The Queensland Audit Office values its relationship with elected members and provides assurance services and insights to support the work they do.
To support parliament we:
- publish our reports to parliament
- brief new members and parliamentary committees
- meet with councillors, ministers, and other members of parliament throughout the year.
You can find useful information relevant to your role as a member of parliament, minister, parliamentary committee, or councillor below.
We welcome requests for audits from the public, elected representatives, entity management, and other integrity offices. Learn more about how to request an audit in our fact sheet or view current requests for audit.
Find out more about QAO in our annual report and subscribe to receive our latest news, such as when the Auditor-General tables reports to parliament.
Members of parliament
We select audit topics that matter most to Queensland. Our planning approach helps identify the risks and opportunities facing public service delivery, and we align our audit topics in response.
View our 3-year forward work plan and learn more about our upcoming audits.
We produce reports to parliament on the results of our audits. They:
- consolidate our audit results and findings
- may include recommendations for entities
- share the broader insights we have gathered across our work.
Recently tabled reports of interest
We prepare dashboards for some of our reports to parliament to help illustrate our insights.
You can explore:
- the status of Auditor-General's recommendations
- grants
- education, water, energy, local government, and health entities
- services and finances across the state in our QAO Queensland dashboard.
Our dashboards allow you to find out more about the performance of public sector and local government entities based on where you live or the services you receive.
- Search your address
- Click the map or select a region
- Compare entities.
View our interactive dashboards
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Status of Auditor-General's recommendations dashboard | QAO Queensland dashboard |
We publish a range of resources that share insights, advice, and information in response to the issues, challenges, and opportunities we identify through our audit work and engagement.
Use our better practice guides
Blogs of interest
Financial statements can be difficult to understand for those who don’t have a strong finance or accounting background.
The Auditor-General Act 2009 governs the powers and functions of the Auditor-General.
Learn more about:
Information on the Auditor-General's mandate and powers in the context of government policy is available in our fact sheet Auditing government policy.
We welcome requests for audits from the public, elected representatives, entity management, and other integrity offices.
- Learn more and view current requests
- Read our requests for audits fact sheet and blog.
Ministers
We conduct our audit work, and prepare our reports to parliament, under the Auditor-General Act 2009 and the Auditor-General Auditing Standards. We apply the mandatory requirements of applicable Australian auditing and assurance standards, as well as public sector considerations of probity, propriety, and compliance.
Our reports to parliament share the results of our audits and may include:
- recommendations for entities
- outcomes of investigations
- key facts and insights we have gleaned from our work across entities.
We issue a draft or proposed report to all entities that were a part of the audit as well as respective ministers for a formal 21-day comment period prior to tabling.
Find out more about our reports to parliament and confidentiality requirements in our fact sheets:
Each year, we ask entities to self-assess their progress in implementing the performance audit recommendations we have made in our reports to parliament.
Our report on the status of Auditor-General’s recommendations brings together information and insights on entities' progress. It also highlights common challenges and improvement opportunities.
Status of recommendations dashboard
Our interactive dashboard allows you to explore entities’ self-assessed progress implementing the recommendations we make in our reports to parliament. You can tailor your search by:
- year
- report
- entity
- parliamentary committee
- implementation status.
The dashboard reflects entities’ responses for the period in which they completed their self-assessments.
We provide advice and recommendations to entities on cyber risk and security through our reports to parliament, better practice guidance, blogs, and events.
Cyber incidents may compromise entities’ information systems and business operations – significantly disrupting the delivery of critical public services.
Our resources support entities to proactively manage their cyber security risks and ensure they can respond to an incident.
Read more in our reports:
Podcast
Listen in to our podcast – Cyber risk: what do we do now? – as 2 of our senior directors and the Queensland Government's Cyber Security Unit discuss:
- what chief executives need to consider (including risk management and controls)
- what to do if you experience a cyber attack
- interesting findings and important recommendations from our recent report on responding to and recovering from cyber attacks.
Better practice guides
Our Cyber response and recovery governance checklist provides key questions that those charged with governance should consider in relation to responding to and recovering from cyber security incidents.
Our Role capability checklist for cyber attack response and recovery is a useful prompt for entities to:
- think about their relevant people, process, or technology capabilities
- note when they last tested these capabilities
- address any gaps.
Effective corporate governance holds management and decision makers to account.
Our better practice guide Leading accountability – Governance explains the:
- responsibilities of ministers and government employees
- role of the Auditor-General and Queensland Audit Office
- key oversight and accountability bodies.
The Financial Accountability Handbook on Queensland Treasury's website helps accountable officers and statutory bodies to discharge their obligations under the Financial Accountability Act 2009, the Financial and Performance Management Standard 2019, and the Financial Accountability Regulation 2019.
Parliamentary committees
Each year, we ask entities to self-assess their progress in implementing the performance audit recommendations we have made in our reports to parliament.
Our report on the status of Auditor-General’s recommendations brings together information and insights on entities' progress. It also highlights common challenges and improvement opportunities.
Status of recommendations dashboard
Our interactive dashboard allows you to explore entities’ self-assessed progress in implementing the recommendations we make in our reports to parliament. You can tailor your search by:
- year
- report
- entity
- parliamentary committee
- implementation status.
The dashboard reflects entities’ responses for the period in which they completed their self-assessments.
We prepare dashboards for some of our reports to parliament to help illustrate the insights we collect from our work.
You can explore:
- the status of Auditor-General's recommendations
- grants
- education, water, energy, local government, and health entities
- services and finances across the state in our QAO Queensland dashboard.
Our dashboards allow you to find out more about the performance of public sector and local government entities based on where you live or the services you receive.
- Search your address
- Click the map or select a region
- Compare entities.
View our interactive dashboards
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Status of Auditor-General's recommendations dashboard | QAO Queensland dashboard |
External reviews of QAO are an important part of our governance framework. They:
- provide for an independent understanding of our organisation
- hold us accountable for how we discharge our mandate
- recommend opportunities for improvement.
Learn more about previous strategic reviews of QAO.
Committees play an important role in examining aspects of public sector performance and holding public sector entities accountable to deliver better public services. We support committees in this work, providing briefings on our reports to parliament and other assistance.
For information on the assistance QAO provides to parliamentary committees, see the Code of practice for assistance to portfolio committees by the Auditor-General and the Queensland Audit Office within the Standing Rules and Orders of the Legislative Assembly.
Councillors
We select audit topics that matter most to Queensland. Our planning approach helps identify the risks and opportunities facing public service delivery, and we align our audit topics in response.
Forward work plan and upcoming audits
Through our financial audit program, we form opinions about the reliability of entities' financial statements.
Through our performance audit program, we examine the efficiency, effectiveness, and economy of important aspects of public services.
We table reports to parliament with our results, insights, and recommendations for improvement based on these audits.
Read our reports to parliament
We prepare dashboards for some of our reports to parliament to help illustrate the insights we collect from our work.
You can explore:
- the status of Auditor-General's recommendations
- grants
- education, water, energy, local government, and health entities
- services and finances across the state in our QAO Queensland dashboard.
Our dashboards allow you to find out more about the performance of public sector and local government entities based on where you live or the services you receive.
- Search your address
- Click the map or select a region
- Compare entities.
View our interactive dashboards
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2023 local government dashboard | QAO Queensland dashboard |
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Status of Auditor-General's recommendations dashboard | Understanding grants |
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2023 water dashboard |
We publish a range of resources that share insights, advice, and information in response to the issues, challenges, and opportunities we identify through our audit work and engagement.
Use our better practice guides
Elected members are responsible for setting the strategic direction of their council.
Fraud and corruption risks are pervasive to all organisations, regardless of whether they operate in the public or private sector, or are for
Public sector entities in Queensland – both state and local governments – collectively manage approximately $475 billion in infrastructure assets t
Financial sustainability is a common and enduring challenge for councils because of their geographic location, local population numbers, and the nu
The Auditor-General Act 2009 governs the powers and functions of the Auditor-General.
Learn more about:
Information on the Auditor-General's mandate and powers in the context of government policy is available in our fact sheet Auditing government policy.
We welcome requests for audits from the public, elected representatives, entity management, and other integrity offices.
- Learn more and view current requests for audit
- Read our requests for audit fact sheet and blog.
Resources
The Queensland Audit Office’s forward work plan is readily available on our website, providing transparency around our audit priorities and the rep
Auditing the right topics, at the right time, is the key to achieving better public services for Queenslanders.
Financial statements can be difficult to understand for those who don’t have a strong finance or accounting background.