• The Auditor-General’s Resources
• Our Purpose
• Desired Situation, Impacts, and Outputs

The Auditor-General’s Resources

The office of Auditor-General is a statutory office created by Parliament in the Public Audit Act 2001. The Auditor-General is an officer of Parliament, and in that capacity is independent of executive government and answerable to Parliament. The Public Audit Act 2001 sets out the Auditor-General’s mandate.

The Auditor-General employs staff and engages private sector auditing firms to carry out his functions in relation to public entities. Staff are organised into the Office of the Auditor-General and Audit New Zealand. The current Auditor-General has recently introduced an audit resourcing model which replaces the previous contestable model for annual audit service delivery. The audit resourcing model allows the Auditor-General to choose the auditors to carry out annual audits. The introduction of this new way of working has created opportunities for greater collaboration. The Auditor-General wishes to harness the best people, skills, and resources to assist him achieve his outcomes.

The resources of the Auditor-General can be represented as follows:

Our Purpose

The Auditor-General exists as a constitutional safeguard to maintain the financial integrity of New Zealand’s parliamentary system of government.

In New Zealand’s system of government, Parliament is supreme – all authority for governmental activity ultimately stems from Parliament. Public sector organisations are therefore accountable to Parliament for their use of the public resources and powers that it has conferred on them.

Parliament also seeks independent assurance that public sector organisations are operating, and accounting for their performance, in accordance with Parliament’s intentions. There is also a need for independent assurance at the local level. Local authorities are accountable to the public for using the resources they fund through rates.

The Auditor-General provides this independent assurance both to Parliament and the public.

Our key concerns

Our five key concerns are a reflection of the mandate given to us in the Public Audit Act 2001 and, therefore, are central to the way in which all our auditors undertake any work. The first four concerns listed below derive from section 16 of the Act, which states that the Auditor-General may examine such matters at anytime through a performance audit. The fifth, our concern for accountability, is derived from section 15, which requires the Auditor-General to audit every public entity’s financial statements, accounts, and other information that a public entity is required to have audited.

• Performance: Have public entities undertaken activities in accordance with Parliament’s intentions, and in an effective and efficient manner?
• Authority: Have activities, resourcing and accountability requirements been undertaken within the authority granted by Parliament?
• Waste: Have resources been obtained and applied in an economical manner? That is, taxpayers’ dollars are not being wasted.
• Probity and Financial Prudence: Are entities meeting parliamentary and public expectations of an appropriate standard of behaviour in the public sector?
• Accountability: Have entities given full and accurate accounts of their activities, and of their compliance with Parliament’s intentions, through the annual reporting cycle? Are governance and management arrangements suitable to address the concerns identified above?

Desired Situation

Where Parliament and the public know whether public entities (including central and local government entities, and others such as schools) are –

• carrying out their activities effectively, efficiently, and appropriately;
• using public funds wisely; and
• reporting their performance accurately –

and know that, if this is not the case, we will tell them. In addition, entities should do this with a focus on continual improvement and innovation.

Impacts

To help ensure the desired situation is achieved, we aim to have three impacts:

• Improved public entity operations;
• Public entities that act legally, ethically, and with probity; and
• Parliamentary control of expenditure.

Outputs

Our outputs fall into two broad categories: assurance products (including inquiries); and advice and guidance.

Assurance products take the form of:

• Parliamentary and Public Reports – which contain those matters arising from audits that warrant the attention of Parliament or other constituencies.
• Controller Certifications – which ensure that funds released from the Crown Bank Account are for purposes consistent with Parliament’s intentions.
• Audit and Assurance Reports – which express opinions on the financial statements and results of the audit of the public entities within our portfolio, and also provide assurance on particular issues or transactions at the request of entities.

Flowing from the conduct of audits, we provide advice and guidance to:

• Parliamentary Select Committees
• Taxpayers and ratepayers
• The Government
• Audited entities
• Related professional bodies.