The Queensland Audit Office reports to parliament Insights on audit committees in local government (Report 10: 2024–25) and Effectiveness of audit committees in state government entities (Report 2: 2020–21) reinforce a clear and consistent message: independence is a key driver of effective audit committees.

Audit committees deliver the greatest value when their members bring strong expertise in finance, risk, and governance, and when members are not involved in day-to-day management.  Independence is not simply a compliance requirement. It enables committee members to ask difficult questions, challenge assumptions, and provide objective oversight when it matters most.

Independent members also introduce a valuable external perspective that strengthens decision-making. This perspective helps public sector entities and local governments improve their financial reporting, better manage risk, and enhance accountability. Often, it is this independent voice that helps committees and entities identify emerging issues early – before they escalate into more serious problems.

This is particularly important in the public sector. Public sector agencies operate in complex environments, manage significant long-lived assets, and face ongoing financial and service delivery pressures. In this context, audit committees must stay focused on what matters most: financial sustainability, effective internal controls, and ensuring audit recommendations are implemented. Independence helps maintain that focus and prevents committees from becoming drawn into operational issues.

Strong, independent audit committees also support better leadership. They provide assurance to those in governance and leadership roles; building confidence in the integrity of information and decision-making processes. Over time, this contributes to a culture where risks are openly discussed and addressed early.

What entities should focus on

To get the most value from audit committees, entities should focus on a small number of critical areas:

• building the right capability mix, including financial, risk, information technology, and governance expertise
• focusing on providing assurance over financial reporting, risk management, internal controls, and governance processes, rather than becoming involved in operational decision-making or day-to-day management
• fostering open, constructive discussion where challenge is encouraged
• ensuring internal and external audit recommendations are followed through and resolved.

Taken together, these elements help ensure audit committees remain focused, effective, and aligned to their core purpose.

Explore our audit committee resources

To support audit committees across the public sector, we have brought together our guidance into a single, easy-to-navigate hub on our website.

Our new webpage connects you to practical resources, tools, and upcoming events relevant to audit committees for our audit clients. You can:

• access reports to parliament for sector-wide observations and key themes
• use better practice guidance and fact sheets to support day-to-day committee work
• explore interactive dashboards to examine trends and findings on financial performance, as well as demographic information, in more detail
• read related articles and commentary that highlight ensuring issues and practical lessons in our blog. 

Visit our new page to explore these materials and stay connected. We also welcome your feedback by the poll on the page on what you would like to hear from us about: www.qao.qld.gov.au/audits/resources-audit-committees.   

Resources

Interactive dashboard

• Status of Auditor-General's recommendations dashboard

Better practice guides

• Key elements of an effective audit committee
• Financial statement preparation maturity model self-assessment tool

Blogs

• You have an audit committee, but is it effective? 
• Understanding climate risk governance
• Understanding general purpose financial statements