1. 1 10 th ASOSAI Research Project Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) 9-13 December 2012 Dr Thomas Clarke Executive Director Performance Audit Services Group Australian National Audit Office

2. 2 Where do I come from?

3. 3 Australia

4. 4 The role of the Auditor-General in the Australian system of government  Australia’s Auditor-General and the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) audits the activities of the Australian (national) government  The Australian approach to auditing falls broadly within the Westminster tradition of responsible government (parliamentary democracy)  The Auditor-General is independent and derives his authority from an Act of Parliament.

5. 5 The Westminster model and the separation of powers

6. 6 What does the Auditor-General do?  The law says that the Auditor-General is to conduct  annual financial statement audits of Australian government agency accounts (focus on assurance) and  performance audits ( focus on improving public administration (management))  ANAO is small – around 300 staff (about 110 performance auditors, 150 financial statements auditors, and 40 corporate support staff)  Performance audit reports are made public and may make recommendations for improvements in administration.  Around 50-55 performance audits conducted annually

7. 7 What does the ANAO do to audit the risk of fraud/corruption/money laundering?  Very little! That is why I am here – to learn.  We do not observe much in the way of fraud/money laundering within the agencies we audit  the risk of non-financial corruption is higher, and we have observed it. BUT  Australia has a large overseas aid program that delivers aid in countries with different perceptions (and probably higher levels) of fraud/corruption/money laundering risk.  This is a key audit risk for our performance audit program

8. 8 Closing reflections  Key questions:  What is the real level of fraud/corruption/money laundering risk in the agencies we audit?  Are we not finding much fraud/money laundering because it is not very common, or because we are not looking for it?  Would our staff recognise fraud/money laundering if they saw it?  What techniques could they apply to assess whether agencies are managing these risks effectively?  Thank you for the opportunity to listen and learn from my ASOSAI colleagues!

9. 9 Further information  Web: www.anao.gov.au www.anao.gov.au  Address: GPO Box 707, Canberra ACT 2601 Australia  Email: tom.clarke@anao.gov.au tom.clarke@anao.gov.au  Tel: 61 (0)2 6203 7436