Public Sector Governance and Accountability Research Centre

Research reports

The Comparative Study Into Public Accounts Committee Practices In Australia And New Zealand

PSGARC in association with KPMG conducted a study of the practices and procedures of Public Accounts Committees (PACs) in Australia and New Zealand. The topics addressed include:

• Legislation governing PAC establishment and powers;
• PAC membership, appointment and party representation processes, including practices around the selection and representation of Committee chairs;
• PAC staffing, funding and resources;
• PAC functions and powers
• Working practices and meetings
• The nature of each PAC’s relationship with Parliament, Auditor-Generals, other parliamentary committees, the public sector and other bodies;
• Hearing and reporting processes and practices; and
• Significant challenges/changes in recent history.

The publication, which was launched at the Australian Paliament in February 2007, is available for download [PDF 466KB].