Under section 57 of the Public Finance and Audit Act 1983, the functions of the Committee include the examination of any report of the Auditor-General laid before the Legislative Assembly and any circumstances connected with those reports.
At its meeting of 26 September 2007, the Committee adopted a systematic approach to its examination of the reports of the Auditor-General.
Under this new approach, the Committee is requesting all agencies the subject of recommendations or significant comments in a report, 12 months after the tabling of that report, to provide a submission outlining the agency’s response, including any action to date. This submission will then be examined, further comment will be sought from the Auditor-General, and the Committee may subsequently hold a public hearing with relevant agency officers to clarify issues or obtain further information.
The Committee’s examination is commencing with Auditor-General's reports tabled in Parliament after 30 June 2006. The process will continue for the remainder of this Parliament.