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Public Audit Act 2001

Preliminary

5: Meaning of public entity

You could also call this:

"What is a public entity in New Zealand law?"

Illustration for Public Audit Act 2001

In this Act, a public entity means the Crown. It also means each office of Parliament, except when another auditor is appointed for that office under section 45F(1)(b) of the Public Finance Act 1989.

A public entity can be an entity of a class described in Schedule 1 or an entity listed in Schedule 2. It can also be an entity that the Auditor-General is the auditor for under another enactment, except for section 19.

You are also a public entity if you are controlled by one or more of these entities. This means you are a subsidiary of one of these entities, or they control you according to financial reporting standards, or they can control who is on your board, as described in sections 7 and 8 of the Companies Act 1993.

However, you are not a public entity if you would only be one because of certain rules, and you are specifically mentioned in another enactment that says you can have a different auditor.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM88578.

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Part 1Preliminary

5Meaning of public entity

  1. In this Act, public entity means each of the following entities:

  2. the Crown:
    1. each office of Parliament, except where another auditor has been appointed for that office under section 45F(1)(b) of the Public Finance Act 1989:
      1. an entity of a class described in Schedule 1:
        1. an entity listed in Schedule 2:
          1. an entity in respect of which the Auditor-General is the auditor under any other enactment (other than section 19):
            1. an entity which is controlled by 1 or more entities of the kinds referred to in paragraphs (a) to (e).

              1. For the purposes of subsection (1)(f), an entity is controlled by 1 or more other entities if—

              2. the entity is a subsidiary of any of those other entities; or
                1. the other entity or entities together control the entity within the meaning of any relevant financial reporting standard; or
                  1. the other entity or entities can together control directly or indirectly the composition of the board of the entity within the meaning of sections 7 and 8 of the Companies Act 1993 (which, for the purposes of this paragraph, are to be read with all necessary modifications).

                    1. Despite subsections (1) and (2), an entity is not a public entity if,—

                    2. but for this subsection, it would be a public entity only by virtue of the application of both subsection (1)(f) and subsection (2)(c); and
                      1. it is specifically referred to in an enactment (either by name or otherwise); and
                        1. that enactment expressly requires or permits its financial statements to be audited by a person other than the Auditor-General.

                          Notes
                          • Section 5(1)(b): amended, on , by section 37(1) of the Public Finance Amendment Act 2004 (2004 No 113).
                          • Section 5(2)(b): amended, on , by section 12 of the Financial Reporting Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 22).