Results of the 2015 school audits
December 2016: We reported on the results of the 2015 school audits to the Ministry of Education on 21 October 2016. This information, on the completion of the 2015 school audits and the types of opinions we issued, was included in our report to the Ministry of Education.
Central government: Results of the 2015/16 audits
December 2016: This report discusses the 2016 audit findings of, and the opinion we issued for, the financial statements of the Government. For the first time this year, we have included “key audit matters” in our audit report on the financial statements of the Government. Reporting on key audit matters is a new requirement for selected entities under a new international auditing standard. We decided to apply this standard to the audit of the Government’s 2015/16 financial statements because we considered this to be of use to the readers of these accounts. We have produced what we believe is the world’s first audit report on government financial statements to include a section on key audit matters.
Governance of the National Security System
November 2016: In our view, the governance arrangements for responding to national security events and emergencies are well established, fundamentally sound, and fit for purpose. The response to Operation Concord was an example of the National Security System working well. New Zealand’s security system has some of the characteristics of a world-class system.
Assessing the performance of the Office of the Auditor-General against International Standards
November 2016: This report presents the overall results of our own assessment using the Supreme Audit Institution Performance Measurement Framework. Both this and the detailed report have been peer reviewed by the INTOSAI Development Initiative. The assessment has identified strengths in the Office's operating environment, audit work, and management, as well as areas for further attention.
Detailed assessment of the New Zealand Office of the Auditor-General against International Standards
November 2016: This report presents in detail the overall results of our own assessment using the the Supreme Audit Institution Performance Measurement Framework. The assessment has identified strengths in the Office's operating environment, audit work, and management, as well as areas for further attention.
Inquiry into the Saudi Arabia Food Security Partnership
October 2016: We reviewed the history of why payments were made, the actions of New Zealand ministers and officials, the arrangements that the payments related to, and what has been achieved.
Summary of our Education for Māori reports
October 2016: Every child in New Zealand deserves to thrive physically, academically, socially, and culturally. However, too many Māori children leave school without the education they deserve.
Watercare Services Limited: Review of service performance
October 2016: This follow-up article describes the progress that Watercare has made in response to our 2014 recommendations.
Annual Report 2015/16
September 2016, ISSN 1179-8963: The Annual Report 2015/16 reports on our achievements and progress towards our outcomes and strategic intentions during 2015/16.
Using Gateway reviews to support public sector projects
September 2016: In our view, Gateway reviews have delivered benefits to individual projects and programmes. Project sponsors have reported that they find Gateway reviews beneficial.
Department of Corrections: Managing offenders to reduce reoffending - Progress in responding to the Auditor-General's recommendations
September 2016: This follow-up article describes the Department's progress in responding to the recommendations we made in our December 2013 report.
Auckland Council: How it deals with complaints
August 2016: As part of our periodic reviews of the Council's service performance, we audited the Council's complaints-handling process. Overall, the Council has a focus on resolving complaints, and most are dealt with in a timely manner. But it could do better in some aspects – in particular, collecting information from the complainant's perspective.
Health sector: Results of the 2014/15 audits
August 2016: In general, district health boards are doing reasonably well at marshalling their resources for current operational needs. However, our analysis of their financial statements for successive years suggests that their planning for the future and ability to deal with uncertainty or changing circumstances is limited.
Annual Plan 2016/17
June 2016: The Annual Plan 2016/17 sets out our proposed work programme for 2016/17. Our 2016/17 Information theme reflects the increasing importance of information to the effective and efficient delivery of public services now and in the future.
Energy sector: Results of the 2014/15 audits
June 2016: Most companies in the energy sector, such as electricity distribution businesses, are monopolies and are subject to regulation. We are often told that the regulations are complex and require significant effort to ensure staff understand the detail of the regulations. It is also important that auditors have a good understanding of the regulations. Some electricity distribution businesses have made, or are planning to make, investments seeking revenue from sources beyond their core business, for example investment in telecommunications fibre networks and commercial property. The governors of these businesses need to be cautious and undertake appropriate due diligence so they fully understand the risks of their potential investments.
Collecting and using information about suicide
June 2016: Public agencies collect and use some information well to help them support those affected by suicide and find ways to prevent it. For example, reliable and detailed mortality statistics are kept on suicides and there is a rapid advice system in place for coroners to tell district health boards about suspected suicides in their area.
Home-based support services for older people: Follow-up audit
June 2016: The Ministry’s progress in implementing national home-care quality indicators has been slow and it is currently working to produce a better set of indicators. The Ministry has strengthened infrastructure that should help it to better collect and use performance information to monitor the quality of home-care once national indicators are in place.
Crown Fibre Holdings Limited: Managing the first phase of rolling out ultra-fast broadband
June 2016: Crown Fibre has managed commercial partner rollout performance effectively, and has implemented a testing programme to assure quality. The proportion of the network that has been built and passed the quality testing programme so far is ahead of schedule and the first phase of the roll-out looks likely to be delivered on time and within budget by December 2019. The network looks likely to meet all of the targets set by the Government.
District health boards’ response to asset management requirements since 2009
June 2016: We found that standard asset management practices, like knowing, monitoring and reporting on the condition and performance of assets and having integrated asset, service, and financial plans do not seem to be standard practice for more than half of DHBs. We also found that, since 2009, fewer than half of DHBs showed indicators of asset spending and building up money to pay for future assets at levels we think characterise good financial and asset management.
Education for Māori: Using information to improve Māori educational success
June 2016: This report focuses on the use of information across the education sector to support Māori educational success. Although Māori educational achievement is improving overall, results for Māori students from roughly similar communities, being educated in roughly similar settings and circumstances, are very different. Schools must collect, analyse, and use information about Māori students to ensure that they are doing everything they can to give Māori students the best chance at a great education.
Immigration New Zealand: Supporting new migrants to settle and work
June 2016: The progress made so far looks promising but it is too early to say how settlement outcomes of new migrants have been affected ‒ in particular, whether the barriers faced by secondary skilled migrants and temporary work visa holders have reduced. The Ministry needs to keep monitoring, and reporting on the effectiveness of settlement services. This is to ensure that resources are targeted where they are most needed, and that the settlement needs of new migrants are met.
Effectiveness and efficiency of arrangements to repair pipes and roads in Christchurch - follow-up audit
May 2016: We found out that the public entities have made good progress in addressing the recommendations that we made in our 2013 report. SCIRT has made solid progress in repairing damaged pipes and roads. Also, the public entities have improved the governance arrangements over SCIRT. These improvements include clearer roles and responsibilities, more effective guidance and clearer direction to SCIRT, and improvements in reporting.
“Joining the dots” – insights from the 2014/15 annual audits
May 2016: We sent a letter to chief executives of government departments and Crown entities, describing the insights we gained from the 2014/15 audits and encouraging the chief executives to see where they could improve how they were operating...
Reflections from our audits: Governance and accountability
April 2016: This report reflects on common issues and challenges, and examples of good and emerging practice that public entities can use to help improve their governance and accountability arrangements.
Local government: Results of the 2014/15 audits
April 2016: Communities continue to expect that their council will manage spending well and keep rate increases to a minimum. But the demand for services, and the need for investment in infrastructure, is generally not reducing. Councils must think about the long term and consider how to adapt.
Department of Conservation: Prioritising and partnering to manage biodiversity
March 2016: We assess the Department of Conservation’s progress in implementing our recommendations from our 2012 report, in which we looked at how well it was working with other agencies and groups to manage biodiversity.
Public sector accountability through raising concerns
March 2016: In this report, we discuss how easily people can make their complaints and raise their concerns through various channels and what we have learned about the strengths of, and challenges facing, six particular inquiry agencies. The inquiry agencies we looked at are facing increasing challenges, including increased demand for their services, increased complexity of issues brought to them, and resource constraints.
A review of public sector financial assets and how they are managed and governed
March 2016: This report discusses the increasing significance of public sector financial assets and, using a sample of public entities, reviews how these assets are being managed and governed.
Improving financial reporting in the public sector
February 2016: This report reflects on the concerns raised in 2009, sets out our views about how well these concerns have been addressed, and provides some insight into the future of financial reporting. There have been positive changes to accounting standards during the last six to seven years, which we expect to lead to improvements in financial reporting. The positive changes include setting up an independent body to set accounting standards and adopting a new Accounting Standards Framework for all reporting entities...
Principles for effectively co-governing natural resources
February 2016: This report identifies some principles to consider when setting up and maintaining effective co-governance and co-management arrangements.
