This report will bring together findings and recommendations from our 2020–21 financial audits of local councils and will comment on financial reporting and performance, internal controls and governance, and areas of interest that are in focus during the conduct of our audits.

What the report is about Results of the local government sector council financial statement audits for the year ended 30 June 2020. What we found Unqualified audit opinions were issued for 127 councils, 9 county councils and 13 joint organisation audits in 2019–20. A qualified audit opinion was issued for Central Coast Council. Councils were impacted by recent emergency events, including bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic. The financial implications