DHAC's processes for planning the Commonwealth's Aged and Community Care program, in particular, on the questions of how well the planning process has contributed to realising the program objectives of achieving an equitable distribution of places between regions, and selecting suitable service providers.

Mr Ian McPhee - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to the Global Working Group 10th Annual Meeting, Norway