Who works for the Auditor-General?

The Auditor-General has about 400 employees. They are organised into two business units: the Office of the Auditor-General (the OAG) and Audit New Zealand, supported by a shared Corporate Services Team.

The OAG carries out strategic planning, sets policy and standards, appoints auditors and oversees their performance, carries out performance audits, provides reports and advice to Parliament, and carries out inquiries and other special studies.

Audit New Zealand is the larger of the two business units, and has seven offices throughout the country. It carries out annual audits allocated by the Auditor-General, and provides other assurance services to public organisations within the Auditor-General's mandate.

Standards for auditing and independence

All appointed auditors are required to meet the Auditor-General's auditing standards. These standards underpin the quality and consistency of all audits conducted on the Auditor-General's behalf, including the appropriate identification, scoping, investigation, and reporting of audits, other auditing services, and inquiries.

To effectively and credibly provide assurance to Parliament and ratepayers, the Auditor-General's appointed auditors and their staff must be (and be seen to be) independent. There are strict constraints on them, covering:

• personal involvement with an audited organisation (including family ties);
• financial involvement with the organisation (such as investments);
• providing certain other services to the organisation (such as carrying out valuations); and
• dependence on fees from the organisation.