Publications produced during 2018

This is a list of the publications produced in 2018 (the most recent items are listed first).
Reflecting on our work about information

August 2018: During 2016/17 and 2017/18, we looked at aspects of how well the public sector uses and manages information. We published a report that aims to help public organisations think about using and managing information more strategically. Public organisations are encouraged to consider the matters raised in our report and whether they are using and managing information in ways that allow them to best provide public services.

Long-term plans: Our audits of councils’ consultation documents

August 2018: In 2018, councils were required – for the second time since the Local Government Act 2002 was amended in 2014 – to produce consultation documents for their long-term plans. This report is based on our audits of the 2018-28 consultation documents. It is a mix of reflection, commentary, and good-practice guidance. We hope that this combination provides a useful resource for the next time councils prepare and consult on their planning documents.

Accident Compensation Corporation: How it deals with complaints

July 2018: The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) is one of New Zealand’s biggest customer-service organisations. In 2016/17, ACC received more than 1.9 million claims and paid out about $3.7 billion in claims. In August 2014, we published a report on how well ACC managed complaints. For this follow-up report we have looked at how well ACC has responded to the five recommendations in our 2014 report. Those recommendations were about how ACC responds to complaints from people who have been injured and have made a claim with ACC.

Data in the public sector

June 2018: We carried out some research to hear from people working for public organisations in roles that involve managing, sharing, and using the data that public organisations hold. These articles set out what we've learned...

Annual plan 2018/19

June 2018: The Annual Plan 2018/19 sets out our proposed work programme for 2018/19. The work programme outlined in this plan strongly supports the ultimate outcome that we seek from all our work – that Parliament and New Zealanders can have trust and confidence in the public sector. Procurement is the theme for our theme-based work starting in 2018/19, with work on procurement continuing in the following two years.

Health sector: Results of the 2016/17 audits

June 2018: The performance of organisations providing health services, including the district health boards (DHBs), is important for New Zealand's economic and social well-being. In 2016/17, $16.22 billion was spent on health. However, continued financial pressure makes it difficult for DHBs to invest for the future. It also affects their resilience and their ability to make investments to deal with significant changes in demand.

Port companies: matters arising from our 2016/17 audits

June 2018: Brief summary of the main matters arising from the 2016/17 audits for the port sector. Our audits identified two main matters. We have also included our observations on the need for good oversight in investment property decisions and information on the audit reports we issued on port companies’ annual reports for 2016/17.

Digital access to information and services: Learning from examples

June 2018: As part of our Information theme, we wanted to see whether the shift to providing digital information and services is resulting in benefits for New Zealanders. We looked at how three public entities provided digital information and services through their websites and/or mobile applications. The public entities that we looked at were the National Library of New Zealand, Greater Wellington Regional Council, and Quotable Value Limited.

Observations from our 2016/17 central government audits

May 2018: Letter sent on 16 May 2018 to chief executives of government departments and Crown entities by Greg Schollum, Deputy Controller and Auditor-General sharing some observations on common issues and noteworthy practice from our 2016/17 annual audits.