Who does the work on behalf of the Auditor-General?

The Auditor-General employs staff in two business units – the Office of the Auditor-General and Audit New Zealand – and contracts with private sector accounting firms.

Office of the Auditor-General

The Office of the Auditor-General is responsible for:

• planning the overall work programme for the organisation as a whole;
• carrying out performance audits, special studies, and inquiries;
• planning other audit work;
• Parliamentary reporting and advice;
• setting auditing standards (the Auditor-General’s auditing standards);¹
• allocating annual audits to appointed auditors;
• monitoring audit fees to ensure that they are fair and reasonable;
• overseeing auditors’ performance; and
• carrying out quality assurance reviews of all work done on behalf of the Auditor-General, including annual audits by appointed auditors.

Audit New Zealand

Audit New Zealand is responsible for:

• carrying out annual audits on the Auditor-General’s behalf; and
• providing other auditing and assurance services to public entities.

Private sector accounting firms

Auditors from private sector accounting firms are appointed to carry out annual audits on the Auditor-General’s behalf.

1: The Public Audit Act 2001 requires the Auditor-General to report these auditing standards to Parliament at least once every three years and to describe significant changes to the standards in any year in the Auditor-General's annual report.

Page last updated: 29 April 2010