Commentary on He Tirohanga Mokopuna: 2016 Statement on the Long-Term Fiscal Position
July 2017: Long-term financial management requires an outlook that considers future uncertainties and plausible scenarios. It is about good planning, not perfect prediction. This is our view of the Treasury's long-term statement...
Managing the school property portfolio
July 2017: The school property portfolio, valued at about $14 billion at 30 June 2016, is one of the largest publicly owned portfolios of property assets. For this report, we looked at the effectiveness of the Ministry of Education’s property strategy and its role as an asset manager, including how well it plans, monitors, and reports on its performance against the strategy.
Reflections from our audits: Investment and asset management
August 2017: This report brings together some reflections from our work under our work programme theme Investment and asset management. We encourage decision-makers to think about the matters raised in this report. Although aspects of asset management are done well by some public entities, there are significant issues to be addressed and challenges to meet if public assets are to continue to deliver the services that New Zealanders expect over the long term.
Ministry of Social Development: Using a case management approach to service delivery
August 2017: In December 2014, we published a report on how the Ministry of Social Development applied a case management approach to providing services for working-age adults. This follow-up report looks at the Ministry's progress in responding to the Auditor-General's recommendations.
MPs' guide to the Auditor-General
September 2017: This booklet is for members of Parliament (MPs), for new MPs in particular. It explains the separate roles of the Controller and the Auditor-General and outlines the kind of interaction, advice, and support that MPs can expect from the Auditor-General...
Annual Report 2016/17
October 2017: Our annual report tells our stakeholders – Parliament, public entities, and New Zealanders – about our performance for the year 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017...
Introducing our work programme - Water management
October 2017: New Zealanders rely on water for our health, our economy, and our lifestyle. For Māori, water is an important spiritual and cultural resource that is regarded as a taonga...
Ministry of Health: Supporting the implementation of patient portals
November 2017: We looked at how well the Ministry supported primary health organisations and general practices to implement patient portals (secure websites that let you access your health information and interact with your doctor)...
Auckland Council: Working to provide customer-centred services online
November 2017: We looked at how the Council is working to improve the services it provides to Aucklanders and make those services easier for people to use...
Results of the 2016 audits of tertiary education institutions
November 2017: We summarise the results of the tertiary education institution audits for the year ended 31 December 2016. We provide a brief introduction to our audit work and an update on timeliness and completion of the 2016 audits. We also report on the types of audit opinions we issued, and note the main matters we identified from our audits.
Getting the right information to effectively manage public assets: Lessons from local authorities
December 2017: Elected councillors need relevant and reliable information to make good decisions about managing the assets they govern. As communities and environments change, the challenges that local authorities face and decisions they make are becoming more complex. We looked at how five local authorities approached identifying and gathering the right information about their assets...
Central government: Results of the 2016/17 audits
December 2017: This report sets out the results of our audit of the Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand for the year ended 30 June 2017 (the Government's financial statements) and of carrying out the Controller function.
Results of the 2016 school audits
December 2017: This detailed information sets out the results of the school audits for 2016. We have provided this information to the Secretary for Education.
Response of the New Zealand Police to the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct: Final monitoring report
December 2017: In 2007, the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct criticised the historical conduct, including sexual conduct, of some police officers and their associates. The Commission recommended comprehensive changes to the way the New Zealand Police (the Police) worked. The Government asked the Auditor-General to monitor, for 10 years, the Police's progress on the Commission's recommendations. This is our fifth and final monitoring report.
Using information to improve social housing services
December 2017: People who need social housing can be some of the most vulnerable in our society. A significant proportion require social services, including for medical, mental health, and addiction conditions. It is important for Housing New Zealand to have a good understanding of tenants' needs and its role in supporting them. This report looks at how well Housing New Zealand uses information to manage tenancies, maintain houses, and manage and invest in new and existing social housing.
Ministry of Justice: Modernising court services
December 2017: We looked at three projects that were carried out between 2012 and 2016. Some people's experience of using court services has improved after the Ministry's investment in these projects. However, the Ministry has not effectively tracked or measured what improvements have been made...
Infrastructure as a Service: Are the benefits being achieved?
February 2018: We carried out a performance audit that looked at whether organisations using Infrastructure as a Service and the wider public sector were achieving the benefits expected from it.
Inland Revenue Department: Procurement for the Business Transformation programme
March 2018: We decided to look at whether the Inland Revenue Department's Business Transformation Programme's procurement is effective, is well managed, and complies with relevant rules and other requirements. As well as looking at Inland Revenue's overall approach to procurement, we focused on two parts of the procurement process: sourcing goods and services; and managing relationships with suppliers.
Local government: Results of the 2016/17 audits
March 2018: This report presents the results of our annual audits and other work in local government during 2016/17. Some of our findings are recurring, which is of concern. Elected members are ultimately responsible for what a local authority does, how it does it, and the consequences. We acknowledge the multiple demands on local authorities to balance service delivery and costs, and we hope that the findings in this report make a useful contribution to addressing matters that need to be considered.
How the Overseas Investment Office uses information
April 2018: We carried out a review that focused on the OIO's use of information within the context of the governing legislation and ministerial direction. We wanted to know whether the OIO was collecting and using the right information at the right time to support good decisions. We found that the OIO does provide the decision-maker with the right information to recommend whether consent for an investment should be granted. In the applications we reviewed, the OIO collected, considered, and used information carefully in preparing recommendations and provided the decision-maker with a comprehensive file of information to support its recommendations. It consistently addressed all the required criteria and supported the views it had taken.
Monitoring how water is used for irrigation
May 2018: This is our first of seven audits that will look at how public organisations manage water. For this audit, we looked at how freshwater used for irrigation is tracked and measured. This included looking at how well water meter installation was managed, the quality of data collected from water meters, how the data was used, and whether this was leading to positive changes in the way water is used. We focused on five regional councils and one unitary council from six different regions.
Observations from our 2016/17 central government audits
May 2018: Letter sent on 16 May 2018 to chief executives of government departments and Crown entities by Greg Schollum, Deputy Controller and Auditor-General sharing some observations on common issues and noteworthy practice from our 2016/17 annual audits.
Main matters arising from the 2016/17 audits of district health boards
May 2018: Brief summary of the main matters arising from the 2016/17 audits of district health boards (DHBs). By identifying and sharing our observations of all DHBs, we hope to increase the value of our audits beyond the independent assurance that they provide.
Digital access to information and services: Learning from examples
June 2018: As part of our Information theme, we wanted to see whether the shift to providing digital information and services is resulting in benefits for New Zealanders. We looked at how three public entities provided digital information and services through their websites and/or mobile applications. The public entities that we looked at were the National Library of New Zealand, Greater Wellington Regional Council, and Quotable Value Limited.
Port companies: matters arising from our 2016/17 audits
June 2018: Brief summary of the main matters arising from the 2016/17 audits for the port sector. Our audits identified two main matters. We have also included our observations on the need for good oversight in investment property decisions and information on the audit reports we issued on port companies’ annual reports for 2016/17.
Health sector: Results of the 2016/17 audits
June 2018: The performance of organisations providing health services, including the district health boards (DHBs), is important for New Zealand's economic and social well-being. In 2016/17, $16.22 billion was spent on health. However, continued financial pressure makes it difficult for DHBs to invest for the future. It also affects their resilience and their ability to make investments to deal with significant changes in demand.
Annual plan 2018/19
June 2018: The Annual Plan 2018/19 sets out our proposed work programme for 2018/19. The work programme outlined in this plan strongly supports the ultimate outcome that we seek from all our work – that Parliament and New Zealanders can have trust and confidence in the public sector. Procurement is the theme for our theme-based work starting in 2018/19, with work on procurement continuing in the following two years.
Data in the public sector
June 2018: We carried out some research to hear from people working for public organisations in roles that involve managing, sharing, and using the data that public organisations hold. These articles set out what we've learned...
