Pacific Island auditors trained on revised government auditing standards

Auckland, New Zealand: The Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) has partnered with the Graduate School USA to train government audit office staff in congressional-style jurisdictions to conduct performance audits to new standards from today.

Sixty-one staff (30 female, 31 male) from the government audit offices of American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), FSM Chuuk, FSM Kosrae, FSM Pohnpei, FSM Yap, Guam, the Marshall Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands and Palau are participating in the two part-day, online workshop from 28 to 29 November 2023.

These jurisdictions, concentrated in the North Pacific, are either American territories or are in ‘free association’ with the United States of America. As such, the government auditing standards they follow are American.

The course will cover the general standards for governmental auditing, such as ethical principles and quality control. It also includes the fieldwork and reporting standards for performance audits.

After an in-depth review of and update on the standards, participants will discuss the purpose and requirements of individual standards, with an emphasis on the recent changes.

PASAI Director (North), Doris Flores Brooks, was delighted by the response of PASAI members to the opportunity to learn about the revisions to the standards.

“We are pleased to be meeting the demand for training that is tailored to the needs of government auditors working in Congressional systems,” she said.

PASAI is sponsoring the course being offered by the Graduate School USA through its Pacific Island and Virgin Island Training Initiatives (PITI-VITI) programme. Its Oregan-based instructor, Drummond Kahn, has trained Pacific Island auditors over many years.

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).

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Contact information:

Doris Flores Brooks, Programme Director (North) PASAI
E: Doris.FloresBrooks@pasai.org P: +64 9 304 1275

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PASAI director visits American Samoa

Pago Pago, American Samoa: Director Practice Development for the Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI), Sinaroseta Palamo-Iosefo, visited American Samoa last week on a knowledge-sharing mission.

The primary purpose of Ms Palamo-Iosefo’s trip was to collaborate with the American Samoa Government Territorial Audit Office (TAO) on opportunities for PASAI to support building its capabilities and improving audit quality.

With most of the TAO’s 11 personnel joining the office in 2022 and the Territorial Auditor, Mike Edmonds, being appointed to the head position just last month, the timing was optimal for familiarising staff with PASAI’s work in the Pacific Island region. This includes technical assistance with strategic audit planning, capability development in multiple audit streams and support to improve other aspects of operations such as human resources and external communications.

Ms Palamo-Iosefo discussed the results of an assessment of the TAO that had been completed using the internationally recognised Performance Measurement Framework. Such assessments identify areas for improvement in all areas of an audit office’s operations.

Advocacy of and support pursuing audit office independence are among PASAI’s top strategic priorities, so Ms Palamo-Iosefo also discussed the TAO’s approach to achieving true financial and operational independence to enable it to fully deliver its mandate.

Ms Palamo-Iosefo explained to staff the use of audit planning templates to comply with international auditing standards. Adherence to the standards enhances audit quality and ensures sustainability of audit practice.

Finally, in keeping with best practice, Ms Palamo-Iosefo completed a quality assurance review of one of the TAO’s performance audits.

Ms Palamo-Iosefo left with agreed action points and was satisfied the trip’s objectives had been met.

“We now have a good sense of the nuances of the TAO, its staff and the environment in which it operates,” she 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).

Territorial Auditor, Mike Edmonds (centre) and PASAI Director Practice Development, Sinaroseta Palamo-Iosefo (second from right, front row) with staff from the American Samoa Government Territorial Audit Office

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Contact information:

Sinaroseta Palamo-Iosefo, Director – Practice Development PASAI
E: sina.iosefo@pasai.org P: +64 9 304 1275

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Performance auditor with over 30 years of experience joins PASAI

Auckland, New Zealand: The Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) has welcomed an accomplished and very experienced performance audit professional, Mike Scott, to its Secretariat team.

Mr Scott was appointed to the new role of Director Performance Audit in time for him to attend the latest meeting of PASAI’s Governing Board on 7 and 8 November.

Among Mr Scott’s important duties is providing technical support to six of our member SAIs who are participating in a global cooperative audit of climate change adaptation actions.

He will also lead a quality assurance review programme, initially for nine of PASAI’s member offices, and develop a continuing education programme to build the capacity of performance auditors in the Pacific region.

Mr Scott comes to the Secretariat from, most recently, an audit and assurance managerial role at New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs, occasionally acting at a director level. This followed two years leading the Performance Team at New Zealand Police and coordinating performance audit training for the Australasian Council of Auditors-General (ACAG).

Prior to that Mr Scott spent nearly 12 years as the Assistant Auditor-General of Performance Audit at the Office of the Auditor-General in New Zealand. This followed three years in other senior performance audit roles there.

However, Mr Scott started his lengthy audit career back in 1987, spending 17 years in a variety of roles at the National Audit Office of the United Kingdom.  

PASAI Chief Executive, Esther Lameko-Poutoa, is pleased to have Mr Scott join the Secretariat staff.

“Mike’s breadth of performance audit experience in multiple audit offices and government agencies, coupled with his achievements coordinating ACAG training, make him ideally suited to this new role at PASAI,” she said.

Mr Scott expressed his own enthusiasm for the role, saying, “I am excited and privileged to join PASAI and contribute to the great support that it provides to Pacific auditors.”

When not on overseas missions, Mr Scott will primarily work from his home office north of Wellington, New Zealand. This is similar to the arrangements for three other PASAI directors who are regionally based in Fiji, Guam and Samoa.

Mr Scott qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1991 and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (FCPFA). He is a member of the Greytown Volunteer Fire Brigade, and eagerly follows professional rugby and football competitions.

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).

Mike Scott

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Contact information:

Esther Lameko-Poutoa, Chief Executive PASAI, Auckland, New Zealand
E: secretariat@pasai.org P: +64 9 304 1275

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