• The inquiry role
• What is an inquiry?
• What powers does the Auditor-General have?
• What we don’t do
• Examples of inquiries
• How to request an inquiry
• What will happen when you write to us?
• Exploring other avenues

The inquiry role

Impartial and independent investigating and reporting

The Auditor-General is authorised under the Public Audit Act 2001 to inquire into any matter concerning a public entity’s use of its resources, either on request or on his own initiative. We (the Office of the Auditor-General) undertake inquiries on the Auditor-General's behalf.

Some inquiries are straightforward, and are concluded by us writing to the public entity concerned and the original correspondent (if any) discussing our findings. However, other inquiries address more complex matters. We may, if the issues are significant, produce a public report that is presented to Parliament, a Minister, or a local authority.

What is an inquiry?

An inquiry may involve looking into financial, accountability, governance or conduct issues in a public entity. An inquiry will usually question whether the public entity:

• applied its resources effectively and efficiently and without waste,
• complied with its legal obligations,
• acted honestly and with integrity in its dealings, and
• managed its finances prudently.

The concerns may have been raised by a member of the public, a member of Parliament, another organisation, or the Auditor-General. However, we are not a complaints agency. No one can make the Auditor-General investigate a matter.

When a matter is referred to him, the Auditor-General decides whether to initiate an inquiry. We may decide not to look into it (for example, because we are not the appropriate authority to do so), we might refer it to our appointed auditor to consider during the next annual audit of the public entity, or we may consider the matter when we plan our performance audits.

If we decide to undertake an inquiry, we will also determine its scope. We might decide to look into only some of the concerns raised by the correspondent, or consider additional issues.

We then gather evidence and information, which we analyse to determine whether the entity has acted correctly and appropriately in the context of its legislative framework, applicable policies, and best practice.

We conduct our inquiries in private. However, we give all directly affected parties an opportunity to be heard, including the opportunity to comment on the factual accuracy and balance of our findings. We consider all such comments. However, because the Auditor-General is independent, we do not need the agreement or approval of the affected parties, or anyone else, before we confirm our findings.

The conclusions that we reach are our own.

What powers does the Auditor-General have?

The Auditor-General has broad powers when undertaking an inquiry, including:

• requiring a public entity or any person to provide documents, information or explanations,
• requiring any person to give evidence (which may be on oath and may be self-incriminating),
• examining a private bank account in some circumstances, and
• entering premises to obtain evidence.

Although the Auditor-General has wide powers to request information, we decide what information we disclose or include in our report, subject to our legal obligations of fairness and natural justice.

The Auditor-General is not subject to the Official Information Act 1982 and cannot be compelled to disclose information obtained during an inquiry. However, the Auditor-General is subject to the Privacy Act 1993.

What we don’t do

Private entities

The Auditor-General can only inquire into the actions of public entities (see section 5 of the Public Audit Act 2001). We cannot inquire into private organisations, including organisations which may have received funding from a public entity. However, we can look at the activities of a public entity in contracting with or directly funding a private entity, and the manner in which the public entity has monitored the private entity’s use of public funds.

Policy decisions

The Auditor-General does not have any authority to question matters of government or local authority policy. Making policy decisions is a job for elected representatives. For example, we would not inquire into a decision by the Government or a local authority to acquire or dispose of a particular asset. We could, however, consider the extent to which the public entity had implemented that decision in accordance with the applicable policy.

Judicial function

The Auditor-General does not have a judicial function, so we cannot make findings on whether an entity has acted lawfully or whether an individual is culpable for a particular action. The most we can do is express an opinion. We cannot overturn an entity’s decisions or actions. That is for the courts through the judicial review process. We also cannot provide any redress or remedies in respect of particular concerns, or direct a public entity to act on our findings or recommendations.

Examples of inquiries

Some examples of inquiries we have reported publicly on are:

• Inquiry into the Ministry of Health’s contracting with Allen and Clarke Policy and Regulatory Specialists Limited
• Inquiry into certain aspects of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa
• Inquiry into the sale of Paraparaumu Aerodrome by the Ministry of Transport
• Cambridge High School’s management of conflicts of interest in relation to Cambridge International (NZ) Limited.

Click here to access all our publicly available inquiry reports.

How to request an inquiry

Step 1 - Raise the matter with the entity

If you are concerned about a public entity’s use of its resources, first take your concern to the relevant public entity and seek its response. We will usually only inquire into a matter after there has been an attempt to raise the matter with the public entity concerned.

Step 2 - Are we the best authority to consider your concerns?

Before writing to us, consider if we are best suited to look into your concerns. There may be another authority that is more appropriate or better able to help you. You might also want to contact any central government department that has responsibility for the area (such as the Ministry of Education if the matter involves a school or a tertiary education institution).

Step 3 - Write to us

If you are not satisfied with the public entity’s response and you wish to raise the matter with us, please provide your request to us in writing. Provide us with as much information as you can, including:

• a factual description of the matter, and what your specific concerns are,
• what steps you have taken to raise your concerns or resolve these issues, including who you have been in contact with and the outcome of this,
• why you think the matter should be of concern to the Auditor-General, and
• copies of any relevant correspondence or documents that may be helpful to us in understanding and considering the issues.

Send the information to:

The Controller and Auditor-General
Office of the Auditor-General
Private Box 3928
Wellington.

What will happen when you write to us?

We will carefully consider the issues and decide whether to initiate an inquiry. We will consider many factors, including:

• is the matter within our mandate under the Public Audit Act 2001?
• has the correspondent already taken reasonable steps to clarify the matter or raise it directly with the entity concerned, without effect?
• does the matter appear to be of substance and relevant to the Auditor-General’s role?
• is the matter reasonably recent?
• do we have the expertise and resources to look into the matter?

If we decide not to initiate an inquiry, we will let you know why. We may refer you to another, more appropriate authority.

If we decide to initiate an inquiry, it is our policy to keep your identity confidential, unless this is impractical in the circumstances, you agree otherwise, or your identity is already known to the entity. We will not provide the entity with a copy of your correspondence with us, because the decision to undertake an inquiry and the terms on which we do so are our own.

Exploring other avenues

Other authorities may be able to help you:

• State Services Commission: concerns about the performance of Public Service departments, and integrity and conduct in the Public Service and the wider State services.
• Office of the Ombudsmen:
  • complaints under the Ombudsmen Act 1975 about “matters of administration”, such as an allegation of unfair treatment by a public sector organisation or other matter that affects an individual personally,
  • reviews of decisions under the Official Information Act 1982 or Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, such as a request for access to official information that has been declined.
• Police or Serious Fraud Office: fraud, which can include matters of criminal misconduct involving a public office holder, and related criminal proceedings.
• Privacy Commissioner: complaints about interferences with privacy under the Privacy Act 1993, such as refusal of access to personal information.
• Human Rights Commission: complaints about discrimination, concerning grounds such as age, ethnic origin, and disability.
• Health and Disability Commissioner: complaints of breaches of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights, concerning both publicly owned and private providers.
• Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment: concerns that the environment may be, or has been, adversely affected.
• Commerce Commission: anti-competitive behaviour by businesses, and false or misleading trading practices.

Page last updated: 07 March 2007