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Public Audit Act 2001
Preliminary
2: Commencement

Part 1:
Preliminary

2Commencement 3Purpose of this Act 4Interpretation 5Meaning of public entity 6Act to bind the Crown

Part 2:
Controller and Auditor-General and Deputy Controller and Auditor-General

Part 3:
Audits and reports

Audits of public entities

14Auditor of public entities 15Financial report audit 15AAuditor-General may ask for quality review in respect of audits of FMC reporting entities 15BCRD assurance practitioner for public entities 16Performance audit 17Other auditing services 18Inquiries by Auditor-General

Audits of other entities

19Auditor of other entities

Reports

20Reports to House of Representatives 21Reports to Minister, committees, etc 22Publication of Auditor-General’s report relating to public entity named or described in Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 23Publication of auditing standards

Part 4:
Information-gathering powers and disclosure of information

24Access to information 25Power of Auditor-General to obtain information 26Power to examine on oath 27Power to inspect bank accounts 28Protection for persons supplying information 29Access to premises 30Disclosure by Auditor-General 31Self-incrimination

Part 5:
Appointments and delegations

Appointment of auditors

32Appointment of auditors for financial report audit 33Appointment of auditors for performance audit or inquiries 34Powers of appointed auditor 34AAppointment of CRD assurance practitioners

Delegations

35Delegation of powers

Part 6:
Accountability

36Annual plan of Auditor-General 37Annual report of Auditor-General 38Independent auditor to audit Auditor-General

Part 7:
Miscellaneous provisions

39Offences 40Time for commencing proceedings 41Protection from liability 42Audit fees 43Exemption from income tax 44Amendments to Schedule 2

Part 8:
Amendments, repeals, revocations, and savings

Amendments to Local Government Act 1974

45Returns of expenditure 46Assessment of tax 47Failure to comply with financial reporting requirements 48Person carrying on transport or ferry service may sell undertaking to territorial authority 49New section 594ZC substituted 50New heading and sections 706A to 706C inserted 51Infrastructure Auckland to be local authority for certain purposes

Consequential amendments

52References to Audit Department and Audit Office 53Consequential amendments to enactments

Consequential repeals and revocation

54Consequential repeals and revocation

Part 9:
Transitional provisions

Continuation of offices

55Controller and Auditor-General and Deputy Controller and Auditor-General

Audit Department

56Audit Department 57Transfer of Crown assets and liabilities to Auditor-General 58Rights and liabilities of the Crown and third parties following transfer or grant

Employees in Audit Department to be employees of Auditor-General

59Transitional provisions in respect of employees of Audit Department 60Protection of conditions of employment 61No compensation for technical redundancy 62Membership of Government Superannuation Fund

Transitional audits

63Audits for financial years ending before commencement of Act

Schedule 1:
Classes of public entities

Schedule 2:
Specific public entities not falling within any class

Schedule 3:
Provisions applying in respect of Auditor-General, Deputy Auditor-General, and employees of Auditor-General

Schedule 4:
Consequential amendments

Summary of changes

Public Audit Act 2001

Preliminary

2: Commencement

You could also call this:

"When the Public Audit Act 2001 law starts: 1 July 2001"

This Act starts on 1 July 2001. You need to know when laws begin, and this one begins on that date. The Act will be in force from then on.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM88546.

This page was last updated on 10 September 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Government and voting > Government departments

1: Title, or

"The name of this law is the Public Audit Act 2001."

3: Purpose of this Act, or

"This law helps keep public organisations honest and makes sure they use your money wisely."

Part 1Preliminary

2Commencement

This Act comes into force on 1 July 2001.