The Audit Office, New Zealand

The Audit Office, New Zealand Independent reporting on how your taxes and rates are spent.

The Audit Office aims to improve trust and confidence in the public sector by completing statutory audits of all public organisations, and carrying out performance audits, inquiries, and other assurance services.

Last week we were pleased to welcome a Tongan parliamentary delegation led by Hon. Esafe Latu MP. The delegation was in ...
23/06/2026

Last week we were pleased to welcome a Tongan parliamentary delegation led by Hon. Esafe Latu MP. The delegation was in New Zealand for Scrutiny Week and visited our office to learn more about how we support select committees in their scrutiny of government spending plans.
FALE ALEA 'O TONGA

Stable housing is an important part of helping people successfully return to the community after leaving prison.This wee...
19/06/2026

Stable housing is an important part of helping people successfully return to the community after leaving prison.

This week, we appeared before Parliament’s Justice Committee to discuss our report, “Department of Corrections: Planning for stable housing outcomes”.

The Committee was interested in several issues covered in the report, including support for people on remand (people in custody waiting to be tried or sentenced), what is known about people’s housing needs when they leave prison, and how well Corrections understands the effectiveness of its housing support work.

The Committee also heard from Corrections, which agreed that stable housing is important to successful reintegration and to reduce re-offending. It accepts our recommendations and is working to implement them.

Watch the Justice Committee appearance here 📽️ https://vimeo.com/showcase/10758261?video=1202358769

(We’ve added a comment with approximate timestamps if you’d like to jump to a particular topic)

Read our report 👉 https://ao.parliament.nz/2026/corrections-housing

Happy Scrutiny Week! Over the next few days, select committees will be examining the Estimates of Appropriations - that ...
15/06/2026

Happy Scrutiny Week! Over the next few days, select committees will be examining the Estimates of Appropriations - that is, the Government’s spending plans for the year ahead.

The Audit Office plays an important role in the scrutiny process. We’ve prepared nearly 70 briefing papers to highlight what we see as the key areas for committees to consider. Our sector managers and advisors, alongside our auditors, will also be briefing committees in person throughout the week before the ministers come in for the public sessions.

The Scrutiny Week schedule is available at https://selectcommittees.parliament.nz/upcoming-committee-meetings, and you can also watch any of the public Estimates hearings online.

Photographed is Lyndsey Gibson, Sector Manager, and Audit Director, Chrissie Murray, at the Justice Committee today.

We’ve published a letter to the Parliamentary Service about how it manages funding for MPs’ and parliamentary parties’ p...
04/06/2026

We’ve published a letter to the Parliamentary Service about how it manages funding for MPs’ and parliamentary parties’ publicity material.

Our Office received questions from members of the public about publicity carrying a “funded by the Parliamentary Service” statement and/or the parliamentary crest, and whether it complied with the rules for parliamentary funding.

The Parliamentary Service was able to assure us it had not directly funded the examples we had questions about, and we were reassured by the Service’s processes for managing publicity spending.

Our letter also outlines the challenges the Service faces in managing publicity funding and suggests ways for the Service to address these. This includes recent changes that allow the Service to confirm or deny whether specific publicity was funded.

Read the letter 👉 https://ao.parliament.nz/2026/publicity-material

Members of our Inquiries team recently appeared before Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee to discuss our rep...
29/05/2026

Members of our Inquiries team recently appeared before Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee to discuss our report, “Chatham Islands Council: Inquiry into sensitive expenditure and procurement”.

We appreciated the Committee’s questions and its interest in the system lessons from the report, including the importance of aligning policies and day-to-day practice, effective internal controls and transparent reporting, and organisational integrity and ethical leadership.

The Council has told us it accepts our findings and is taking steps to address them. We will continue to follow up through the annual audit process and ongoing engagement, consistent with our role as an independent Officer of Parliament.

Watch our FEC appearance here 📽️https://vimeo.com/1195763396?fl=pl&fe=cm

(We’ve added a comment with approximate timestamps if you’d like to jump to a particular topic)

Read our report 👉 https://ao.parliament.nz/2026/chatham-islands

We're proud to again work with Auckland University of Technology to offer a Pasifika student a unique work experience. M...
28/05/2026

We're proud to again work with Auckland University of Technology to offer a Pasifika student a unique work experience.

Meet Trevor Coetzee, who recently joined us and has already been diving into life at the Office. From supporting select committee briefings at Parliament to shadowing the Auditor‑General, Trevor will experience a wide range of what we do.

Fa’afetai tele to our Pasifika Network for championing this opportunity and supporting Trevor during his time with us.

We expect our public servants to give free and frank advice. But it’s not something the public service has ever pinned d...
27/05/2026

We expect our public servants to give free and frank advice. But it’s not something the public service has ever pinned down to one definition, even after decades on the statute book.

At a recent Transparency International New Zealand Leaders Integrity Forum, speakers reflected on what that means in practice.

Practitioners stress that free and frank advice is grounded in real-world judgement: knowing the evidence, knowing your field, and knowing what will (and won’t) work when decisions meet reality.

Our latest blog explores how public servants can pass on this important craft, when so much happens behind closed doors.

Read more here👉 https://ao.parliament.nz/blog/2026/free-and-frank

Closing soon: our good practice guidance survey.If you haven’t already completed the survey, there’s still time – and we...
27/05/2026

Closing soon: our good practice guidance survey.

If you haven’t already completed the survey, there’s still time – and we’d really value your input.

The survey takes about 5 minutes, and you don’t need to have used our guidance to take part.

Closes in 48 hours: https://allenandclarke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cuLTlfWkyao3seq

Your feedback will help shape future guidance for the public sector.

What does global research tell us about the real barriers to independence and accountability? And what can be done to ad...
25/05/2026

What does global research tell us about the real barriers to independence and accountability? And what can be done to address them? Join our upcoming PASAI integrity webinar to be a part of the discussion🌏

Too often, unclear rules and informal power dynamics hold national audit offices back from doing their job of holding governments to account. This session brings together global experts to unpack new OECD–IDI research and share practical insights to strengthen accountability systems.

The session will be chaired by Auditor-General of New Zealand Grant Taylor, with speakers including:

• Freddy Ndjemba – Assistant Director General SAI Governance Department at IDI
• Tuzla Lathiff – Policy Analyst - Internal Control, Risk Management & Audit at OECD
• Serdar Yilmaz – Practice Manager Public Finance and Procurement Unit at the World Bank

Find out more and register: https://auditor-general-parliament-nz.zoom.us/meeting/register/-XpHT3dyQyuL0DI65gSwfQ #/registration

This event is led by The Audit Office New Zealand but forms part of the advocacy and good governance programme of the Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI).

Reminder: there’s still time to take part in our short survey on how our good practice guidance is used.Your input will ...
24/05/2026

Reminder: there’s still time to take part in our short survey on how our good practice guidance is used.

Your input will help us understand what’s working and where we could improve, whether you’ve used our guidance before or not.

Closes Friday 29 May: https://allenandclarke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cuLTlfWkyao3seq

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