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Governing the City State - Chief Minister and Treasury Directorate ...

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<strong>the</strong>y discharge <strong>the</strong>ir responsibilities. The ACT is well served by its Audit Office in thisregard <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> value to <strong>the</strong> Government of its work is enhanced by <strong>the</strong> process of consultationwith both <strong>the</strong> Government <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Assembly St<strong>and</strong>ing Committee on Public Accounts on <strong>the</strong>content of <strong>the</strong> Office’s proposed Performance Audit Program.Given <strong>the</strong> importance of <strong>the</strong>re being an absence of conflict or perceived conflicts of interestto <strong>the</strong> conduct of <strong>the</strong> Auditor-General’s activities, <strong>the</strong> Review supports continuation of <strong>the</strong>current fixed term of appointment <strong>and</strong> prohibition on reappointment. 245ACT OmbudsmanIn his Submission to <strong>the</strong> Review, <strong>the</strong> ACT Ombudsman noted:The ACT has largely relied upon Australian Government entities to provide it withgovernment oversight services, contracting with both <strong>the</strong> Commonwealth Ombudsman <strong>and</strong><strong>the</strong> Privacy Commissioner to undertake a range of integrity functions within <strong>the</strong> ACTJurisdiction.There is a question about whe<strong>the</strong>r a more effective model would be for <strong>the</strong>se functions to beestablished within an integrated, ACT-run agency, in order to focus much more intensively on<strong>the</strong> specific needs of <strong>the</strong> jurisdiction. A st<strong>and</strong> alone ACT Agency may also have moresuccess in driving internal change to complaint h<strong>and</strong>ling practices <strong>and</strong> procedures across <strong>the</strong>ACT Public Service. The mix of state <strong>and</strong> local government type functions which make up<strong>the</strong> ACT’s responsibilities do not always sit well alongside agencies providing servicesmainly for a national or international audience”. 246The Review does not support <strong>the</strong> creation of fur<strong>the</strong>r separate ACT offices without detailedanalysis of <strong>the</strong> underlying issues <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> problem intended to be fixed. Indeed, it is arguablewhe<strong>the</strong>r it would be possible <strong>and</strong> if so, viable, for <strong>the</strong> ACT to seek to establish its ownspecialist office given its size <strong>and</strong> scope of its responsibilities. The current arrangementswould appear to be a sensible approach for <strong>the</strong> ACT to adopt, allowing it to draw on <strong>the</strong>experience <strong>and</strong> capacity of its larger counterparts.The questions raised in <strong>the</strong> Ombudsman’s Submission should be considered as part of <strong>the</strong>review of independent office holders proposed in Chapter 3.245 See http://www.legislation.act.gov.au/a/1996-23/default.asp246 Submission No.28. ACT Ombudsman.Administrative Arrangements Changes: 202

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