Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit
Purpose, Objectives and Operating Framework
Purpose
The purpose of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA) has
remained unchanged since it was first established in 1913: the
JCPAA exists to hold Commonwealth agencies to account for the lawfulness,
efficiency and effectiveness with which they use public monies.
Objectives
The duties of the JCPAA are described in section 8 of the Public
Accounts and Audit Committee Act 1951 and reproduced in "Joint
Committee of Public Accounts - Duties of the Committee",
which can be accessed through the JCPAA home page.
These duties can be interpreted as setting the following objectives
for the Committee:
- to help the Parliament hold the Executive and its agencies
to account;
- to help increase the efficiency and effectiveness with which
government policy is implemented; and
- to help increase parliamentary and public awareness of the
financial and related operations of government.
Operating Framework
The JCPAA works towards these objectives by:
1. reviewing the performance of Commonwealth agencies to ensure
that;
- public monies are spent lawfully and accounted for correctly,
- government programs are administered efficiently and effectively,
and
- government programs achieve the outcomes they are intended
to achieve;
in particular, by:
- reviewing the reports, including performance audit reports,
of the Auditor-General, and
- conducting inquiries which assess the economy, efficiency
and administrative effectiveness of Commonwealth agencies and
the programs they deliver
2. monitoring Australian Public Service (APS) wide resource management
practices and standards, including the regulatory frameworks established
for these purposes;
in particular, by:
- conducting inquiries which assess APS resource management
frameworks, standards and practices, and
- reviewing relevant Bills, as and when they are referred by
the Parliament
3. examining and, as appropriate, giving approval to the annual
report requirements for Commonwealth agencies;
in particular, by monitoring, and as necessary commenting on,
the operation and appropriateness of the annual report requirements
for Commonwealth agencies.
4. examining and reporting on such matters in connection with
the public accounts as are referred by either House of the Parliament.
5. performing functions like those proposed for an audit committee
of Parliament;
in particular, by:
- advising the Auditor-General of the Committee's audit priorities,
- advising the Independent Auditor of the Committee's audit priorities
in respect of the ANAO,
- considering reports of the Independent Auditor