About this report or communique
Report of the Auditor-General No. 11 of 2015-16
Compliance with legislation
The public sector, which is controlled by the executive arm of government, is required to adhere and enforce laws passed by parliament. There are approximately 2281 enacted Acts of parliament (excluding amendments) that are implemented and administered by state entities. Because of the vast array of legislation currently enacted there is a risk that state entities may not comply with all applicable legislation.
Audit objective
The audit objective was to express an opinion as to whether or not entities were complying with the implementation and administration of legislation and supporting regulations.
Audit scope
The audit covered the enforcement of selected legislation and supporting regulations by:
- local government councils
- government departments.
We also restricted our examination to the period from January 2011 (previous five years).
Audit criteria
We developed two audit criteria, namely whether entities had:
- complied with the legislation and supporting regulations, when last relevant
- maintained systems to ensure ongoing compliance.