Preliminary Pages
Foreword
This year marks 100 years since the establishment of the
first federal public accounts committee. For the current Joint Committee of the
Public Accounts and Audit, this year marks three years of dedicated work in
holding Commonwealth agencies to account for the lawfulness, efficiency and
effectiveness with which they use public monies.
I did not realise what a fine reputation Australian
governance and auditing has throughout the international community when I first
took on this Chair’s role. I certainly do now, with many travelling
delegations from developing democracies choosing to visit Australia to learn
from one of, if not the best, systems of governance and audit.
We can place a real value on this reputation much more than
what we currently do, and indeed, we can build closer ties with many developing
countries because of this long, proud and recognised tradition. As just one
example, the new Afghan public accounts committee chose Australia as its model,
and has now developed links through the World Bank Institute and others, with
our committee. Positive, civil, peaceful development work—Australia has an
opportunity to do more of it with long-lasting opportunities in international
linkages the spin-off.
So, in addition to meeting its legislated mandate, this
committee has sought opportunities to improve oversight and transparency here
in Australia and extend our relationships internationally. This has included:
n Formalising changes
to the Auditor General’s Act—allowing the ANAO to now ‘follow the money’ across
jurisdictions and corporate borders; and making other important improvements.
Prior to this, over half of taxpayers’ money had limited audit access on how it
was spent. Now, the Auditor-General can follow those taxpayers’ dollars to
make sure efficiency and full value for money is delivered.
n Playing an integral
role in the establishment of the Parliamentary Budget Office—which has been an
institutional evolution for all Members of Parliament and one of this 43rd
Parliament’s greatest achievements for budget transparency.
n Expanding the
scrutiny of the Australian Taxation Office by including external scrutiny
agencies and professional bodies, and developing a tradition of annual
roundtables with the Tax Office.
n Building
international linkages to strengthen the already solid relationship between
public accounts committees and their parliaments through:
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targeted capacity building and information exchange activities —
in particular with the Indonesian public accounts committee equivalent;
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meeting with visiting delegations; and
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participating in international conferences to compare and
strengthen the role of public accounts committees.
There are many more examples, however, the focus is always
forward and this final report is an opportunity to send a message to the next
committee of the next Parliament.
First, I continue to urge the bipartisan and senior
committee to continue to demand better performance assessments; drive the
aspiration for ‘joined up’ government; and continue the campaign for plain
English communication across the public sector.
Second, extend the tradition of past public accounts
committees by driving greater budget transparency and long term budget
sustainability. This is an area ready for further scrutiny.
Third, continue to champion the Auditor-General and the
Parliamentary Budget Officer—indeed, the role of overseer is a legislated duty.
As highlighted at this year’s inaugural public hearing with key
whole-of-government scrutiny bodies, similar support and recognition should be
given to the broader integrity arm of Government, and the development of a
collegiate group of independent statutory officers working on integrity and
transparency is an emerging, and welcome ‘fourth-arm’ of Government. They play
a critical role in overseeing public sector governance and administration, and
need adequate resources and parliamentary attention. Too often they are
overlooked or undervalued in their capacity to work with, and for, the public
and the Parliament to keep Executive Government focused. I strongly encourage
the next committee to continue to hold regular public hearings to both reflect
on the overall state of Commonwealth administration; and give scrutiny bodies
the strong voice in parliament they deserve.
Fourth, I remind the next committee that reviewing the
reports of the ANAO is core work for the committee. There is great merit in
paying close attention to the reports of the Auditor General. They provide
important information on the state of Australia’s public service and how the Government
and the Parliament are serving the people.
And last but not least, regardless of political persuasion,
I urge all committee members to remain focused and ensure you follow through.
Your target should be the core work of the committee — that of overseeing and
improving the financial management and administration of the Commonwealth
public sector. Ensure follow through by checking that people have heard your
messages, have taken action, and that things have actually improved.
Our committee has found that even though we are critical of
certain programs at times, that the Australian public sector is improving, and
wants to engage on the detail of how further improvements can be made. Overall,
and I hope on behalf of all committee members, I commend the exceptional
individuals and collective commitment of our public servants in Australia.
In closing, I’d like to thank all members of the committee
for their constructive and collaborative work over the life of this
Parliament. It has been a really enjoyable and privileged committee to work
on, as it is a committee that gets to look inside so many different aspects of
working government. I thank all members for focusing on better Government (99
per cent of the time) instead of chasing the easy or divisive political play.
Again, I hope I speak for all members who have found this committee, at this
time, a rewarding one.
And finally, once again, I thank the ongoing work of the
committee secretariat. This is the engine room of good governance and they deliver
every time. I cannot sing the praises of the team in the secretariat highly
enough. They are true professionals, making them genuine servants to a greater
Australia. On behalf of all on the committee, I thank them deeply.
Rob Oakeshott MP
Chair
Membership of the Committee
Chair
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Mr Robert Oakeshott MP
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Deputy
Chair
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Ms Gai Brodtmann MP (from 13/02/13)
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Ms Yvette D’Ath MP (until 06/02/13)
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Members
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Hon Dick Adams MP
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Senator Mark Bishop
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Mr Jamie Briggs MP
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Senator Kim Carr (from 14/05/13)
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Ms Gai Brodtmann MP
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Senator Helen Kroger (until 12/09/12)
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Mr Darren Cheeseman MP
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Senator Louise Pratt
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Mr Josh Frydenberg MP
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Senator Anne Ruston (from 13/09/12)
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Mr Harry Jenkins MP (from 22/04/13)
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Senator Dean Smith
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Mr Shane
Neumann MP (from
06/02/13 until 22/04/13)
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Senator Matt Thistlethwaite (until 14/05/13)
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Ms Deborah O’Neill MP
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Ms Laura Smyth MP
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Hon Alex Somlyay MP
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Committee Secretariat
Secretary
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Mr David Brunoro
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Inquiry
Secretaries
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Ms Vikki Darrough
Mr James Nelson
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Research
Officers
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Mr Shane Armstrong
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Mr Nathan Fewkes (until 15/02/13)
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Ms Elina Gilbourd (from 3/6/13 until 3/7/13)
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Administrative
Officers
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Ms Dorota Cooley (until 18/7/12)
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Ms Louise Goss (until 28/03/13)
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Ms Jazmine Rakic (from 20/12/12)
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Ms Chantell Tasker (from 15/4/13 until 24/4/13)
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Ms Karen Underwood (from 7/05/13)
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List of abbreviations
ACPAC
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Australasian Council of Public
Accounts Committees
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ANAO
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Australian National Audit Office
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APS
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Australian Public Service
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ATO
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Australian Taxation Office
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COAG
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Council of Australian Governments
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DMO
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Defence Materiel Organisation
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FMA Act
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Financial Management and
Accountability Act 1997
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JCPAA
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Joint Committee of Public
Accounts and Audit
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MPR
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Major Projects Report
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OECD
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Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development
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PAAC Act
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Public Accounts and Audit
Committee Act 1951
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PBO
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Parliamentary Budget Officer
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