❓ A WA parliamentary question addresses concerns raised in the Auditor General's report regarding the quality and timeliness of financial reporting by government agencies, specifically targeting agencies within the Minister for Education's portfolio. The response indicates discrepancies in the Auditor General's report concerning the Department of Education Services.
AnsweredQoN 3299Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the WA Auditor General Audit Results Report Annual 2009-10 Assurance Audits Report 10 Nov 2010, in section 5 ‘Quality and Timeliness of Financial Reporting’ on page 30 where it refers to too many Agencies providing documents of unsatisfactory quality, causing audit costs to rise, often significantly, which can delay the issuing of the opinion and the tabling of the annual report, and I ask -
(1) What are the Agencies under the Minister’s portfolio that the audit is referring to?
(2) Have any Annual Reports of these Agencies been delayed because of the unsatisfactory quality of their documents for audit?
(3) What action has been taken to ensure these Agencies are able to improve their financial statements for audit?
(4) Can the Minister give an assurance that these Agencies will implement better quality control processes to improve the material they submit in time for the next audit?
(5) If no to (4), why not?
(1) What are the Agencies under the Minister’s portfolio that the audit is referring to?
(2) Have any Annual Reports of these Agencies been delayed because of the unsatisfactory quality of their documents for audit?
(3) What action has been taken to ensure these Agencies are able to improve their financial statements for audit?
(4) Can the Minister give an assurance that these Agencies will implement better quality control processes to improve the material they submit in time for the next audit?
(5) If no to (4), why not?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
21 March 2011
Responded by
Minister for Energy representing the Minister for Education
Response time
34 days
For the Curriculum Council
(1)-(5) Not applicable.
For the Department of Education
(1)-(5) Nil.
For the Department of Education Services
(1) The Department of Education Services is named in Appendix 1 of the Report referred to; however the Department is disputing with the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) its inclusion. The Appendix 1 lists agencies and the dates their financial statements were "audit ready" (a term defined by the OAG as when financial statements "were substantially complete and of sufficient quality for the audit to commence"). The Department's completed financial statements were made available to the external auditors contracted by the OAG to perform the audit on the 27 July 2010; not on 20 August 2010 as indicated in Appendix 1. The Department believes the date is a misprint. No issues regarding the quality of the Department's financial statements were raised by the OAG either during the conduct of the audit or referred to in the Auditor General's 'management letter' to the Department presented at the conclusion of the audit.
(2) No
(3)-(5) Not applicable.
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(1)-(5) Not applicable.
For the Department of Education
(1)-(5) Nil.
For the Department of Education Services
(1) The Department of Education Services is named in Appendix 1 of the Report referred to; however the Department is disputing with the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) its inclusion. The Appendix 1 lists agencies and the dates their financial statements were "audit ready" (a term defined by the OAG as when financial statements "were substantially complete and of sufficient quality for the audit to commence"). The Department's completed financial statements were made available to the external auditors contracted by the OAG to perform the audit on the 27 July 2010; not on 20 August 2010 as indicated in Appendix 1. The Department believes the date is a misprint. No issues regarding the quality of the Department's financial statements were raised by the OAG either during the conduct of the audit or referred to in the Auditor General's 'management letter' to the Department presented at the conclusion of the audit.
(2) No
(3)-(5) Not applicable.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
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