Auditor-General’s overview
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangarangatanga maha o te motu, tēnā koutou.
I am pleased to present the strategic intentions of the Controller and Auditor-General (the Auditor-General) for 2023/24 to 2027/28.
The long-term outcomes that my Office seeks are a high-performing and accountable public sector that Parliament and New Zealanders have trust and confidence in. The strategic intentions set my focus for the next five years and build on the Auditor-General's strategic intentions to 2025.
Under the previous strategy, we:
- improved our reporting to Parliament and the public;
- increased our focus on topics that matter to New Zealanders;
- delivered more discretionary work at a time when it could have the most impact;
- increased our reporting from the Controller function;
- updated and expanded our good practice resources for public organisations;
- increased our engagement activities and influence with Parliament and with those who lead and govern public organisations; and
- enhanced the capability of our organisation.
These are solid foundations, but there is more work for my Office to do to increase our impact.
The mandatory audit of the annual financial statements and performance reports of public organisations is the foundation of the work that my Office carries out. My immediate priority is to strengthen this core assurance role to ensure that the public sector audit system remains sustainable over the longer term. Many issues affect the future of the auditing profession, in both the public and private sectors, and we must respond to these issues to ensure that our audit work continues to strengthen New Zealand's public financial management system. In addition, there are still some audits to complete that were deferred as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, which affected both auditors and public organisations. This must be addressed to ensure that we can normalise public accountability arrangements as quickly as possible.
Although strengthening our core assurance role is my first priority, there are other priorities to address through this strategy. We must continue to be seen as an active "watchdog" on the use of public resources. We must remain focused on matters that are important to the public and to the accountability of government for the taxpayer and ratepayer money that they spend.
The public's trust in the public sector is largely based on the perceived competency, reliability, and honesty of the government. We know that the largest impact on trust is whether the public believes that the public sector is honest and operates with integrity. Government should be able to fully account to the public for the money it spends, show what has been delivered for that spending, and say whether that is making a difference to the lives of New Zealanders.
We will continue to focus on how well public organisations are meeting the standards of integrity that the public expects, as well as on the quality of reporting that government does on its activities, whether public organisations can evidence good value for money, and whether they are considering the longer term in their planning and decision-making.
To deliver on our priorities in this strategy, we must continue to build our internal capability and the relationships we have with Parliament, with public organisations, and with the public. Our te ao Māori strategy will be an important part of our capability development, and will also help to ensure that we continue to be trusted by all New Zealanders.
These strategic intentions will require us to continue to modernise the way we work and invest in our people, processes, and tools.
The strategic intentions are made up of four parts, which are covered in this document in separate sections. Each section outlines the change I want to see over the next five years. We will develop specific performance measures aligned to these strategic intentions to allow Parliament and the public to monitor our Office's progress.
Finally, I again thank Parliament for its continuing support of the Office and interest in the work that we do.
Nāku noa, nā
John Ryan
Controller and Auditor-General | Tumuaki o te Mana Arotake
9 March 2023