Office of the Controller and Auditor-General

Infobox Government agency
agency_name = Office of the Controller and Auditor-General
nativename_r = Tumuaki o te Mana Arotake

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formed =
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dissolved =
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jurisdiction = New Zealand
headquarters = Level 5, 48 Mulgrave Street,PO Box 3928,Wellington
employees =
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minister1_name =
minister1_pfo =
minister2_name =
minister2_pfo =
chief1_name = Kevin Brady
chief1_position = Controller and Auditor-General
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chief2_position =
parent_agency =
child1_agency =Audit New Zealand
website = http://www.oag.govt.nz/
footnotes =

The Office of the Controller and Auditor-General (also known as the the Office of the Auditor-General) is one of the three Officers of Parliament of the State sector organisations in New Zealand.

The Office of the Auditor-General is the smallest of two business units serving the Controller and Auditor-General. His mandate and responsibilities are set out in the Public Audit Act 2001. The current Controller and Auditor-General is Kevin Brady. The Deputy Controller and Auditor-General is Phillippa Smith.

The second business unit is called the Audit New Zealand. The Auditor-General allocates most audits of public entities to Audit New Zealand, and then uses competitive tendering for the audits of some entities with a strong commercial flavour.

The Auditor-General provides independent assurance to both the Parliament of New Zealand, local government and the New Zealand public that public sector organisations are operating, and accounting for their performance, in accordance with Parliament’s intentions.

The Auditor-General is answerable to the Parliament of New Zealand for his stewardship of the public resources entrusted to him, while independent of executive government and Parliament in discharging the functions of the statutory office.

Independent assurance is provided through the reporting set out under the Public Audit Act 2001 and other statutory requirements:
* annual audits and other audits of public entities
* exercise of the Controller function including the appropriation audit
* performance audits and other studies
* responding to enquiries from ratepayers, taxpayers, and members of Parliament
* approvals under the Local Authorities (Members’ Interests) Act 1968.

Annual audits, other audits of public entities, and the exercise of the Controller function are statutory requirements. The remainder are discretionary. To help perform this statutory reporting effectively, a range of other services are undertaken including:
* advice to Parliament
* advice and liaison
* working with the accounting and auditing profession
* international liaison and involvement.

Audit New Zealand

Audit New Zealand is the operational arm of the Auditor-General's Office. Financial audits of government entities are allocated to Audit New Zealand and other accountancy and auditing firms. At present there are 3000-4000 entities audited under the Public Audit Act 2001. These entities range in size from large government departments to small trusts. The Office also audits schools which make up a large number of government entities.

Audit New Zealand examine the financial statements of the same public entities, as well as handle special assignments in the areas of governance, risk, and contract and project management. Audit New Zealand has specialist Tax Audit and Information Systems Audit teams.

External links

* [http://www.oag.govt.nz/ Auditor-General's website]
* [http://www.auditnz.govt.nz/ Audit New Zealand's website]