Auditor-General_of_Australia

Australian National Audit Office

Australian National Audit Office

Supreme audit institution of Australia

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.

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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]

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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:

  • provisions that strengthened the independence of the Auditor-General and the Australian National Audit Office;
  • the strengthening of the Auditor-General's role as an external auditor of Commonwealth agencies, authorities, companies and their subsidiaries, including a comprehensive mandate to conduct, with some limited exceptions, financial statement and performance audits of all government entities; and
  • clarification of the Auditor-General's mandate and powers.[11]

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.

References

  1. [1]
    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. [2]
    "Statement on the resignation of the Auditor-General for Australia, Mr Grant Hehir". www.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  3. [3]
    History of the ANAO, Australian National Audit Office, 2014, archived from the original on 28 March 2014
  4. [4]
    "The Auditor-General". Parliament of Australia. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  5. [5]
    Audit Act 1901 (Cth)
  6. [6]
    "Report 419: Inquiry into the Auditor-General Act 1997" (PDF). Canberra: Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit. 2010. p. 1.
  7. [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. [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. [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. [10]
    Auditor-General Act 1997 (Cth)
  11. [11]
    "Report 386: Review of the Auditor-General Act 1997" (PDF). Canberra: Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit. 2001. p. 3.
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