2 December 2016

Senator the Honourable Stephen Parry
President of the Senate
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Dear Senator Parry

National Cancer Screening Register Bill 2016

I am writing in response to your letter of 14 October 2016 regarding a resolution agreed by the Senate. The Senate requested that I conduct a performance audit to assess whether: the Department of Health appropriately managed the procurement of services related to the National Cancer Screening Register; and the procurement met the requirements of the Commonwealth Procurement Rules.

A performance audit of the Procurement of the National Cancer Screening Register will be conducted under sub-section 18(1) of the Auditor General Act 1997.

The objective of the audit is to assess whether the Department of Health effectively procured services to operate a National Cancer Screening Register. To form a conclusion against the audit objective the high-level audit criteria are whether the Department of Health:

• appropriately managed the procurement of services for the national screening register, and
• Effectively considered value for money, consistent with the Commonwealth Procurement Rules in the procurement process.

The report is expected to be tabled by May 2017.

Yours sincerely

Grant Hehir