AN ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE AND PERFORMANCE OF AUDIT COMMITTEES IN THE VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT PUBLIC SECTOR IN PROVIDING ASSURANCE AND GOVERNANCE

The purpose of this thesis has been to identify and analyse: the role of audit committees, the attributes of audit committee members, and the functions and activities that they perform in government-funded public sector organisations, focusing on Victorian government organisations. This research determined how audit committees interact with their major stakeholder partners, namely management, internal audit and external audit. The research also identified the characteristics of audit committees that contribute to their successful performance and their sustainability within a governance and assurance framework. The methodology employed was a survey of major Victorian government departments, local government, a small sample of public agencies, and a federal government department. Respondents were asked to (a) identify indicators of successful audit committees and (b) to identify the status of their audit committees. Information gathered also included a comparative literature review of audit committees and relevant financial management from Australia, United States and United Kingdom