Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda

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AUDITOR-GENERAL AMENDMENT BILL 2011

                      2010-11




THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA




           HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES




      AUDITOR GENERAL AMENDMENT BILL 2011




           EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM




              Circulated by authority of
                 Robert Oakeshott
AUDITOR GENERAL AMENDMENT BILL


OUTLINE


This Bill is based on recommendations from the Joint Public Accounts and Audit
Committee report 419 and allows for expanded jurisdiction for the Auditor General.


This Bill expands the ability of the Auditor General to "follow the money trail" from the point
of receipt to the point of delivery and will improve accountability and efficiency in the use of
taxpayers' dollars.


Currently the Auditor General is limited in their jurisdiction in:


   (1) Auditing government business enterprises;
   (2) Money allocated to states and territories through national partnership agreements
       and other means;
   (3) Monies received by contractors


The Bill provides that the Auditor General must annually audit a sample of agenices'
performance indicators and the quality of reporting against those indicators, having regard
to the Parliament's priorities for such audits as identified by the Joint Committee of Public
Accounts and Audits.


The Bill provides that the Auditor General is able to conduct assurance reviews other than
audits, and that the Auditor General's full information-gathering powers apply to such
reviews where identified as priorities of the Parliament.


The Bill modernises the language in the Auditor General Act to stipulate that the Auditor
General sets auditing and "assurance" standards.


The Bill makes clear that the Auditor General's information-gathering powers are not
limited by a claim that information or a document is the subject of legal professional
privilege.
FINANCIAL IMPACT


The Bill will have no financial impact.


NOTES ON CLAUSES


Each clause performs the role of expanding the jurisdiction of the Auditor General under
the Auditor General Act 1997.


There is no retrospective element.

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