The ANAO’s governance framework supports the organisation to uphold public sector principles and values, including legislative requirements for accountability, leadership, transparency, integrity, efficiency and risk management. The framework ensures that our operations remain compliant with relevant laws, standards and directions.

The ANAO’s clearly defined governance structure and practices support the Auditor-General in the effective oversight of the organisation, management of its resources and the delivery of quality audit products. The ANAO’s corporate governance framework, processes and related organisational capability enable us to achieve our purpose, and meet public and community expectations of probity, accountability and transparency.

Governance structure

The ANAO’s main governance bodies, as at 30 June 2020, are the Executive Board of Management, six standing committees, three operational committees, and the independent Audit Committee.

The ANAO’s governance structure and strategic planning framework are outlined in Figure 4.1.

Executive Board of Management

The Executive Board of Management assists the Auditor-General to meet his statutory responsibilities, and provides leadership to the ANAO in pursuing its strategic direction and delivering against the commitments and initiatives outlined in the corporate plan.

The Executive Board of Management is responsible for supporting the ANAO’s strategic direction; overseeing business; identifying strategic and operational risks; managing the ANAO’s budget and workforce; and delivering against the commitments and initiatives outlined in annual business plans. The executive board meets monthly and terms of reference are reviewed annually. The standing membership is:

• Auditor-General (Chair);
• Deputy Auditor-General;
• Group Executive Directors of the Assurance Audit Services Group, Performance Audit Services Group, and Professional Services and Relationships Group;
• Senior Executive Director, Corporate Management Group;
• Senior Executive Director, Systems Assurance and Data Analytics Group; and
• Chief Finance Officer.

The members of the Executive Board of Management as at 30 June 2020 are shown in Table 4.1.

Staff are informed about key decisions of the Executive Board of Management through communications from the Auditor-General, which are published on the ANAO intranet after each meeting. Information on the remuneration of key management personnel is available at Note 2.2 of the 2019–20 financial statements.

Standing committees

To support the Executive Board of Management and ensure organisational accountability and transparency, the ANAO has established a number of standing committees. These committees provide oversight to specific areas of strategic operations and are responsible for identifying and managing risk on an ongoing basis. Standing committees report to the executive board through summary reports and meeting minutes, with their terms of reference reviewed annually.

The business of the ANAO is governed through the following standing committees:

• People and Change Committee — provides strategic advice to the Executive Board of Management on people and capability development and on managing change in the ANAO.
• Quality Committee — provides assurance and assistance to the Executive Board of Management on the ANAO’s quality framework and the strategic and operational risks associated with quality.
• Finance Committee — advises the Executive Board of Management on financial matters, and monitors the strategic and operational risks associated with resources.
• Security Committee — provides assurance and assistance to the Executive Board of Management on the ANAO’s security framework and monitors associated strategic and operational risks.
• Work Health and Safety Committee — monitors and reviews the work health and safety (WHS) policies and practices and advises the Executive Board of Management on WHS matters.
• Ways of Working Steering Committee — supports the implementation of the ANAO’s accommodation and IT transformation projects and provides advice to the Executive Board of Management.

Operational committees

There are three ANAO operational committees:

• Remuneration Committee — advises the Auditor-General on processes to support changes in remuneration and performance payments.
• Qualifications and Technical Advisory Committee — provides a forum for audit engagement executives to consult on difficult or contentious matters and, where necessary, resolve differences of opinion on audit-related matters. ANAO policy identifies the matters that must be referred to the committee, and the committee meets as required to provide advice to the Auditor-General.
• Weekly Operational Committee — oversees the operational activities of the ANAO, with a particular emphasis on staffing, performance and external relations. The committee also considers the status of the audit program in service group reporting and any other matter of strategic importance to the ANAO.

Figure 4.1: ANAO governance structure and strategic planning framework at 30 June 2020

Audit Committee

The Audit Committee provides independent assurance and advice to the Auditor-General, including reviewing the appropriateness of the ANAO’s financial and performance reporting, systems of risk oversight and management, and systems of internal control. Section 45 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and section 17 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 set out the role of the audit committee for Commonwealth entities.

The ANAO’s Audit Committee charter sets out the committee’s role, authority, membership and functions, and its procedural, reporting and administrative arrangements. The charter is available on the Governance page on the ANAO website (anao.gov.au/about/governance).

In order to maximise the independence of the assurance and advice provided by the Audit Committee, the Auditor-General appoints only external independent members. The Audit Committee met five times during 2019–20.

Details of the Audit Committee’s membership in 2019-20, including remuneration for the period and Audit Committee meeting attendance, and experience of members, is provided in Table 4.2.