Appendix 5: Disclosures under the Public Audit Act 2001

Organisations audited under section 19 of the Public Audit Act 2001

Section 37(2)(c) of the Public Audit Act 2001 requires us to include in the annual report a list of organisations audited by the Auditor-General under an arrangement in accordance with section 19 of the Public Audit Act 2001. At 30 June 2024, arrangements had been entered into for audits of:

• The New Zealand Sport Foundation Charitable Trust; and
• Te Awa Tupua (including Te Korotete).

Changes to standards

The Public Audit Act 2001 requires us to report each year on any significant changes made to the Auditor-General's auditing standards. Several changes to the Auditor-General's auditing standards have been made during the year:

• AG ISA (NZ) 220 (Revised): The Auditor-General's statement on quality management for an audit of financial statements is new. The statement specifies the role of the Auditor-General or Deputy Auditor-General and the responsibilities of appointed auditors in cases where the Auditor-General or Deputy Auditor-General signs the audit report of a public entity.
• AG ISA (NZ) 320: The Auditor-General's statement on materiality in planning and performing an annual audit has been updated to include application and other explanatory material when establishing planning materiality for asset intensive entities. Asset intensive entities are those where the reported value of property, plant, and equipment is often very large when compared to the other assets of the entity and to the entity's revenue and expenditure. Councils are an example of asset intensive entities.
• The Guide to support the application of the Auditor-General's Code of Ethics (the Guide) provides comprehensive guidance on how the Auditor-General's Code of Ethics (a seven-page document) is to be applied in practice. Specifically, the Guide illustrates how the Auditor-General applies the standard of independence to public sector audits.

Other assurance work

Under the Public Audit Act 2001, the Auditor-General can, with the agreement of the audited organisation, carry out services that are reasonable and appropriate for an auditor to carry out. This work generally focuses on reviewing procurement and contract management, project management, asset management, risk management, governance, and ethical issues including conflicts of interest. In 2023/24, we performed the following work in this category:

• Audit New Zealand and the Office of the Auditor-General worked together to complete an independent review of counting errors in the 2023 General Election.
• Audit New Zealand spent just under 3300 hours providing assurance services. It issued 35 assurance reports in the financial year and started 43 new assurance engagements.

Audit New Zealand and our other audit service providers also regularly carry out other assurance engagements that are prescribed in legislation other than the Public Audit Act 2001 – for example, work to support disclosure regimes required by the Commerce Commission.