2007 reports

Liquor licensing by territorial authorities

November 2007: Results of the performance audit we carried out to examine how DLAs were giving effect to the provisions of the Sale of Liquor Act 1989 - controlling the sale and supply of liquor to reduce alcohol-related harm...

Effectiveness of controls over the taxi industry: Follow-up report

November 2007: Update on the action taken by Land Transport New Zealand to implement the 61 recommendations made in our 2005 report on the effectiveness of controls over the taxi industry...

Implementing the Māori Language Strategy

November 2007: We conducted a performance audit to see whether the lead agencies responsible for implementing the Strategy were carrying out their roles effectively...

Management of conflicts of interest in the three Auckland District Health Boards

November 2007: We looked at how conflicts of interest are dealt with in each of the three Auckland District Health Boards (the Auckland DHB, the Counties Manukau DHB, and the Waitemata DHB)...

Inquiry into Dunedin City Council and Otago Regional Council's funding of the proposed stadium

September 2007: Letter advising of the outcome of our inquiry into the funding arrangements of the Dunedin City Council and Otago Regional Council for a new multi-purpose stadium proposed by the trustees of the Carisbrook Stadium Charitable Trust...

Turning principles into action: A guide for local authorities on decision-making and consultation

September 2007: This guide sets out the Auditor-General’s and the local government sector’s views on current good practice. The guide updates our 1998 report, and should be useful for local authorities and the public...

Queenstown Lakes District Council - regulatory and resource management services

September 2007: Letter advising of the outcome of our inquiry into decisions made by the Queenstown Lakes District Council and the council-controlled organisation that it established to provide regulatory and resource management services for the district...

Effectiveness of the New Zealand Debt Management Office

June 2007: We looked at NZDMO’s performance in managing the Crown’s public debt and financial asset portfolios. This report is very technical because of the specialist functions undertaken by NZDMO. Non-technical readers can be assured that the audit did not identify any fundamental concerns with the performance of NZDMO...

Statements of corporate intent: Legislative compliance and performance reporting

June 2007: Statements of corporate intent are designed to have an important accountability function for many public entities. In this report we make some specific recommendations, which the Auditor-General encourages all public entities required to produce a statement of corporate intent to follow...

Department of Labour: Management of immigration identity fraud

June 2007: The Department has systems, processes, procedures, and relationships with relevant external agencies in place for the prevention, detection, and investigation of identity fraud within the skilled migrant and United Nations quota refugee entry categories. However, we noted several areas where improvements need to be made...

Assessing arrangements for jointly maintaining state highways and local roads

June 2007: Transit New Zealand and district councils have separate statutory responsibilities for state highways and local roads respectively. In three districts, they have joined forces in different ways to manage and maintain local roads and state highways. We looked at how well these collaborative agreements are working, and what cost savings and other benefits they bring...

Sustainable development: Implementing the Programme of Action

June 2007: The Programme of Action sought real change in the way central government works, including how it works with local government. Our audit identified some implications for central and local government in areas such as governance, management, and accountability...

New Zealand Customs Service: Collecting customs revenue

June 2007: We conducted a performance audit that assessed the Service’s arrangements for collecting customs duties, excise, and Goods and Services Tax on imported goods. The Service’s arrangements for collecting customs revenue are sound, and its information technology systems are performing effectively...

Ministry of Health and district health boards: Effectiveness of the "Get Checked" diabetes programme

June 2007: In order to make the programme more effective, improvements need to be made to the quality of programme data and how the data is used. Better use can be made of the data to inform the provision of diabetes care at primary and secondary care levels...

Guidance for members of local authorities about the law on conflicts of interest

June 2007: This is a guide to the law about conflicts of interest for members of the governing bodies of territorial authorities, regional councils, tertiary institutions, and those other public bodies that are covered by the Local Authorities (Members’ Interests) Act 1968...

Managing conflicts of interest: Guidance for public entities

June 2007: This guidance will be useful for all public entities, and relevant not only to people who exercise governance and management roles, but to everyone who works for or with a public entity...

New Zealand Qualifications Authority: Monitoring the quality of polytechnic education

May 2007: We carried out a performance audit to provide assurance to Parliament that NZQA, having delegated its quality assurance functions, has maintained enough oversight of this delegation and ensures that there are processes in place so that the Board is informed of any quality issues in the polytechnic sector...

Te Puni Kōkiri: Administration of grant programmes

May 2007: This audit examined the effectiveness and efficiency of the systems and processes Te Puni Kōkiri uses to administer its grant programmes. Several areas could be improved...

Waste management planning by territorial authorities

April 2007: All territorial authorities must adopt a waste management plan. In this audit, we checked whether all had done so, and whether six were implementing them. Some of the plans were out of date or did not contain all the information we expected...

Department of Internal Affairs: Effectiveness of controls on non-casino gaming machines

February 2007: This report focused on three main areas of controls - licensing of non-casino gaming machine operators and venues, operator and venue costs, and the distribution of funds to the community...

Controlling sensitive expenditure: Guidelines for public entities

February 2007: These guidelines are our view of good practice that public entities should use to control sensitive expenditure. The guidelines outline expectations and guidance that we may use when carrying out performance audits or inquiries, or in annual financial audits...