Evolving Oversight - The Australian Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit

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Evolving Oversight - The Australian Joint
Committee of Public Accounts and Audit
Shane Armstrong Joint Committee of Public
Accounts and Audit Shane.Armstrong.Reps_at_aph.gov.au
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Contents

• Introduction
• New oversight activities
• Reports of the Committee
• Other Australian jurisdictions
• Conclusions

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Introduction

• Committees centenary year
• Committee role has evolved
• Monitoring receipts and expenditure
• Oversight of the Auditor-General
• New oversight roles have developed
• Primarily driven by inquiries
• Also given by Government
• Varied role of Auditor-General in these hearings

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New oversight activities

• Annual Public Hearing with Commissioner of
  Taxation
• Arisen out of Committee inquiry
• Purpose
• Format
• Defence Materiel Organisation Major Projects
  Report
• Arisen out of Committee inquiry
• Annual item, but an evolving process
• Public sector governance and administration
• Driven by Committee
• Originally private
• Purpose
• Latest hearing involving fourth arm of government
  bodies
• Parliamentary Budget Office
• Oversight conferred by Government through
  legislation
• Based on oversight of Auditor-General
• Other oversight roles
• Driven by Committee

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Reports of the Committee

• Dont tell the full story of what a Committee
  does
• Best publicly available indication
• Categorised into
• Inquiries
• Administrative
• Audit Reports
• Bills
• Auditor-General
• Oversight
• Findings

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Other Australian jurisdictions

• No comparable increase in other jurisdictions
• Reasons
• Other oversight Committees
• Use of Select Committees
• Powers under the Public Accounts and Audit
  Committee Act 1953 (Cth)

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Conclusions

• Clear trend, accounting for a consistent amount
  of JCPAA output (approx. 30 per cent over the
  last 3 Parliaments)
• May not continue to be the case
• No comparable trend in other jurisdictions
• However, no loss of accountability
• JCPAAs oversight role, while remaining true to
  the Act has evolved