The Controller function provides independent assurance to Parliament that the expenses and capital expenditure of government departments and officers of Parliament have been incurred for purposes that are lawful and within the scope, amount, and period of the appropriation or other authority.¹

The Controller function supports the important constitutional principle that the Government cannot spend, borrow, or impose a tax without the consent of Parliament.

The main features of the Controller function are:

• The Treasury must supply monthly statements to the Auditor-General, to enable the Auditor-General to examine whether expenses and capital expenditure have been incurred in keeping with appropriations or other authority.
• The Auditor-General can direct a Minister to report to the House of Representatives if the Auditor-General has reason to believe that any expenditure that has been incurred is unlawful or applied for a purpose that is not within the scope, amount, or period of an appropriation or other statutory authority.
• The Auditor-General can stop payments from a Crown bank account or a departmental bank account, to prevent money being paid out of the account that may be applied for a purpose that is unlawful or that is inconsistent with any appropriation or other statutory authority.

1: The Public Finance Amendment Act 2004 made a number of significant changes to the Controller function to modernise and strengthen it. These changes took effect from 1 July 2005 and are explained in our report Central Government: Results of the 2003-04 audits.

Page last updated: 5 September 2008