Improving trust, promoting value: We give New Zealanders an independent view of public sector spending and performance
Integrity framework launched!
The second edition of our integrity framework, Putting integrity at the heart of how public organisations operate, has been launched.
The integrity framework is a tool to support the development of an integrity strategy and work programme that can help an organisation to understand its integrity risks and then identify and implement clear protective factors. It is designed to build on a public organisation’s own cultural and ethical values, emphasise the importance of ethical leadership and “tone from the top”, and enhance internal controls and business practices.
Operating with integrity will, in turn, continue to protect and improve the trust and confidence that New Zealanders have in the public sector.
Our recent work
Our audit of the Government’s financial statements and our Controller function
Our report describes the results of our audit of the Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand. It also reports on the findings from our Controller work (where we monitor government spending to check whether it is in line with parliamentary authority).
Review of Operation Respect’s Strategy and Plan
We have carried out an audit of the New Zealand Defence Force's new strategy for Operation Respect, and its implementation plan, to assess whether NZDF is now better positioned to meet Operation Respect’s objectives.
Responses to our recommendations about Whānau Ora
The public organisations assessed themselves as having partially or substantially completed their responses to our recommendations. In our view, there is still substantial work required. Overall, it is not clear whether their intentions will result in meaningful action or be effective in expanding the use of whānau-centred approaches.
Our work in progress
Needs of people in immediate housing need
We are looking at how well three government departments understand the needs of people in immediate housing need and connect them to the appropriate support.
Expected in the third quarter of 2025.
Planning for flood protection
We are looking at how Waikato Regional Council and Tasman District Council agree on the levels of flood protection each will provide, and how well they are planning to achieve those levels using flood protection infrastructure.
Expected in mid 2025.
Public transport in Tāmaki Makaurau
We are looking at how well Auckland Transport works to ensure the reliability of bus, train, and ferry services in Tāmaki Makaurau and how it communicates with the public about the reliability of those services.
Expected in early 2025.
What we do
The Controller and Auditor-General is an Officer of Parliament. This means he is independent of the Government and can't be directed by whichever political party is holding power.
The Auditor-General has two business units – the Office of the Auditor-General (this site) and Audit New Zealand (auditnz.parliament.nz).
Together, our work gives Parliament and the public an independent view of how public organisations are operating. That independence, along with watching the spending, is why the Auditor-General is sometimes called the public's watchdog.
Here's the video transcript, and there's more information in the About us section.
Read about our priorities
Strengthening our core assurance role
We want to ensure that the public audit system is sustainable in the long term, that we can continue to deliver our mandatory audit and assurance services, and that we can modernise our audit function and respond to changes affecting the audit profession.
Increasing our impact with public organisations
We want to increase our impact by increasing our focus on topics that are important to public accountability. There are key stakeholders in the public accountability system who can influence change, so we will consider how we continue to engage with, support, and build relationships with them to maximise the impact of our work.
Enhancing our impact in te ao Māori
We want to continue to build trust and confidence among Māori in our role, and for our work to have increased relevance to, and impact for, Māori. We also want to influence the public sector to improve the public accountability system to reflect the uniqueness of New Zealand.
Building on our reputation as a source of trusted information
We want to build on our reputation as a source of trusted information about public sector performance and accountability, which the public and Parliament can use to help hold public organisations to account.
What does an auditor do?
An auditor checks that information organisations report annually is reliable, and lets us know if it isn’t. (Here’s the video transcript.)
What is the Controller function?
The Controller checks that money is spent lawfully, and can "turn off the money tap" if it isn't. (Here's the video transcript.)
Our blog posts
Our staff are regularly blogging about the interesting and thought-provoking aspects of their work...
Data (including fraud notifications and data on health and vocational education reforms)
We're working to make some of our data available online. We welcome your feedback.
Resources for students and teachers
We've turned some of our reports into teaching resources, mainly for social studies. Check them out!
