Enacting audit legitimacy: internal processes of VFM auditing in Victoria, Australia

ABSTRACT

This paper shows how auditor-general’s offices (AGO) use strategic planning to legitimize value-for-money (VFM) audits. The transformation of VFM audit practice through these planning processes (corporate plan, annual plan and annual report) involves several key actions by AGOs, including the development of VFM audit methodologies and cultivating relationships with the wider audit environment.

IMPACT

This paper extends the existing international understanding about how value-for-money (VFM) audit/performance audit was added to the audit portfolio of the auditor-general’s office (AGO) in a specific country context. VFM audit is unique to AGOs, but its operationalization is different from AGO to AGO. AGOs can use the technical competence of VFM audit to stand out from private sector accounting firms.

KEYWORDS:

• Auditor-general
• construction of auditability
• construction of legitimacy
• VFM audit

Acknowledgement

I am extremely grateful to the late Kerry Jacobs (formerly Professor of Accounting at the School of Business, University of New South Wales-Canberra, Australia) for his review of an earlier version of this paper and for giving me broad guidelines about writing it.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).