39-518: National Audit Office may refer to audit authorities of various national governments: Australian National Audit Office , an agency of the federal Commonwealth government, established 1901 Bundesrechnungshof ('Federal Court of Auditors'), the Germany body, re-established in West Germany in 1948 Court of Audit (France) (French: Cour des comptes ),
78-424: A cabinet minister. The cabinet consists of the prime minister and senior ministers and makes most of the important policy decisions of the government. Members of the cabinet are selected by the prime minister and may be added or removed at any time, usually through a cabinet reshuffle . Cabinet meetings are strictly private and occur once a week where vital issues are discussed and policy formulated. The cabinet
117-681: A minister, on any important matter. In addition, the ANAO plays a leadership role in improving public administration and audit capability in Australia and overseas by publishing information such as Insights and deploying experienced staff to audit institutions in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea . The Auditor-General is appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, for
156-625: A predominant influence over who was elected to Labor ministries, although the leaders of the party factions also exercised considerable influence. However, in 2007 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd , assumed the power to choose the ministry alone. Later, the caucus regained this power in 2013. According to reporting by the Sydney Morning Herald , ministerial positions are allocated by the Left and Right factions proportionally according to their representation in
195-461: A term of ten years. The current acting Auditor-General is Ms Rona Mellor PSM, who was appointed to act in the role commencing 16 February 2024. Below is a full list of Commonwealth auditors-general dating from 1902. The Audit Act 1901 was the fourth piece of legislation passed by the Parliament. The Audit Act provided a legislative basis for the financial management of Commonwealth finances and
234-758: Is a specialist public sector agency that supports the Auditor-General of Australia, who is an independent officer of the Parliament of Australia. The main functions and powers of the Auditor-General under the Auditor-General Act 1997 (Cth) include auditing financial statements of Commonwealth agencies, authorities, companies and their subsidiaries in accordance with the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (Cth) and conducting performance audits which are tabled in Parliament. The Auditor-General may report their findings directly to Parliament or to
273-579: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Australian National Audit Office The Australian National Audit Office ( ANAO ) is the supreme audit institution of Australia , functioning as the national auditor for the Parliament of Australia and Government of Australia . It reports directly to the Australian Parliament via the Speaker of
312-418: Is difficult to apply as many actions by executive agencies are wide-ranging, binding and conducted independently of Parliament. The executive can also be delegated legislative power through provisions allowing for statutory instruments and Henry VIII clauses . Ultimately whether power is executive or legislative is determined on a case-by-case basis, and involves the weighing up of various factors, rather than
351-560: Is not a legal entity; it exists solely by convention. Its decisions do not in and of themselves have legal force. However, it serves as the practical expression of the Federal Executive Council , which is Australia's highest formal governmental body. In practice, the Federal Executive Council meets solely to endorse and give legal force to decisions already made by the cabinet. All members of the cabinet are members of
390-641: The Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (Cth) for the proper use and management of public money, public property and other Commonwealth resources; the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (Cth) that provides reporting, accountability and other rules for Commonwealth authorities and Commonwealth companies; and the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) for general corporate law. Government of Australia [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Australian Government , also known as
429-687: The Australian Capital Territory . The head offices of all the federal departments are located in Canberra, along with Parliament House and the High Court . The name of the government in the Constitution of Australia is the "Government of the Commonwealth". This was the name used in many early federal government publications. However, in 1965 Robert Menzies indicated his preference for
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#1732844890341468-474: The Australian Labor Party (ALP), in office since the 2022 federal election . The prime minister is the head of the federal government and is a role which exists by constitutional convention, rather than by law. They are appointed to the role by the governor-general (the representative of the monarch of Australia ). The governor-general normally appoints the parliamentary leader who commands
507-707: The Commonwealth Government or simply as the Federal government , is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy . The executive consists of the prime minister and other cabinet ministers that currently have the support of a majority of the members of the House of Representatives (the lower house) and also includes the departments and other executive bodies that ministers oversee. The current executive government consists of Anthony Albanese and other ministers of
546-882: The Auditor General (disambiguation) Audit Commission (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title National Audit Office . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Audit_Office&oldid=1254303399 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Articles containing German-language text Articles containing French-language text Articles containing Chinese-language text Articles containing Estonian-language text Articles containing Lithuanian-language text Articles containing Swedish-language text Short description
585-456: The Constitution . These were defined by High Court Justice Anthony Mason , as powers "peculiarly adapted to the government of a nation and which cannot otherwise be carried on for the benefit of the nation". They have been found to include the power to provide financial stimulus payments to households during a financial crisis and the power to prevent "unlawful non-citizens" from entering
624-555: The Court of Audit in France, established in 1807 National Audit Office (China) (Chinese: 中华人民共和国审计署 ), the supreme audit institution of the People's Republic, established in 1983 National Audit Office of Estonia (Estonian: Riigikontroll ), established by the provisional government in 1918; reestablished in 1990 National Audit Office of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Valstybės kontrolė ),
663-534: The Dismissal of 1975. In that case, the Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed the prime minister and government due to his conclusion that the government had failed to secure supply. The propriety of the use of the powers during that event remain highly contested. The Federal Executive Council is the body that formally advises the governor-general in the exercise of executive power. Decisions of
702-668: The Executive Council. A senior member of the cabinet holds the office of vice-president of the Executive Council and acts as presiding officer of the Executive Council in the absence of the governor-general. The cabinet meets not only in Canberra but also in state capitals, most frequently Sydney and Melbourne. Kevin Rudd was in favour of the cabinet meeting in other places, such as major regional cities. There are Commonwealth Parliament Offices in each state capital, with those in Sydney located in 1 Bligh Street . Until 1956 all members of
741-606: The House of Representatives and the President of the Senate . Administratively, the ANAO is located in the Prime Minister and Cabinet portfolio . The current acting Auditor-General for Australia is Ms Rona Mellor PSM, who was appointed to act in the role commencing 16 February 2024 following the resignation of the fifteenth Auditor-General Grant Hehir. The Australian National Audit Office
780-511: The King and the governor-general must follow the advice of the prime minister or other ministers in the exercise of his powers. Powers subject to the governor-general’s discretion are known as reserve powers. While certain reserve powers, such as the ability to choose the prime minister most likely to command the confidence of the lower house, are uncontroversial, others are subject to much greater debate. The most notable example of their use occurring in
819-485: The Parliament. The King is not involved with the day-to-day operations of the government, belonging (according to the Bagehot formulation) to the "dignified" rather than the "efficient" part of government. While the executive power of the Commonwealth is formally vested in the monarch, the Constitution requires those powers to be exercisable by a governor-general, appointed by the monarch as their representative (but since
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#1732844890341858-573: The allocation of their portfolios. When Labor first held office under Chris Watson , Watson assumed the right to choose members of his cabinet. In 1907, however, the party decided that future Labor cabinets would be elected by the members of the Parliamentary Labor Party, the Caucus , and the prime minister would retain the right to allocate portfolios. This practice was followed until 2007. Between 1907 and 2007, Labor prime ministers exercised
897-488: The application of a strict test. As most executive power is granted by statute, the executive power of the government is similarly limited to those areas in which the Commonwealth is granted the power to legislate under the constitution (primarily under section 51 ). They also retain certain powers traditionally part of the royal prerogative , such as the power to declare war and enter into treaties. Finally, there exists certain "nationhood powers", implied from section 61 of
936-444: The appointing of Sir Isaac Isaacs in 1931, always appointed according to the advice of federal ministers, rather than British ministers). Members of the government do not exercise executive power of their own accord but are instead appointed by the governor-general as ministers, formally as the "Queen's [or King's] Ministers of State". As such, while government ministers make most major decisions in cabinet, if those decisions require
975-658: The audit of related accounts, it also provided a legal foundation for the appointment of an Auditor-General. The first Auditor-General, John William Israel, began establishing the Federal Audit Office in 1902 in Melbourne. The office moved to Canberra in 1935, in line with Government policy at that time. The Audit Act 1901 was amended in 1979 to allow the Audit Office to undertake performance audits ("efficiency reviews"). Efficiency reviews, or performance audit , concerns
1014-414: The body give legal effect to decisions already deliberated at cabinet. All current and formers ministers are members of the council, although only current ministers are summoned to meetings. The governor-general usually presides at council meetings, but in his or her absence another minister nominated as the vice-president of the Executive Council presides at the meeting of the council. Since 1 June 2022,
1053-594: The bottom layer includes public servants , police, government departments and independent statutory bodies who directly implement policy and laws. Executive power is also difficult to clearly define. In the British context, it was defined by John Locke as all government power not legislative or judicial in nature. The key distinction is that while legislative power involves setting down rules of general application, executive power involves applying those rules to specific situations. In practice, however, this definition
1092-418: The confidence of a majority of the members of the House of Representatives. Also by convention, the prime minister is a member of the lower house. The prime minister and their sworn ministers form the cabinet , the key decision-making organ of the government that makes policy and decides the agenda of the government. Members of the government can exercise both legislative power (through their control of
1131-538: The country . Ministers drawn from the Australian parliament form the core of the Australian Government. A subset of these ministers form the cabinet, the de facto highest executive body of the government. Ministers not part of cabinet belong to the outer ministry. Additionally, there are also assistant ministers (formally parliamentary secretaries ), responsible for a specific policy area, reporting directly to
1170-595: The efficiency and effectiveness of a particular government activity. The Audit Act 1901 was replaced with the Auditor-General Act 1997 , which came into effect on 1 January 1998. The main features of the new act included: In 1986 the ANAO hosted XII INCOSAI , the twelfth triennial convention of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions . The Australian National Audit Office also reviews Commonwealth Government agencies pursuant to
1209-419: The formal endorsement of the governor-general in council, those decisions do not have legal force until approved by the Federal Executive Council , which is presided over by the governor-general. Similarly, laws passed by both houses of parliament require royal assent before being enacted, as the monarch is a constituent part of the Parliament. However, in all these cases, except for certain reserve powers,
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1248-746: The ministry differs depending on their party. When the Liberal Party and its predecessors (the Nationalist Party and the United Australia Party ) have been in coalition with the National Party or its predecessor the Country Party , the leader of the junior Coalition party has had the right to nominate their party's members of the Coalition ministry, and to be consulted by the prime minister on
1287-459: The ministry were members of the cabinet. The growth of the ministry in the 1940s and 1950s made this increasingly impractical, and in 1956 Robert Menzies created a two-tier ministry, with only senior ministers holding cabinet rank, also known within parliament as the front bench . This practice has been continued by all governments except the Whitlam government . The prime minister's power to select
1326-399: The name "Australian Government" in order to prevent confusion with the new Commonwealth of Nations . The Whitlam government legislated the use of "Government of Australia" in 1973 in line with its policy of promoting national goals and aspirations. However, academic Anne Twomey argues that the government was also motivated by a desire to blur the differences between the Commonwealth and
1365-404: The other two branches of government, however, membership of the executive is not clearly defined. One definition describes the executive as a pyramid, consisting of three layers. At the top stands the king, as the symbolic apex and formal repository of executive power. Below him lies a second layer made up of the prime minister, cabinet and other ministers who in practice lead the executive. Finally,
1404-418: The parliament) and executive power (as ministers on behalf of the governor-general and the monarch). However, in accordance with responsible government , and to ensure accountability, actions of the government in its executive capacity are subject to scrutiny from parliament. The Australian Government is headquartered in the executive wing of Parliament House , located in the nation's capital, Canberra , in
1443-509: The states in an attempt to increase federal power. The Parliament of Australia website also notes that the name "Australian Government" is preferable in order to avoid confusion with the Commonwealth of Nations and the US federal government by those not familiar with Australia's system of government. This terminology remains preferred by the government. However, the terms Commonwealth Government and federal government are also common. In some contexts,
1482-452: The supreme audit institution in Lithuania, established 1919 National Audit Office (United Kingdom) , parliamentary body, established in its current form in 1983 Swedish National Audit Office (Swedish: Riksrevisionen ), established in its current form in 2003 See also [ edit ] Comptroller general (disambiguation) Director of Audit (disambiguation) Office of
1521-455: The term "government" refers to all public agencies that exercise the power of the State , whether legislative, executive or judicial. The government's primary role, in its executive capacity, is to implement the laws passed by the parliament. However, laws are frequently drafted according to the interests of the executive branch as the government often also controls the legislative branch. Unlike
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