In view of the large amount of public money being paid to the states in GST revenue, the objective of the audit was to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of processes and procedures used by Treasury in making payments of GST revenues and associated amounts to the States.

Mr P.J. Barrett (AM) - Auditor-General for Australia, presented to the Australian Society of CPAs, Canberra

The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of Defence's procurement and contract management for the provision of Garrison Support Services.

The Department of Defence spends some $2.4 billion a year on major equipment acquisition projects. The audit objective was to assess Defence's arrangements for higher-level management of major equipment acquisition projects. The principal aim was to formulate practical recommendations that would both enhance Defence's management of major acquisition projects and provide a degree of assurance about its ongoing apparent capacity to do so efficiently and effectively.

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 objectives of the audit were to: assess compliance with the Stevedoring Levy (Collection) Act 1998 and Stevedoring Levy (Imposition) Act 1998 and other relevant legislation; assess the effectiveness of the administrative and financial controls regarding the collection of the Stevedoring Levy by DoTRS and the provision of redundancy payments to eligible employees of stevedoring companies and the management of the funding of those payments by way of borrowings by MIFCo; and review the administrative efficiency of the redundancy payment and Stevedoring Levy collection aspects of the waterfront redundancy scheme.

This first Assurance Report on the status of selected Defence equipment acquisition projects, which has the support of the Parliament and the Government, represents a substantial step towards improving transparency and public accountability in major Defence procurement projects. It is the pilot of an annual Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) Major Projects Report, and was developed in conjunction with the DMO. It covers the cost, schedule and capability progress achieved by nine DMO projects, which had an approved budget totalling $13.535 billion as at 30 June 2008.

This report is organised into three parts. Part 1 comprises an ANAO overview and Auditor–General's Foreword. Part 2 comprises the Major Projects Report prepared by DMO, including an overview reflecting DMO's perspective on their business and on the nine projects included in the. Part 3 incorporates the Auditor-General's Review Report, the statement by the CEO DMO, and the information prepared by DMO in the form of standardised Project Data Summary Sheets covering each of the nine pilot projects.

In the next 12 months, the ANAO will review 15 DMO projects planned for inclusion in the 2008-09 DMO Major Projects Report, with the number of projects rising to 30 projects in subsequent years. The ANAO will also work with DMO to refine the approach adopted for providing assurance on each project's progress toward achieving Final Operational Capability. The ANAO will also consider the inclusion of an analysis of each project's emerging trends, as appropriate, to complement DMO's intention to provide improved analysis of project management performance regarding all projects included in the Major Projects Report.

This report focuses on the results of the interim audits, including an assessment of entities’ key internal controls, supporting the 2018–19 financial statements audits. It examines 26 entities, including all departments of state and a number of major Australian government entities. The entities included in the report are selected on the basis of their contribution to the income, expenses, assets and liabilities of the 2017–18 Consolidated Financial Statements of the Australian Government (CFS). Significant and moderate findings arising from the interim audits are reported to the responsible Minister(s), and all findings are reported to those charged with governance of each entity.

The Australian National Audit Office has undertaken a pilot project to assess the status of the Australian Government performance measurement and reporting framework as a basis for implementation of a future program of audits of entities’ key performance indicators, and to develop a suitable audit methodology. This report presents a summary of the work completed to date.

The audit objective was to examine how effectively the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) manages the importation of live animals into Australia.