Australian National Audit Office

Last updated

Australian National Audit Office
Agency overview
Formed1901
JurisdictionFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
HeadquartersCanberra, Australian Capital Territory
Employees398 (estimate for 2023–24)
Annual budgetA$125.984 million (estimate for 2023–24)
Agency executive
  • Rona Mellor PSM,
    Acting Auditor-General
Website www.anao.gov.au
Footnotes
[1]

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) is the supreme audit institution of Australia, functioning as the national auditor for the Parliament of Australia and Government of Australia. It reports directly to the Australian Parliament via the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate. Administratively, the ANAO is located in the Prime Minister and Cabinet portfolio.

Contents

The current acting Auditor-General for Australia is Ms Rona Mellor PSM, who was appointed to act in the role commencing 16 February 2024 following the resignation of the fifteenth Auditor-General Grant Hehir. [2]

Role

The Australian National Audit Office is a specialist public sector agency that supports the Auditor-General of Australia, who is an independent officer of the Parliament of Australia. The main functions and powers of the Auditor-General under the Auditor-General Act 1997 (Cth) include auditing financial statements of Commonwealth agencies, authorities, companies and their subsidiaries in accordance with the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (Cth) and conducting performance audits which are tabled in Parliament. The Auditor-General may report their findings directly to Parliament or to a minister, on any important matter. [1]

In addition, the ANAO plays a leadership role in improving public administration and audit capability in Australia and overseas by publishing information such as Insights and deploying experienced staff to audit institutions in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. [1]

Auditor-General

The Auditor-General is appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, for a term of ten years.

The current acting Auditor-General is Ms Rona Mellor PSM, who was appointed to act in the role commencing 16 February 2024.

Below is a full list of Commonwealth auditors-general dating from 1902. [3]

NameDates
John William Israel ISO 1902 1926
Charles Cerutty CMG 1926 1935
Herbert Charles Brown CBE 1935 1938
Ralph Abercrombie OBE 1938 1946
Albert Charles Joyce CBE 1946 1951
James Brophy ISO 1951 1955
Harold Clive Newman CBE 1955 1961
Victor John William Skermer CBE 1961 1973
Duncan Robert Steele Craik CB OBE 1973 1981
Keith Frederick Brigden AO 1981 1985
John Vincent Monaghan AO 1985 1987
John Casey Taylor AO 1988 1995
Patrick Joseph Barrett AO 1995 2005
Ian McPhee AO PSM 2005 2015
Grant Hehir [4] 2015 2024

History

The Audit Act 1901 [5] was the fourth piece of legislation passed by the Parliament. The Audit Act provided a legislative basis for the financial management of Commonwealth finances and the audit of related accounts, it also provided a legal foundation for the appointment of an Auditor-General. [6] The first Auditor-General, John William Israel, [7] began establishing the Federal Audit Office in 1902 in Melbourne. [8] The office moved to Canberra in 1935, in line with Government policy at that time.

The Audit Act 1901 was amended in 1979 to allow the Audit Office to undertake performance audits ("efficiency reviews"). [9] Efficiency reviews, or performance audit, concerns the efficiency and effectiveness of a particular government activity.

The Audit Act 1901 was replaced with the Auditor-General Act 1997, [10] which came into effect on 1 January 1998. The main features of the new act included:

In 1986 the ANAO hosted XII INCOSAI, the twelfth triennial convention of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions.

The Australian National Audit Office also reviews Commonwealth Government agencies pursuant to the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (Cth) for the proper use and management of public money, public property and other Commonwealth resources; the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (Cth) that provides reporting, accountability and other rules for Commonwealth authorities and Commonwealth companies; and the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) for general corporate law.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government Accountability Office</span> US federal government agency

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal government of the United States. It identifies its core "mission values" as: accountability, integrity, and reliability. It is also known as the "congressional watchdog". The agency is headed by the Comptroller General of the United States. The comptroller general is appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. When a vacancy occurs in the office of the comptroller general, Congress establishes a commission to recommend individuals to the president. The commission consists of the following:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Financial audit</span> Type of audit

A financial audit is conducted to provide an opinion whether "financial statements" are stated in accordance with specified criteria. Normally, the criteria are international accounting standards, although auditors may conduct audits of financial statements prepared using the cash basis or some other basis of accounting appropriate for the organization. In providing an opinion whether financial statements are fairly stated in accordance with accounting standards, the auditor gathers evidence to determine whether the statements contain material errors or other misstatements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Audit Office (United Kingdom)</span> UK Parliamentary auditing body

The National Audit Office (NAO) is an independent Parliamentary body in the United Kingdom which is responsible for auditing central government departments, government agencies and non-departmental public bodies. The NAO also carries out value for money (VFM) audits into the administration of public policy.

The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive government consists of the prime minister and other ministers that currently have the support of a majority of members of the House of Representatives and in some contexts also includes the departments and other executive bodies that ministers oversee. The current government consists of Anthony Albanese and other Australian Labor Party ministers, in place since the 2022 federal election.

The Solicitor-General of Australia is the country's second highest-ranking law officer, after the Attorney-General for Australia. The position is often known as the Commonwealth Solicitor-General in order to distinguish it from the state solicitors-general. The current officeholder is Stephen Donaghue, who took office on 16 January 2017 following the resignation of Justin Gleeson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auditor General of Pakistan</span> Anti-corruption audit agency

The Auditor General of Pakistan is a government organization and the prime and Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) in the country for ensuring public accountability and fiscal transparency and oversight in governmental operations. The organization is expected to bring improvements in the financial discipline and internal control environment in the executive departments for minimizing the possibility of waste and fraud.

The Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador is appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council and confirmed by a resolution of the House of Assembly

<i>Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999</i> Environmental law in Australia

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999(Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and culturally significant places. Enacted on 17 July 2000, it established a range of processes to help protect and promote the recovery of threatened species and ecological communities, and preserve significant places from decline. The Act is as of June 2020 administered by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. Lists of threatened species are drawn up under the Act, and these lists, the primary reference to threatened species in Australia, are available online through the Species Profile and Threats Database (SPRAT).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Public Service</span> Federal civil service of Australia

The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the Government of Australia. The Australian Public Service was established at the Federation of Australia in 1901 as the Commonwealth Public Service and modelled on the Westminster system and United Kingdom's Civil Service. The establishment and operation of the Australian Public Service is governed by the Public Service Act 1999 of the Parliament of Australia as an "apolitical public service that is efficient and effective in serving the Government, the Parliament and the Australian public". The conduct of Australian public servants is also governed by a Code of Conduct and guided by the APS Values set by the Australian Public Service Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State auditor</span> Executive officer of a U.S. state

State auditors are fiscal officers lodged in the executive or legislative branches of U.S. state governments who serve as external auditors, financial controllers, bookkeepers, or inspectors general of public funds. The office of state auditor may be a creature of the state constitution or one created by statutory law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian corporate law</span>

Australian corporations law has historically borrowed heavily from UK company law. Its legal structure now consists of a single, national statute, the Corporations Act 2001. The statute is administered by a single national regulatory authority, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Department secretary</span> Leading public servant of a government department in Australia

In Australia, a departmental secretary is the most senior public servant of an Australian Government or state government department. They are typically responsible for the day-to-day actions of a department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suzanne Bump</span> American politician

Suzanne M. Bump is an American politician who served as Massachusetts State Auditor from 2011 to 2023, the first woman elected to this role in the state's history. She is also a former State Representative and state Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comptroller and Auditor General (Bangladesh)</span> Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of Bangladesh

The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh (C&AG) is the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of the country. Like the SAIs in many other countries across the world the institution is established by the Constitution of Bangladesh. This institute is responsible for maintaining accounts of the republic and audits all receipts and expenditure of the Government of Bangladesh, including those of bodies and authorities substantially financed by the government. The reports of the CAG are discussed by the Public Accounts Committee, which is a standing committee in the Parliament of Bangladesh.

The auditor-general of New South Wales helps the Parliament of New South Wales hold government accountable for its use of public resources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office of the Auditor-General (Kenya)</span>

The Office of the Auditor-General of Kenya is an Independent Office established under Article 229 of the Constitution of Kenya to audit Government Bodies and report on their management of allocated funds. The current Auditor-General is Nancy Gathungu.

The Office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions or, informally, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) is an independent prosecuting service and government agency within the portfolio of the Attorney-General of Australia, as a part of the Attorney-General's Department. It was established by the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1983 (Cth) and began its operations in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office of the Auditor General (Nepal)</span>

Office of the Auditor General (OAGN) is a constitutional body and the supreme audit institution of Nepal. It derives its mandate from Article 241 of the Constitution of Nepal and Audit Act, 2075. The Auditor General is empowered to undertake audits of Office of the President and Vice-President, Supreme Court, Federal Parliament, Provincial Assemblies, Provincial Governments, Constitutional bodies or their offices, courts, the Office of the Attorney General and the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police as well as of all other government offices and courts with due consideration given to the regularity, economy, efficiency, effectiveness and the propriety of government expenditures.

John Casey Taylor was a senior Australian public servant. He was Secretary of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs from 1981 to 1984.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) is the constitutional officer responsible for public audit in Ireland. The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General is the public audit body for the Republic of Ireland and is headed by the C&AG.

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Auditor-General Annual Report 2011−2012 (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. 2012. ISBN   978-0-642-81266-7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 April 2013.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  2. "Statement on the resignation of the Auditor-General for Australia, Mr Grant Hehir". www.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  3. History of the ANAO, Australian National Audit Office, 2014, archived from the original on 28 March 2014
  4. "The Auditor-General". Parliament of Australia. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  5. Audit Act 1901 (Cth)
  6. "Report 419: Inquiry into the Auditor-General Act 1997" (PDF). Canberra: Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit. 2010. p. 1.
  7. "History of the ANAO". Canberra: Australian National Audit Office. 2011. p. 1. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  8. Wanna, John; Ryan, Christine (2003). "A Reactive Administrative Culture? The Legacy of Australia's first Auditor-General on the Australian Audit Office" (PDF). Canberra: Australian Journal of Politics and History. p. 5.
  9. McPhee, Ian (14 October 2011), Senate Occasional Lecture: The Evolving Role and Mandate of the ANAO Since Federation (PDF), p. 6, archived from the original (PDF) on 11 February 2014
  10. Auditor-General Act 1997 (Cth)
  11. "Report 386: Review of the Auditor-General Act 1997" (PDF). Canberra: Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit. 2001. p. 3.