The objective of the audit was to assess the implementation and effectiveness of the enhanced grants administration requirements for:

• reporting to the Finance Minister on the awarding of grants within their own electorate by Ministers who are Members of the House of Representatives;
• reporting to the Finance Minister on instances where Ministers have decided to approve a particular grant which the relevant agency has recommended be rejected; and
• the website reporting of grants awarded.

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) publishes two reports annually addressing the outcomes of the financial statement audits of Australian government entities and the Consolidated Financial Statements (CFS) of the Australian Government to provide Parliament an independent examination of the financial accounting and reporting of public sector entities. This report focuses on the results of the interim audit phase, including an assessment of entities’ key internal controls, of the 2016–17 financial statements audits of 25 entities including all departments of state and a number of major Australian government entities.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented at the Public Seminar Series, Graduate Program in Public Policy, 'Democratic Governance: Improving the Institutions of Accountability', The Australian National University

This benchmarking study was a follow on from ANAO Report No. 14 of 2000-01, Benchmarking the Internal Audit Function, which was published in October 2000. The objective of the study was to obtain and report qualitative and quantitative data on aspects of the internal audit function and compare the public sector internal audit results with equivalent international data to identify better practices and highlight areas for improvement.

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) publishes two reports annually addressing the outcomes of the financial statement audits of Commonwealth entities, and the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Australian Government, to provide Parliament an independent examination of the financial accounting and reporting of public sector entities. This report focuses on the results of the interim audit phase, including an assessment of entities’ key internal controls, of the 2015–16 financial statements audits of 21 departments and other major General Government Sector (GGS) entities. These entities contribute 95 per cent of GGS revenues and expenses.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Director of National Parks’ management of Australia’s six Commonwealth national parks.

The audit reviewed the use and operation of performance information in service level agreements between Centrelink and three agencies; the Department of Social Security, the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs and the Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business. The objective of the audit was to establish whether the performance assessment framework specified in the agreements enabled the adequate assessment of achievements under purchaser/provider arrangements entered into by DSS, DEETYA and Centrelink.

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of DIMIA's management of its detention agreements with ACM to operate Australia's mainland immigration detention centres. In particular, the ANAO examined: DIMIA's strategic approach to the management and coordination of the contract; how DIMIA defined the services to be delivered by ACM; the systems in place to monitor and report against contract performance; the effectiveness of controls over contract payment arrangements; and DIMIA's management of infrastructure through the detention agreements.

The objective of this audit was to assess the effectiveness of the Department of Health’s implementation of the National Ice Action Strategy (NIAS).

The fifteenth Commonwealth Auditor-General of Australia, Grant Hehir, has prepared a mid-term report reflecting on his first five years in the role. The report presents a description and analysis of the role and impact of audit, as well as analysis of the financial audit and performance audit work of the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO). The report concludes with coverage of ANAO continuous improvement activities across audit quality, better communication, transparency, efficiency and workforce capability.