An impeditive administrative culture? The legacy of Australia's first Auditor-General on the Australian Audit Office (1).: An article from: The Australian Journal of Politics and History
Book Details
Author(s)John Wanna, Christine Ryan
PublisherUniversity of Queensland Press
ISBN / ASINB00082VEBY
ISBN-13978B00082VEB6
AvailabilityAvailable for download now
MarketplaceUnited States 🇺🇸
Description
This digital document is an article from The Australian Journal of Politics and History, published by University of Queensland Press on December 1, 2003. The length of the article is 6744 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
From the author: This historical study provides an account of the Australian Audit Office from its formation in 1901 until the end of the term of Australia's first Auditor-General in 1925. The Audit Office was created to assist the Commonwealth Government in discharging and reporting on its accountability for the economical use of resources. The philosophy upon which the Audit Office was created was one based on small government where a minimalist role for the audit function was envisaged. Accordingly, the initial Audit Act dictated a detailed audit methodology. However, the expansion of Commonwealth activities due to the outbreak of the First World War, the realities of a decentralised Commonwealth administration and the more commercial activities of government created numerous problems for both the Office and government. The Auditor-General was unable, or unwilling, to adapt his audit methodologies to suit the changing circumstances of Australian public administration and the workload of the Audit Office periodically fell into backlog. Relations with the executive became strained over these matters prompting intervention by subsequent governments. This early period is important historically as it provides a window through which to view the development of the public sector audit function and its contribution to an efficient public sector. In addition, the events of this period illustrate the importance of relations between the Audit Office and the government, and the role of the Auditor-General in contributing to an efficient public administration.
Citation Details
Title: An impeditive administrative culture? The legacy of Australia's first Auditor-General on the Australian Audit Office (1).
Author: John Wanna
Publication:The Australian Journal of Politics and History (Refereed)
Date: December 1, 2003
Publisher: University of Queensland Press
Volume: 49 Issue: 4 Page: 469(12)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
From the author: This historical study provides an account of the Australian Audit Office from its formation in 1901 until the end of the term of Australia's first Auditor-General in 1925. The Audit Office was created to assist the Commonwealth Government in discharging and reporting on its accountability for the economical use of resources. The philosophy upon which the Audit Office was created was one based on small government where a minimalist role for the audit function was envisaged. Accordingly, the initial Audit Act dictated a detailed audit methodology. However, the expansion of Commonwealth activities due to the outbreak of the First World War, the realities of a decentralised Commonwealth administration and the more commercial activities of government created numerous problems for both the Office and government. The Auditor-General was unable, or unwilling, to adapt his audit methodologies to suit the changing circumstances of Australian public administration and the workload of the Audit Office periodically fell into backlog. Relations with the executive became strained over these matters prompting intervention by subsequent governments. This early period is important historically as it provides a window through which to view the development of the public sector audit function and its contribution to an efficient public sector. In addition, the events of this period illustrate the importance of relations between the Audit Office and the government, and the role of the Auditor-General in contributing to an efficient public administration.
Citation Details
Title: An impeditive administrative culture? The legacy of Australia's first Auditor-General on the Australian Audit Office (1).
Author: John Wanna
Publication:The Australian Journal of Politics and History (Refereed)
Date: December 1, 2003
Publisher: University of Queensland Press
Volume: 49 Issue: 4 Page: 469(12)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
