NSW Audit Office - Submissions - 2005 - Internal Audit in NSW Local Government - Submission from the

Internal Audit in NSW Local Government Submission from the Audit Office of New South Wales on the Department of Local Government Discussion Paper August 2005 Establishing and maintaining effective internal audit for local government Currently, legislation provides only a limited role for the Audit Office in relation to local Councils. In that context, we had limited opportunity to respond to the alarming findings reported by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in 2001 about the generally parlous condition of the internal audit function across the local government sector. However, we were involved with supporting and assisting the initiative of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) in writing to your Minister in 2003, seeking action to raise the standard of internal audit to that in other jurisdictions. In organisations for which we have responsibility for the external audit function, we place considerable emphasis on the need for a properly functioning audit committee and internal audit function. It is a key aspect of the governance, risk and control framework that we need to assess in determining our external audit scope and focus. Effective internal audit may allow us to place reliance on some of the work undertaken internally, reducing external audit efforts (and fees). While it has taken a very long time since the issue was highlighted (by ICAC, and subsequently the IIA), we are very pleased to see the ...