ABSTRACT
External audit of public sector financial statements and performance is a basic and long-standing feature of Australian public administration and is widespread internationally. A key means of holding audit offices to account in some jurisdictions is a requirement under legislation to review their performance at regular intervals. This chapter analyses four recent Australian statutory reviews and presents insights into the reviews and audit offices involved. It looks mainly at the performance audit role as this is the area that typically is the predominant interest of parliamentarians, the media and wider community.
The analysis finds that the reviews were broadly positive about audit office performance and identified areas for improvement that included limitations in how some audit offices prioritise their performance audit work and changes to legislation and practices to strengthen their independence. It also identifies the potential for future reviews to focus on the extent to which audit offices are addressing the factors underlying public sector performance problems, how they assess and report their performance and how they contribute to learning and improvement across the wider public sector.
