History of the NTAGO

Prior to self-government (1978 to 1982)

The Northern Territory gained self-governance on 1 July 1978, when most powers from the Commonwealth transferred to the NT Legislative Assembly.

At that time, the Northern Territory Government had an agreement for the Commonwealth Auditor-General to conduct audits under the then Financial Administration and Audit Act 1979. A branch of the Commonwealth Audit Office was maintained in Darwin with an average of 16 staff, including 12 professional auditors who were fully engaged in field audits.

After self-government (1982 to current)

In 1981, following a review of Commonwealth functions, it was decided to discontinue the provision of audit services by the Commonwealth Auditor-General and for the Territory to appoint its own Auditor‑General.

Mr Graham Carpenter commenced as the first Northern Territory Auditor-General on 1 July 1982.

The government desired to promote private enterprise in the Territory and the then Chief Minister, the Hon Paul Everingham MLA, received a keen response from local firms to his proposal of involving the private sector in setting up the audit office.

Apart from the currently used outsourced model, other options considered at that time included for all audits to be carried out by the office’s own employees and a co‑sourced model. Ultimately, it was decided to establish the office in such a way that it would direct and control the audit of Northern Territory Government operations (excluding local government) by private sector auditors. Surprisingly, the outsourced model was not the cheapest option, but its cost was assessed to be '… within reasonable limits of the costs of other options…' and compared favourably with a projected payment to the Commonwealth for audit services that year.

The Financial Administration and Audit Act 1979 was repealed replaced and by 2 separate pieces of legislation: the Financial Management Act 1995 and the Audit Act 1995.

The separation of the audit function promoted the Auditor-General’s independence. With the introduction of the Audit Act, the term of appointment was limited to a single term of 7 years.

A review of the Audit Act in 2011 saw a change to the term of appointment from 7 years to 2 possible terms not exceeding 5 years each.

Further revisions in 2019 changed the process for appointing the Auditor General and fixed the term of appointment to 2 terms of 5 years.

The Auditors-General for the Northern Territory were: