The Defence Estate comprises the land, buildings and other facilities that Defence uses across Australia. These facilities are vital to achieving the Defence mission - to prevent or defeat the use of armed force against Australia and its interests. The Estate has a gross replacement value of $14.8 billion. Defence Estate Organisation's (DEO's) Facilities Operations (FACOPS) Program delivers general maintenance and minor new works to Defence facilities on a regional basis across the country. DEO's Estate Operations and Planning Branch and its nine Regional Estate Centres are responsible for the FACOPS Program. Resources available for the Program have been reduced in recent years. The total DEO budget for 2000-01, which includes funds for capital works, facilities operations and property management, is $2.6 billion. Of this total, the FACOPS Program has a cash allocation of $213 million and an additional $15.6 million for employee expenses associated with the Program's 283 staff. The objective of the audit was to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of selected Defence facilities operations, including tendering and contracting, with a view to adding value with practical recommendations for enhancing operations.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at a Seminar for ANAO staff on Working with Parliamentary Committees. Parliamentary Education Office. The Commonwealth Parliament. Canberra

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the National Indigenous Australians Agency’s (NIAA’s) processes to design and transition to a new remote employment program.

The Auditor-General wrote to the Minister for Finance on 26 June 2023 to advise of the outcomes of the 2022–23 annual performance statements audit program, and a proposal for expanding the program of audits in 2023–24 and the following two financial years. The Minister for Finance responded on 18 July 2023 supporting the proposal. The Minister for Finance's full response is provided below.

Effective, engaging and accessible communication remains an ongoing focus for the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO), given the important role that we play in providing assurance to the Parliament of Australia, and improving public sector administration.

In this edition of audit insights we discuss our external communication and engagement activities including website email subscriptions, our draft annual audit work program, contribute to an audit, our transparency and accountability initiatives, and social media.

The ANAO Corporate Plan 2023–24 outlines how we intend to deliver against our purpose over the next four years (2023–24 to 2026–27). The corporate plan is the ANAO’s primary planning document – it outlines our purpose; the dynamic environment in which we operate; our commitment to building capability; and the priorities, activities and performance measures by which we will be held to account. The corporate plan is complemented by the annual audit work program, which reflects the ANAO’s audit strategy for the coming year.

This corporate plan was updated on 26 March 2024:

• organisational structure changes — ‘Professional Services and Relationships Group’ to ‘Professional Services Group’
• Measure 3 — change type from ‘Efficiency / Qualitative’ to ‘Efficiency / Quantitative’
• Measure 15, reporting mechanism 4 — replaced text to reflect updated JCPAA feedback process
• Measure 16, reporting mechanism 3 — replaced references to ‘insights’ with ‘lessons’

The audit objective was to assess the design and implementation of the Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program (SLRIP).

The ANAO conducted separate audits of the Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS) Children and Schooling program and the Safety and Wellbeing program, the findings and conclusions of which are presented in this report. The objective of the audits was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s and the National Indigenous Australians Agency’s administration of the IAS Children and Schooling and the Safety and Wellbeing programs.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the design of the Growing Regions Program.

The objective of this audit was to assess key aspects of the establishment and administration of HIP by DEWHA as well as the transition of the program to DCCEE. All phases of the program were examined with particular emphasis for Phase 2 being given to:

• program design and implementation;
• registration and training of installers;
• payment of rebates; and
• the compliance strategy underpinning the program.