ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the history of performance information auditing, discussing its genesis and what is driving its development. It examines the practice of performance information audit in relation to the traditional audit practice of providing financial audit opinions. The chapter presents and draws on the experiences of Western Australia and Canada. It addresses the question of where this audit practice is headed and if it all makes a difference. Through performance information auditing, the auditor provides assurance regarding the performance information of the reporting organization, with a focus on the quality of the information reported. Performance information audit follows in that tradition. In the New Zealand central government context the performance information subject to audit has emphasized outputs rather than outcomes, this arising from a public sector management framework that sees agencies responsible for outputs and the government, as a whole, responsible for outcomes.
