I am pleased to present my third report to the Parliament on the 2019 audits of local government councils in New South Wales. This report notes that unqualified audit opinions were issued on the 2018–19 financial statements of 134 councils and 11 joint organisations. The opinion for one council was disclaimed and three audits are yet to complete. The report also highlights improvements I have seen in financial reporting and governance arrangements acro

This report focuses on key observations and findings from 2016 audits and highlights key areas of focus for financial and performance audits in 2017. The quality and timeliness of financial reporting continued to improve across the NSW public sector in 2016. Only one qualified audit opinion was issued and most agencies signed their financial statements on time. We found the Government’s cluster governance arrangements were unclear and inconsistently i

This report will bring together findings and recommendations from our 2019–20 financial audits of local councils and will comment on financial reporting and sustainability, internal controls and governance, and areas of interest that are in focus during the conduct of our audits.