Formed 1901 | Jurisdiction Australia | |
 | ||
Employees 348 (estimate for 2013–14) Annual budget A$77.651 million (2012) Agency executive Grant Hehir,
Auditor-General Parent agency Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | ||
The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) is 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 Auditor-General of Australia is Grant Hehir.
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 its findings directly to Parliament or to a Minister, on any important matter.
In addition, the ANAO plays a leadership role in improving public administration and audit capability in Australia and overseas by publishing information such as better practice guides and deploying experienced staff to audit institutions in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
Auditor-General
The Auditor-General is appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister, for a term of ten years.
The current Auditor-General is Grant Hehir, who was appointed on 11 June 2015.
Below is a full list of Commonwealth Auditors-General dating from 1902.
History
The Audit Act 1901 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. The first Auditor-General, John William Israel, began establishing the Federal Audit Office in 1902 in Melbourne. 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"). 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, 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.