News — PASAI
Facebook Events Contact us Learning Platform

SAI auditors taught to be effective communicators

28 May 2021

Auckland, New Zealand: The Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) is delivering a workshop on interpersonal communication skills for auditors on 28 May 2021.

Ninety-five participants (58 female, 37 male) from supreme audit institutions (SAIs) in the Cook Islands, Fiji, FSM National, Guam, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pohnpei, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Yap State will participate in this online training.

The workshop will be facilitated by Sarah Markley (Deputy Secretary-General – PASAI) and Nicole Ayo von Thun (Advisor, International Engagement – Office of the Auditor-General New Zealand).

PASAI developed this training to complement the technical skills many auditors already have. Although often overlooked, interpersonal skills can be taught and improved.

Sarah explained, “It’s obvious an auditor needs technical capabilities, but the ‘soft skills’ involved in interacting and building relationships are just as essential to the success of their work”.

In a professional audit environment staff engage with colleagues, clients and stakeholders every day. To do this effectively, it is critical auditors have strong interpersonal communication skills.

The training provides an opportunity to share experiences with other participants. Its materials include best practice guidance and practical examples relevant to the work of SAIs in the Pacific.

It is hoped it will positively affect all aspects of personal interactions, relationship development and communication.

“The workshop will help participants to make a good impression, actively listen, use effective non-verbal communication methods, build rapport with others and present themselves confidently,” Sarah said.

PASAI acknowledges the support of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

-----END----

Contact information:

Esther Lameko-Poutoa, Chief Executive PASAI, Auckland, New Zealand

E: secretariat@pasai.org P: +64 9 304 1275

PDF version of media release

SAIs trained to improve their use of multimedia

26 May 2021

Auckland, New Zealand: The Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) is delivering a workshop on using multimedia effectively on 26 May 2021.

Thirty-seven participants (17 female, 20 male) from supreme audit institutions (SAIs) in Fiji, FSM National, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, New South Wales, Papua New Guinea, Pohnpei, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Yap State will participate in this online training.

The training will be facilitated by Chris Tse (Manager, Engagement – Office of the Auditor-General New Zealand) and supported by Luke Eaton (Communications Advisor – PASAI) and Annie Subactagin-Matto (Director Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting – PASAI).

Chris explained, “Multimedia is often the bridge between the general public and the complicated audit work of SAIs – using it effectively can make key messages more accessible to a broader audience and increase engagement with stakeholders”.

Due to the advances in mobile phone technology, most people now carry a device capable of taking photos and videos of a quality only available to professionals a decade ago. However, people need to know and apply some basic shooting principles to increase the value and usability of the multimedia they create.

The workshop covers the value of using multimedia to communicate SAIs’ work. More than two thirds of SAIs in the Pacific have at least one social media account. These SAIs should consider the use of multimedia on social media as essential.

There are many other applications for multimedia and the training teaches basic shooting skills and information about equipment and software.

“By the end of the workshop, participants will understand what is needed to take great photographs or make videos on a limited budget,” Chris said.

The training provides an opportunity to share experiences with other participants and the materials include practical examples relevant to the work of SAIs in the Pacific.

PASAI acknowledges the support of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

-----END----

Contact information:

Esther Lameko-Poutoa, Chief Executive PASAI, Auckland, New Zealand

E: secretariat@pasai.org P: +64 9 304 1275

PDF version of media release

Share

FSM National Public Auditor outlines non-compliance in Yap State public projects inspection report

29 April 2021

Press Release 2021-05

The FSM National OPA's latest Inspection Report entitled Compliance Issues Found in the Administration and Implementation of the CFSM Yap State Public Projects funded under Public Law 21-43 in the Yap State; Key Officials Keen To Make Improvement was submitted to the Congress and the President on 22 April 22 2021.

You can access the full report by visiting our website at www.fsmopa.fm.

Share

Training for leaders to get the best from their audit teams

29 April 2021

Auckland, New Zealand: The Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) is delivering training on leading audit teams from 29 to 30 April 2021.

Eighty-six participants (44 female, 42 male) from supreme audit institutions (SAIs) in the Cook Islands, Fiji, FSM National, the Northern Mariana Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Yap State will participate in this leadership training, conducted in two short online sessions.

The training will be facilitated by Sarah Markley (Deputy Secretary-General, PASAI) and Nicole Ayo von Thun (Advisor, International Engagement, Office of the Auditor-General New Zealand).

Ms Markley explained, “The audit team supervisor is pivotal to audit process. Successful supervisors foster a positive work environment, value their team members’ skills, handle conflict professionally and allocate work effectively.

“This training will support participants to improve their work in this vital role. It will assist supervisors to enhance their leadership skills and particularly to tailor those skills to an audit team context. It includes the supervisor’s role in planning an audit, allocating and monitoring audit work, how to budget and understanding the audit completion timeline”.

The training will specifically focus on tools to help participants coach and support junior team members. It covers how to best deal with conflict within a team, good active-listening techniques, how to give constructive feedback and how to have difficult conversations with staff members.

Training material includes examples, best practice guidance and the opportunity to share experiences with other participants from SAIs across the Pacific.

PASAI developed this training in recognition of the important role audit team supervisors play in facilitating the production of high-quality audits and expects participants will better understand how to support their teams from the beginning to the end of an audit.

PASAI acknowledges the support of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

-----END----

Contact information:

Esther Lameko-Poutoa, Chief Executive PASAI, Auckland, New Zealand

E: secretariat@pasai.org P: +64 9 304 1275

PDF version of media release

Share

Pacific audit offices supported to conduct financial statements of government audits

21 April 2021

Auckland, New Zealand: PASAI and the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) continue to guide auditors from six Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in the Pacific under the current round of its Financial Statements of Government (FSG) audit support programme.

Forty-three SAI auditors from Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu participated in a week-long online workshop this February, which was the first step in providing support to conduct FSGs audits in accordance with the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI) on financial audits.

The participants were also trained on conducting ISSAI Implementation Needs Assessment for financial audits.

The capacity-building workshop was facilitated by IDI Senior Manager, Karma Tenzin, supported by PASAI Director Technical Support, Tiofilusi Tiueti.

The facilitators are using the interactive eLearning workspace that PASAI, in collaboration with IDI, had created to provide support to FSG auditors.

The workspace also contains support material and resources such as the ISSAI-based audit methodology and audit working paper templates.

Post-workshop, PASAI is following up with SAIs on action plans and progress for their audits. Prior to support discussions over Zoom, participating SAIs are sending through an ISSAI implementation needs assessment plan, an audit methodology customisation plan and an FSG audit work plan.

The SAIs will not only complete the audit of selected FSGs in accordance with ISSAIs, but also refine their financial audit methodologies and identify areas that require further capacity building.

SAI Fiji is currently auditing selected FSGs and closely liaising with facilitators from PASAI and the IDI on reviewing the audit works performed so far.

Mr Tiueti was pleased with the engagement of workshop participants and is confident tangible progress is being made to FSG audits.

“We are encouraged by the commitment and efforts of participants, especially in completing templates and related exercises,” he said.

Mr Karma was impressed with the positive attitude demonstrated by the participants during the workshop and ongoing interaction taking place on the virtual workspace, saying, “There is a will and enthusiasm among the FSG auditors to support their respective SAIs to move towards ISSAI-compliant FSG audits”.

He was also encouraged by SAIs’ top management participating in the workshop.

Auditors from the SAIs of Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands were participating in earlier rollouts of the FSG audit support programme, but the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the progress of their audits.

SAI Tuvalu’s audit of its 2019 FSG is at its final stage, whereas SAI Solomon Islands’ audit of its 2018 FSG will start soon.

Auditors from the SAIs of Samoa and Tonga will participate in this initiative from October 2021, eventually bringing the total to eight SAIs. A quality assurance peer review will be conducted by participating SAIs in this regional programme in 2022. The review should demonstrate the extent of compliance with the requirements of ISSAIs in FSG audits and identify areas requiring further improvement in both audit methodologies and practices.

PASAI acknowledges the support of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

-----END----

Background:

This programme is part of a roadmap for PASAI and its member SAIs to give full effect to the Strategic Priority 3 (SP3) of PASAI’s Long Term Strategy 2014–2024 (the Strategy) for the second half of the Strategy’s term (from 2019 to 2024). The roadmap is part of the PASAI approach to SAI Support for 2019–2024 which was presented to the Governing Board in February 2020. In particular, this programme will focus on building sustainable capacity for SAIs to enable them to conduct audits according to the International Standards of Auditing according to their authoritative standards (that is, ISSAIs or ISA). Furthermore, other PASAI programmes will contribute to the high quality of audits to ensure sustainability within the SAI and also highlight the interdependencies between PASAI Strategic Priorities. The need for this program is driven by the SAI Needs that were obtained during the 2019 PASAI Congress and through ongoing dialogue with the PASAI Secretariat.

Contact information:

  1. Esther Lameko-Poutoa, Chief Executive PASAI, Auckland, New Zealand

    E: secretariat@pasai.org P: +64 9 304 1275

  2. Tiofilusi Tiueti, Director Technical Support PASAI, Auckland, New Zealand

    E: Tiofilusi.tiueti@pasai.org P: +64 9 304 1275

PDF version of media release

Share

Training to enhance the compliance audit capability of public sector auditors

20 April 2021

Auckland, New Zealand: The Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) will be delivering training on compliance auditing from 20 to 23 April 2021.

Fifty-two participants (26 female, 26 male) from supreme audit institutions (SAIs) in Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia (National), Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pohnpei, Samoa, Tuvalu and Yap State will participate in this online capability development training. It includes eight modules spread across four part-days of workshops.

The training will be facilitated by Sinaroseta Palamo-Iosefo (Director Practice Development, PASAI) and Tiofilusi Tiueti (Director Technical Support, PASAI).

Ms Palamo-Iosefo stressed the importance of the training in stating, “The outcome of a SAI conducting a compliance audit in accordance with international best practices is strengthened accountability, transparency and integrity in government”.

The workshops cover the main concepts of compliance auditing, how to identify potential audit topics and the different phases of the audit process from planning, gathering and evaluating evidence, forming conclusions, reporting findings and following up the implementation of audit observations.

The training highlights the value of understanding a country’s governance ecosystem in identifying potential areas for a compliance audit as well as factors that ensure a quality audit is conducted effectively and efficiently.

It includes practical examples in the public sector to illustrate key concepts and the different phases of the compliance audit process as prescribed by the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs).

PASAI developed this training to enable SAIs to increase their coverage and quality of compliance audit activities. The likely result of conducting compliance audits to meet ISSAIs 400 and 4000 is enhanced conformity with government laws, regulations, executive directives, policies and procedures across public sector and government entities.

PASAI acknowledges the support of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

-----END----

Contact information:

Esther Lameko-Poutoa, Chief Executive PASAI, Auckland, New Zealand

E: secretariat@pasai.org P: +64 9 304 1275

PDF version of this media release

Share

Quality Control and Assurance and Peer Review Training

22 March 2021

Auckland, New Zealand: The Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) will be delivering live online training on Quality Control and Assurance on 22-24 March and 30 March 2021. PASAI recognizes the need to achieve sustainability by embedding good audit practice according to international audit standards. To assist SAIs to evaluate their audit work performance quality, PASAI has designed the "Enhancing Quality Control and Quality Assurance Systems" Programme – which comprises of two online workshops.

The initial online workshop on Quality Control and Assurance aims to build SAI capability on how to build a robust Quality Control and Assurance system, to enable SAIs to maintain a high degree of integrity, accountability, and competence. Nineteen participants (6 male, 13 female) from 10 public audit offices in the Pacific region are attending, including participants from SAIs Australia (Australian National Audit Office), French Polynesia, FSM National, Guam, Palau, Pohnpei, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Yap.

The second workshop focuses on the stages of the Peer Review process, its objectives, benefits and barriers and will be attended by 10 participants (2 male, 8 female) from 5 public audit offices in the Pacific region - participants from SAIs Fiji, FSM National, FSM Yap, Guam, and Vanuatu.

Training materials has been developed to meet the quality control and assurance requirements of SAI and its staff.

The program's focus is applied or action-based. It is designed to equip participants with practical guidance to apply their learnings into their business-as-usual work immediately.

Facilitation team

The facilitation team includes Tiofilusi Tiueti (Director Technical Support PASAI) and Gurdip Bhambra (Consultant).

This programme is funded through the Strengthening of Public Finance Management and Governance in the Pacific Project (PFM) project, which aims to strengthen oversight over public financial management in the Pacific region, though improving the budgetary scrutiny, public financial oversight and accountability capacities of parliaments, supreme audit institutions and civil society within the region, aligning with international public financial oversight and accountability standards, and fostering citizen engagement and oversight. Strengthening of Public Finance Management project is funded by the European Union (EU) and Implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI).

PASAI acknowledges the support of the EU and UNDP, and of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and the Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

-----END----

Contact information:

Ms. Esther Lameko-Poutoa, Chief Executive PASAI, Auckland, New Zealand

E: secretariat@pasai.org P: +64 9 304 1275

Share

PASAI 25th Governing Board Meeting

26 February 2021

Auckland, New Zealand: The Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) held its 25th Governing Board meeting on 26 February 2021. The meeting was held virtually and was chaired by Mr. Ajay Nand, Auditor-General of Fiji and current Chairperson of the PASAI Governing Board. The PASAI Secretariat team connected virtually from the Audit New Zealand Auckland office premises and was led by Mr. John Ryan, Secretary-General PASAI and Auditor-General of New Zealand and Ms. Esther Lameko-Poutoa, Chief Executive PASAI.

The Governing Board discussed strategic, governance, and operational matters - including a proposed six-month operational plan designed in response to Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) needs, the results of the SAI Performance Measurement Framework (SAI-PMF), and the COVID-19 pandemic. Agenda items also included a discussion of options for the 22nd PASAI Congress, tentative plan for the possible relocation of the Secretariat and updates of policies and procedures.

The 25th Governing Board virtual meeting in session

The 25th Governing Board virtual meeting in session

The Governing Board celebrates International Women’s Day 2021

The Governing Board celebrates International Women’s Day 2021

The Governing Board expressed their support for the upcoming International Women’s Day 2021 (8 March) and their ongoing commitment to promoting gender equality and equal employment opportunities in the Pacific region.

The Secretariat expresses their gratitude to the Governing Board members for their support, and acknowledge our development partners for their continued support of PASAI and its work in the region.

-----END----

Share