Since commencing as Auditor-General, I have had ongoing positive discussions with the Department of the Premier and Cabinet (DPC) about the types of information that my staff need to help me perform my statutory audit role. We now have an agreed process to address the requests we make under Premier and Cabinet Circular PC 047 Disclosure of Cabinet documents to investigative agencies.
Timely access to agency information is important to support the audit process
My predecessor also commented on accessing information more generally as part of the audit process. We have generally been given access to the information we needed to conduct our 2023-24 audit work. There have, however, been occasions this year when my staff were initially denied access to the agency information they needed to conduct their audits. In most cases, these matters can be worked through with the agency concerned relatively quickly, but occasionally there are more substantial delays.
Most of the information that my Office collects is routine and relates directly to the normal operations of the agencies we audit. Each year, we communicate to agencies that we will need information from them to inform our audit process and we advise them that there are powers under the PFAA that relate to the Auditor-General’s ability to access information.
As far as possible we work with agencies to communicate our audit information requirements early in the audit cycle so that the audit process can proceed in a timely way for both agencies and my staff. Early access to this information enables us to do most of our reviews before the peak period for financial statement audits, which is from mid-August until the delivery of my annual report on 30 September each year.
In a practical sense, given that we perform agency audits every year, most agency staff we interact with and request information from are familiar with the process, understanding and cooperative.
Where there are exceptions to the normal practice and agencies excessively question the need, or ability, for my staff to access information required for the audit process, this takes additional time. Delays in getting access to information mean additional communication with senior agency management is needed. In some cases, further discussions are required, and in others it may be necessary to send further correspondence explaining what we need.
Wherever possible, delays in giving us access to the information we need to conduct an audit should be minimised and agencies should have internal processes to support the PFAA’s intention that information is provided as needed to support the statutory audit function. Agencies should ensure their staff are aware of the audit process, understand the types of information that are likely to be sought and have a good understanding of internal processes to use where they have questions about any requests we make.
We try to conduct our audits as efficiently as possible and delays, which in rare cases can stretch to months, impact on our ability to conclude and report in a timely way to agencies and, again in rare cases, the Parliament.
My Office will continue to work with agencies in the coming year to improve their understanding of our processes and our key timelines, to further improve information flows and the timeliness of our audit communications.
