The purpose of the audit was to ascertain the extent to which financial management arrangements helped the department to achieve its objectives and the way that these could be improved in the light of the department's management reforms generally.

Elements of the Financial Management Improvement Program, and the accrual reporting framework, were at an evolutionary stage in the department. The audit therefore focused on quite fundamental financial management issues, including:

• the ability of financial management systems to provide information that was timely, accurate and relevant to the needs of management and other users; and
• the extent of coordination and control of financial management across departmental programs and between National and State Offices.