Environmental Performance Auditing In The Public Sector

Environment and sustainable development challenges are a matter of global concern. Trillions of dollars of mostly public money are invested every year in domestic and international policies and programs to address these challenges. The effectiveness of these policies and programs is critical to environmental sustainability. Performance audits that examine the effectiveness of governmental policies and programs heavily influence their implementation. Despite this, performance auditing in the environment field has received very little academic attention. This book takes a closer look at performance auditing of public sector environmental policies and programs. It examines trends in global environmental performance auditing; and how it is currently practiced drawing on a global survey and case studies from Canada, India and Australia. In doing so, it identifies issues and challenges faced by Supreme Audit Institutions in undertaking these performance audits. This book will be of interest to students, scholars and practitioners of sustainable development, environmental auditing and public sector auditing as well as to donor organisations engaged in these areas.

This thesis examines environmental performance auditing and reputational risk in the public sector, through a study of the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO). Previous studies in the performance auditing literature and the environmental auditing literature have not examined the process which links audits to reputational risk for auditees. In addressing that gap, this thesis also investigates the ANAO's back-stage processes for performance auditing which are not well-documented in the public domain. Using the theoretical framework of framing (Goffman, 1974) and overflows (Callon, 1998), this thesis initially examines how environmental performance auditing is framed or understood by auditors and their various audiences. It uses five frames identified from the environmental auditing and performance auditing literature, namely an assistance frame, an improvement frame, a public interest frame, a risk management frame and a political frame. The thesis then investigates how framing disputes (overflows) generate reputational risk to government, particularly through public debate involving the media and political opposition. Finally the thesis reviews how reputational risk is managed by bureaucrats and government members of Parliament. This thesis studies general performance auditing processes within the ANAO and specifically examines the ANAO's performance audits of the Home Insulation Program (HIP) and the Green Loans Program. It analyses documents prepared by: the ANAO, including audit reports, better practice guides, annual reports, annual work programs and speeches by senior managers; Parliament, including the Hansard and reports of Parliamentary committees; and the media. It also employs semi-structured interviews with representatives from the ANAO, audited agencies, the media and the Parliament, including the Joint Committee on Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA). This thesis renders several significant conclusions. First, the roles performed by performance auditors are more fluid and complex than the structuralist classifications employed in ealier studies (Pollitt, 2003). Fluidity of auditors' roles and compatability between frames allows auditors to relate to different audiences through different frames. Second, the frame(s) emphasised by the Opposition and media underscore their role in a Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The alternative accounts of an audit produced by the Opposition and the media provide important counter-perspectives to the audit report prepared by auditors. Third, the ANAO's performance audits manage reputational risk to the government by proactively auditing progams which have been identified as carrying risks to service delivery. The iterative and transparent nature of the ANAO's relationship with audited agencies enables agencies to correct issues before the final audit report is released and this effectively diminishes reputational risk to government. Fourth, the ANAO's performance auditing framework evolves through historical decisions made by the Auditor-General. Those decisions become codified in the ANAO's documents and are subsequently used to train new auditors and shape their understanding of performance auditing. Finally, many performance audits are ignored by the general public, media and Parliament because they fail to address contentious issues. However, this may not trouble the ANAO since it is primarily concerned with improving performance in the public sector.

Global -- International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions -- Supreme Audit Institutions -- Working Group for Environmental Auditing -- Local -- South Africa -- South African SAI -- AuditorGeneral of South Africa -- Public Sector -- Audit Methodology Processes -- Environmental Auditing -- Mandatory Regularity Auditing -- Voluntary Performance Auditing -- Environmental Accountability -- Globale -- Internasional Organisasie vir Hoogste Oudit Instellings -- Hoogste Oudit Instellings -- Werkgroep vir Omgewingsouditering -- Plaaslik -- Suid-Afrika -- Hoogste Oudit Instelling van Suid Afrika -- Ouditeur-Generaal van Suid-Afrika -- Publieke Sektor -- Ouditmetodologie Prosesse -- Omgewingsouditerings -- Verpligte Re©±lmatigheidsouditerings -- Vrywillige Prestasieouditerings -- Omgewingsaanspreeklikheid.

This publication considers the relationship between performance auditing and public sector modernisation and the extent to which performance auditing could or should improve the performance of public sector organisations.

Audits provide essential accountability and transparency over government programs. Given the current challenges facing governments and their programs, the oversight provided through auditing is more critical than ever. Government auditing provides the objective analysis and information needed to make the decisions necessary to help create a better future. The professional standards presented in this 2018 revision of Government Auditing Standards (known as the Yellow Book) provide a framework for performing high-quality audit work with competence, integrity, objectivity, and independence to provide accountability and to help improve government operations and services. These standards, commonly referred to as generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS), provide the foundation for government auditors to lead by example in the areas of independence, transparency, accountability, and quality through the audit process. This revision contains major changes from, and supersedes, the 2011 revision.

PPP/PFI contracts often share a number of features: they run over a very long period of time; they are conceived without a complete understanding of how requirements may change and despite the rhetoric they tend to create a context where dispute and litigation rather than partnership are the norm. In this environment, effective auditing is essential to ensure that projects are delivering what the end-user requires. Audits are both a public sector right, and a matter of good management sense. Performance Auditing of Public Sector Property Contracts is a practical guide to performance auditing for public sector property managers with a series of guidelines for auditors of public sector property contracts. The book concentrates on Facilities Management contracts. Lori Keating explains the basis for the process; how to retain balance, independence and rigour and how to audit intangible performance measures and other tricky areas. The book follows an audit process from commencement to conclusion, and contains a discussion of factors that contribute to the success of any audit. It is essential reading for public sector auditors, PPP project managers and contractors.

PPP/PFI contracts often share a number of features: they run over a very long period of time; they are conceived without a complete understanding of how requirements may change and despite the rhetoric they tend to create a context where dispute and litigation rather than partnership are the norm. In this environment, effective auditing is essential to ensure that projects are delivering what the end-user requires. Audits are both a public sector right, and a matter of good management sense. Performance Auditing of Public Sector Property Contracts is a practical guide to performance auditing for public sector property managers with a series of guidelines for auditors of public sector property contracts. The book concentrates on Facilities Management contracts. Lori Keating explains the basis for the process; how to retain balance, independence and rigour and how to audit intangible performance measures and other tricky areas. The book follows an audit process from commencement to conclusion, and contains a discussion of factors that contribute to the success of any audit. It is essential reading for public sector auditors, PPP project managers and contractors.

Reports on the potential for federal agencies to improve their environmental performance and reduce costs by conducting environmental audits. Describes the experience of organizations that are leaders in environmental auditing; discusses the extent to which federal agencies use environmental auditing and the benefits that could accrue from its wider use, and identifies obstacles and disincentives to the more effective use of environmental auditing by these agencies. Includes EPA, Energy and the Defense Dept.

This timely Handbook examines performance management research specific to the public sector and its contexts, and provides suggestions for future developments in the field. It demonstrates the need for performance management to be reconceptualized as a core component of business both within and across organizations, and how it must be embedded in both strategic decision-making and as a day-to-day leadership and management practice in order to be effective.