Annual plan 2024/25
27 June 2024: Our annual plan outlines our programme of work for 2024/25, which includes performance audits, special studies, regular reports and updates, and good practice guidance. This work considers issues facing the public sector and how we can best use our role to influence positive change.
Tertiary education institutions: 2022 audit results and what we saw in 2023
27 June 2024: This letter summarises the main findings from our 2022 audits of tertiary education institutions. It also provides information about the work being done to improve student success and about the financial sustainability challenges in the TEI sector.
Responses to our recommendations about the co-ordination of the all-of-government response to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020
25 June 2024: We asked the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the National Emergency Management Agency, Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission, and the Ministry of Health (the four organisations) for an update on their response to recommendations we made in 2022 about the co-ordination of the all-of-government response to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 .
Value for money – a simply complex problem
21 June 2024: Value for money is an important measure of public sector performance that helps public organisations to strike the right balance between what is spent and what is achieved. In this article, the Auditor-General describes the public sector’s challenge with defining, assessing, and reporting on value for money.
Responses to our recommendations about improving Crown entity monitoring
20 June 2024: We asked public organisations for an update on their response to the recommendations in our 2022 report Improving value through better Crown entity monitoring.
Strategic suppliers: Understanding and managing the risks of service disruption - follow-up
19 June 2024: We have written to the Governance and Administration Committee setting out what we have learned about progress with the recommendations in our June 2021 report Strategic suppliers: Understanding and managing the risks of service disruption.
The Government’s preparedness to implement the sustainable development goals - follow-up
18 June 2024: We have written to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee setting out what we have learned about progress with the recommendations from our August 2021 report on the Government’s preparedness to implement the sustainable development goals.
Carbon targets and ambiguity: The scrutiny to expect from an auditor
18 June 2024: This article clarifies the Auditor-General’s expectations and the auditor’s approach to statements about greenhouse gas targets and emissions reduction progress reported by public organisations.
A guide to our resources to support better performance reporting
13 June 2024: Performance reporting is important but it can also be difficult. This guide is to help those in the public sector who are responsible for preparing performance reports to find and use the many resources we have made available.
Strengthening government procurement: Lessons from our recent work
28 May 2024: This report brings together the findings of our multi-year work programme looking at how well the public sector manages procurement and highlights the areas where we consider most improvement is needed.
Reading Cinema proposal
27 May 2024: We have replied to Councillor Ray Chung about his request that we investigate the proposed deal between Wellington City Council and Reading Cinemas.
Regional councils’ relationships with iwi and hapu for freshwater management – a follow-up report
21 May 2024: In 2019, we looked at how effectively Waikato Regional Council, Taranaki Regional Council, Horizons Regional Council, and Environment Southland were managing freshwater quality. We followed up with all four regional councils and spoke with iwi and hapū representatives to see what progress the regional councils had made in response to recommendations we made in 2019 about managing freshwater quality.
The increasing use of multi-year appropriations
17 May 2024: The number of multi-year appropriations (MYAs) has increased significantly over the last eight years. MYAs give government departments flexibility in spending but risk lessening Parliamentary control and scrutiny over the Government’s spending plans.
Accounting for climate change
10 May 2024: We have produced a guide to considering the implications of climate costs, risks, and uncertainties in your financial reporting.
General Election 2023: Independent review of counting errors
7 May 2024: After discussion with the Electoral Commission, we decided to review the Electoral Commission’s quality assurance processes for counting votes. We found that there is room to strengthen the way that votes are counted and recorded, and how this process is checked.
Procurement of services by the University of Waikato
3 May 2024: We wrote to the University of Waikato about the procurement of services from Joyce Advisory Services in 2019.
Submission on the Fast-track Approvals Bill
22 April 2024: The Auditor-General has provided a submission on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, encouraging the Environment Committee to consider whether the transparency and accountability arrangements in the Bill are proportionate to the discretion being provided to Ministers.
Controller update: April 2024
9 April 2024: Almost all government spending for the first six months of 2023/24 was properly authorised and within the law. The single confirmed instance of unappropriated expenditure relates to a provision of $494.5 million for government assistance to local councils after the North Island weather events.
Monitoring importers of specified high-risk foods
20 February 2024: The Ministry for Primary Industries doesn’t know how effective the safety system is for importing high-risk food. The Ministry has not been consistently monitoring whether importers are establishing the safety and suitability of high-risk food before it arrives in the country.
Meeting the mental health needs of young New Zealanders
15 February 2024: Young people report the highest level of unmet need for mental health care of any age group in the population. We looked at how effectively government agencies work together to understand and meet the mental health needs of young people aged 12 to 24 years.
Local government planning and reporting on performance
25 January 2024: This guidance is designed to help councils provide appropriate and meaningful performance information in their accountability documents, so that communities and ratepayers better understand what councils are doing for them in the short and longer terms.
Responses to our recommendations about Governance of the City Rail Link project
21 December 2023: We asked Auckland Council, the Ministry of Transport, and the Treasury for an update on their response to recommendations we made in 2022 about the governance arrangements of the Auckland City Rail Link.
Results of the 2021/22 council audits
18 December 2023: This article sets out information about the results of the 2021/22 audits of councils.
Observations from our central government work in 2022/23
14 December 2023: This report sets out the operating environment for central government, our observations about performance reporting across central government, the results of our audit of the Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand for the year ended 30 June 2023, and our work carrying out the Controller function.
Making infrastructure investment decisions quickly
13 December 2023: Any spending of public money should deliver good value for New Zealanders. We carried out this audit to understand how consistent the decision-making processes for investments in the New Zealand Upgrade Programme and the Shovel-Ready Programme were with the Government’s guidelines and the public’s expectations that public money is well managed.
Results of the 2022 school audits
12 December 2023: This detailed information sets out the results of the school audits for 2022. We have provided this information, and a list of recommendations, to the Secretary for Education.
Inquiry into Callaghan Innovation’s procurement process
7 December 2023: Concerns were raised with us that Callaghan Innovation had not properly managed a conflict of interest nor natural justice process, and inappropriately shared confidential information with others. We decided to carry out an inquiry into whether the actions and procurement processes for the Start-up programme met good practice expectations.
Do your measures measure up?
16 November 2023: Good performance reporting is crucial to enabling the public and Parliament to determine whether public money is being spent appropriately. However, it has long been unclear what outcomes are being achieved with public spending. We looked at information in the 2023/24 Estimates and share examples of what public organisations are doing well when it comes to performance reporting and where they need to improve.
Reporting on the public sector’s performance in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
31 October 2023: Given Auckland’s significance and the public services that central and local government organisations deliver there, we wanted to understand whether there is clear reporting on how much public money is being spent in the region, where it is being spent, and what difference it is making.
UniServices – Management of conflicts of interest
26 October 2023: We wrote to Andy Shenk, the Chief Executive of Auckland UniServices Limited (UniServices) about how UniServices managed conflicts of interest for work it did for a government department in 2020 and 2021.
Transport sector: A case study of sector-level performance
16 October 2023: We did a case study of how public reporting in the transport sector gives an understanding of performance at a sector-level.
Leading New Zealand’s approach to housing and urban development
30 August 2023: Our country is facing significant housing and urban development challenges. Good leadership of our housing and urban development system is important to address these underlying challenges.
Commentary on Te Tai Waiora: Wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand
29 August 2023: In 2022, the Treasury produced a report on the state of New Zealand's well-being called Te Tai Waiora: Wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand. We looked at this report, as well as well-being reports from other countries, to provide observations that could help the Treasury’s future well-being reports.
Getting it right: Supporting integrity in emergency procurement
24 August 2023: In this article, we share our findings on how effectively public organisations have ensured integrity in emergency procurements.
Submission on the Water Services Entities Amendment Bill
31 July 2023: We provided a submission to the Finance and Expenditure Committee on the Water Services Entities Amendment Bill.
