The Australian parliament’s Public Accounts and Audit Committee is assisting its newly established counterpart in the Indonesian parliament develop the skills needed to effectively scrutinise government expenditure.

Australian public accounts committee secretary David Brunoro recently visited Jakarta to provide briefings to members and staff of Indonesia’s public accounts committee (the BAKN) and senior executives of the Indonesian Board of Audit (the BPK). The briefings focused on the oversight role of public accounts committees and options to improve the functioning and outcomes of the BAKN.

Mr Brunoro said the engagement from the BAKN members and senior executives of the BPK was strong and that the trip has already generated some positive results.

“As a result of meetings with the BAKN, a member of their secretariat will commence a secondment with the Australian parliament to give them first hand insight into how the public accounts committee operates in Australia,” Mr Brunoro said.

The visit occurred as part of a cooperation project between the ANAO and BPK, which is funded by AusAID through the Government Partnerships Fund (GPF). Officers from the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) also travelled as part of the delegation. The meetings followed a visit from an Indonesian delegation to the Australian parliament last year.