AUDITOR-GENERAL ACT 1997 - SECT 18B Commonwealth partners

AUDITOR-GENERAL ACT 1997 - SECT 18B

  (1)   The Auditor - General may conduct a performance audit of a Commonwealth partner:

  (a)   if the partner is, is part of, or is controlled by, the Government of a State or Territory--at the request of the responsible Minister or the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit; or

  (b)   otherwise--at any time.

  (2)   A person or body is a Commonwealth partner if:

  (a)   the Commonwealth provides money for a particular purpose (the Commonwealth purpose ); and

  (b)   the person or body receives some or all of the money, whether directly or indirectly, because the person or body:

  (i)   agrees to use the money in achieving the Commonwealth purpose; or

  (ii)   has entered into a contract that relates to the Commonwealth purpose; and

  (c)   an audit of the person or body could not be conducted under another section of this Division.

  (3)   The audit may be conducted only to the extent that it assesses the operations of the Commonwealth partner in relation to achieving the Commonwealth purpose.

  (4)   The audit may be conducted as part of an audit under section   17 or 18.

  (5)   The report on the audit must include the reasons for conducting the audit.

  (6)   As soon as practicable after completing the report on the audit, the Auditor - General must:

  (a)   cause a copy of the report to be tabled in each House of the Parliament; and

  (b)   give a copy of the report to the responsible Minister; and

  (c)   give a copy of the report to a person who is, or is a member of, the governing body of the Commonwealth partner.

  (7)   Subsection   (6) does not apply if the report is, or is to be, included in the report on an audit under section   17 or 18.

  (8)   The Auditor - General may give a copy of, or an extract from, the report to any person (including a Minister) who, or any body that, in the Auditor - General's opinion, has a special interest in the report or the content of the extract.

  (9)   Nothing prevents the Auditor - General from asking the responsible Minister or the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit to make a particular request for the purposes of paragraph   (1)(a).