About us | Audit Office of South Australia

About us

Our role

The Auditor-General reports directly to Parliament on the audits of state and local government agencies covering financial reports and operations, controls and matters of public interest. Our audits identify whether services and activities are effective, efficient and properly accounted for. We also provide recommendations to public sector agencies on future improvements they could make to deliver better outcomes to the South Australian community.

Our reports

Our reports are tabled in Parliament and published online. They include:

Auditor-General’s Annual Report which is our main report and is completed by 30 September each year. It has four parts:

Part A - Executive summary – A summary of the main matters the Auditor-General believes should be brought to Parliament’s attention from our annual audits of public sector state agencies. This includes significant financial outcomes, events and control matters communicated to agencies and small-scale performance reviews.

Part B - Controls opinion A report on our approach to the controls opinion and the significant control matters we identified.

Part C - Agency audit reports A summary of the audit outcomes for each agency included in the annual report, including commentary on significant issues of administration, financial management and control.

Part D - Special report on matter(s) of public interest with significant impact to the people of South Australia, includes observation and recommendations based on our findings.

In addition, the Auditor-General produces other reports throughout the year on significant financial management, accounting and control matters within the public sector.

These may include reports on:

the efficiency, economy and effectiveness with which a state or local public authority manage and deliver activities and any recommendations we may make to address issues and improve performance
findings and recommendations on IT related issues of importance and interest in the public sector
examinations specifically requested by the Parliament of South Australia, Treasurer, Minister or the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption
issues referred by whistleblowers and other members of the community
summaries of confidential government contracts.

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Executive group

The Executive provides the leadership necessary for the Office to achieve its strategic direction and goals, maintain its services and comply with relevant laws, codes and direction.

Andrew Blaskett

Auditor-General

Ian McGlen

Deputy Auditor-General

Daniel O'Donohue

Assistant Auditor-General (Financial Audit)

Salv Bianco

Assistant Auditor-General (Performance Audit)

Tanya Sexton

Executive Director (Financial Audit)

Robert Huddy

Executive Director (Financial Audit)

Andrew Corrigan

Executive Director (Data and Technology)

Our structure

We have three branches in the office: Financial Audit, Performance Audit and Business Services.

Financial Audit

The Financial Audit branch provides Parliament with audit opinions on the financial statements and controls for approximately 150 state government agencies. This includes statutory authorities, corporatised entities and universities. These audits provide assurance to Parliament that the financial statements are based on proper accounts and fairly presented in accordance with accounting standards.

The Branch also conducts extended audits that build on their annual financial audits. These audits provide insight into good practice, control weaknesses and exposures so that all agencies can consider the insights in managing their business.

The program is delivered by in-house team of approximately 80 staff and a small number of external contractors.

Performance Audit

The Performance Audit branch provides Parliament in-depth assessments of whether government entities (both state and local government) are effective, efficient and economical in the programs and services they deliver, and that they are delivered in accordance with the law. A performance audit may cover the whole of an entity’s operations, one particular activity of an entity, or an activity across a number of entities.

The program is delivered with an in-house team of approximately 12 staff.

Business Services

The Business Services branch provides the Financial and Performance Audit branches with specialised audit services including information technology audits and data analytics.

It is responsible for providing and maintaining our audit methodologies, practices and tools, technical advice on accounting and auditing standards and their interpretation, and the overall quality assurance of our audit activities.

The Business Services branch also manages stakeholder engagement and communications, records and information, policy, strategy, governance and our human, financial, technology and physical resources.

These services are delivered by an in-house team of around 35 staff.

Principal legislation

The Auditor General is appointed by Parliament under the Public Finance and Audit Act 1987. This Act establishes the Auditor-General’s mandate (for both state and local government entities) and prescribes the financial reporting obligations of the Treasurer and public sector agencies.

The Act establishes that the Auditor-General is independent from the Executive Government. It states that the Auditor-General is not subject to the direction of any person as to the manner in which they carry out the functions or exercises powers under the Act.

For further information see Public Finance and Audit Act 1987.

Our key relationships

Parliament

The Auditor-General’s primary relationship is with Parliament. The Public Finance and Audit Act 1987 states that the Auditor-General must submit an Annual report to Parliament each year. This report is the primary method of communication between the Auditor-General and the Parliament. In addition, the Auditor-General produces other reports throughout the year on significant financial management, accounting and control matters within the public sector.

An effective working relationship exists between Parliament’s Economic and Finance Committee and the Audit Office of South Australia. The Auditor-General and senior audit officers meet regularly with the Economic and Finance Committee to discuss issues relating to audit matters raised by the Auditor-General and other matters of interest to the Committee.

Our clients

We actively engage with our clients (prior to and) whilst conducting an audit and discuss significant findings with their representatives. To ensure transparency and procedural fairness we provide our clients with written advice of our findings and recommendations and invite the client to respond to these prior to publishing our reports.

Australasian Council of Auditors-General

We work closely with other audit professionals in Australia and the pacific region. We are an active member of the Australasian Council of Auditors-General (ACAG), a body formed for the sharing of information and intelligence between Auditors-General in a time of increasing complexity and rapid change.

Professional associations

We have a close relationship with two professional accounting associations: CPA Australia and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. Many of our employees are members of these organisations and participate in their study programs to gain the professional qualification they provide.

We were the first organisation in Australia to be awarded with Recognised Employer Partnership status by CPA Australia. This recognition highlights our professional development processes and programs, and our commitment to our employees’ ongoing learning. The Recognised Employer Partnership program offers a number of benefits to employees who are either studying towards the CPA qualification or are CPA members.

We are proud sponsors of a prize recognising high achievement in audit and accounting studies for all three universities in South Australia.