This report is an information document summarising the audit activities of the ANAO in the period January to June 1997.

The audit reviewed the Defence's $5.05 billion New Submarine Project which commenced in 1982 and involves design and construction of six Collins class submarines and associated supplies and services. The objectives of the audit were to assess project management by the Department's Project Office in the light of accepted better-practice project management techniques. It also aimed to derive lessons learnt and recommendations that could be applied to the Project and to similar Defence projects now and in the future. The audit follows a 1992 audit of the Project by the ANAO and a review by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts in 1995.

The audit reviewed the operations of the Bureau of Meteorology. The Bureau's functions include the taking and recording of meteorological observations and other observations required for the purposes of meteorology; the forecasting of weather and of the state of the atmosphere; the issue of warnings of weather conditions likely to endanger life or property; the supply, publication and promotion of meteorological information; and cooperation with international meteorological agencies in relation to the functions just listed. The objectives of the audit were to:

• use national and international benchmarks to evaluate the Bureau's performance in terms of timeliness, cost and quality of weather services to meet the needs of clients; and
• assess how well the Bureau is placed in measuring its outputs/outcomes within the context of the Accrual Budgeting Framework.

This report summarises audit and other related activities of the Australian National Audit Office in the period January to June 1999.

The objective of the audit was to examine the effectiveness of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs' (DVA's) planning and management of the Veteran Centric Reform (VCR) program.

Industry levies play a significant role in the provision of many public services and fund a range of activities undertaken by regulatory bodies such as the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), through to financing reform of the Australian waterfront labour force. The objectives of this audit were to assess:

• the coverage, revenue and expenses of non-primary industry levies;
• the effectiveness of selected entities' financial management of non-primary industry levies; and
• areas of better administrative practice relating to the financial management of non-primary industry levies.

This report summarises audit and other related activities of the Australian National Audit Office in the period January to June 1998.

The audit objective was to assess Health's administration of primary care funding, with a focus on the administrative practices of the Primary Care Division and Health's State and Territory Offices. In forming an opinion on the audit objective, the ANAO reviewed 41 agreements, with a combined value of $252 million. The ANAO also reviewed relevant documentation and files, interviewed programme officers and met with a number of stakeholders. The audit comments on a range of issues, including the utility of funding agreements, monitoring, payments, and support for administrators.

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 objectives for the audit were to assess the:

• economy, administrative effectiveness, and accountability of DVA's management of the purchase of hospital services from State and Territory governments; and
• strategies adopted by DVA to manage change associated with its purchase of hospital care services from State and Territory governments.

The twin aims were to provide assurance to stakeholders and to identify any area in which improvements could be made to achieve better results.