30 August 2007

A YEAR OF CHANGE FOR THE OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL

Delivering his first annual report since his formal appointment in June, the new Auditor General, Mr. Colin Murphy has praised the legacy of his predecessor, Des Pearson and committed to continuing to serve Parliament in a forthright, credible and relevant manner.

In addition to the appointment of a new Auditor General, 2006-07 saw the introduction of the Auditor General Act 2006 (AG Act) and the Financial Management Act 2006. This gave the Office of the Auditor General strengthened power and status with enhanced independence, a stronger relationship with Parliament and widened powers to follow the flow of money through to the private sector.

The Acts will provide greater transparency when the government sector and private sector combine to do business, contract work or perform work on behalf of public sector agencies. There are also stronger natural justice processes for performance examinations that require the Office to include responses from the agencies.

In terms of productivity and performance, 2006-07 was an outstanding year. 11 reports were tabled in Parliament that contained 108 matters of significance arising from 16 performance and accountability examinations, a result well up above the offices’ annual target of 100.

In 2006-07 the reports that generated the greatest public interest were:

• The first public sector report which found that there needs to be improvement in managing the performance of CEO’s in WA’s public sector. The audit found that while the current CEO performance management arrangements incorporated a number of good practice elements, some parts are poor and compromise the overall effectiveness of the process. He identified some opportunities for improvement, such as keeping complainants better informed about procedures and periodic independent reviews of consumer protection investigations to assure a better quality service.
• The management of WA’s wetlands report highlighted the need for greater commitment in the management of WA’s internationally recognised wetlands. The report showed that an increase in accountability was necessary to maintain and protect a valuable part of our natural ecological system.
• The shared corporate services project which proposed to transfer financial and human resource transactional functions from individual agencies and bring them together to be delivered by three shared services centres under service level agreements.

Public interest is also gauged by the number of downloads of reports from the Office of the Auditor General website.

To date, the most downloaded report was a report on deliberate self-harm in young people. This report was completed in November 2001 as part of a study of the increase in youth suicide in rural areas.

The annual report also outlines significant issues and trends for the Office. Public and Parliamentary interest in public sector performance is an area of high interest according to the Office of the Auditor General.

“In recent years we have noticed an increase in the number of enquiries and complaints received about public sector management,” commented Mr Colin Murphy.

“We are now tracking special investigations because we foresee this service growing still further as Parliament’s, and the public’s interest in holding the government accountable continues to grow.”

Shared Corporate services are a trend and the Office is reappraising its approach to auditing. In 2006-07 the focus was on evaluating information systems and as a result new audit tools were developed and implemented. Work on approaches to managing shared services audits will continue in 2007-08.

In closing his report, Mr Murphy committed to building on the strategies of his predecessor with the clear aim of ensuring the Office of the Auditor General remains at the forefront of performance auditing and builds upon its already impressive international reputation.

Ends/.

Media Contact: Sandra Devahasdin
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