Our recent work

We took an independent look at what happened in 2020, to understand how resources and efforts were co-ordinated as the pandemic unfolded.

We've published some observations from our recent work, to help public sector staff who are setting up and running emergency response and recovery initiatives.
What we do
The Controller and Auditor-General is an Officer of Parliament. This means he is independent of the Government and can't be directed by whichever political party is holding power.
The Auditor-General has two business units – the Office of the Auditor-General (this site) and Audit New Zealand (auditnz.parliament.nz).
Together, our work gives Parliament and the public an independent view of how public organisations are operating. That independence, along with watching the spending, is why the Auditor-General is sometimes called the public's watchdog.
Here's the video transcript, and there's more information in the About us section.
What does an auditor do?
An auditor checks that information organisations report annually is reliable, and lets us know if it isn’t. (Here’s the video transcript.)
What is the Controller function?
The Controller checks that money is spent lawfully, and can "turn off the money tap" if it isn't. (Here's the video transcript.)

