Audit of annual performance statements & Record keeping

Annual performance statements can be scrutinised through the following means:

• the responsible Minister or the Minister for Finance may request the Auditor-General to audit an entity’s annual performance statements; If the Auditor-General audits (examines and reports) an entity’s annual performance statements, the audit report must be given to the requesting Minister who must table the report as soon as practicable after receipt (see section 40 of the PGPA Act);
• the Australian National Audit Office can audit annual performance statements at its own discretion (see Division 2 Part 4 of the Auditor General Act 1997),
• section 82 of the PGPA Act provides authority for the sharing of information with other jurisdictions and section 83 allows for state and territory auditors-general to conduct audits of entities where there has been a state or territory contribution,
• the functions of the audit committee of a Commonwealth entity must include reviewing the appropriateness of the accountable authority’s performance reporting (see paragraph 17(2)(b) of the PGPA Rule). 

In line with an accountable authority’s responsibility to properly record and explain the entity’s performance in achieving its purposes (section 37 of the PGPA Act), it is the responsibility of entities to maintain records that accurately record and explain the entity’s performance against its performance measures.

This could be expected to include:

• the raw data collected,
• details of the data sources, collection methods, and clear trails of data calculations,
• the results and analysis of the entity’s performance, and any notes on proposed amendments to performance information for future reporting periods.