Making Governments Accountable The Role of Public Accounts Committees and National Audit Offices

Over the past two decades, there has been a paradigm shift in public administration and public sector accounting around the world, with increasing emphasis on good governance and accountability processes for government entities. This is all driven both by economic rationalism, and by changing expectations of what governments can and should do. An important aspect of this accountability and governance process is the establishment and effective functioning of a Public Accounts Committee (PAC), a key component of democratic accountability. With contributions from renowned scholars and practitioners, and using case studies from around the world, this research-based collection examines the rationales for current roles of the PACs and explores the links between PACs and National Audit Offices. It also compares PAC practices from developing and developed countries such as Africa, Asia, Pacific islands, and Europe with both Westminster and non-Westminster models of government. This will be valuable reading for academics, researchers, and advanced students in public management, public accounting and public sector governance.

Foreword(Ian McPhee, Auditor-General for Australia) Preface Part I: Introduction and Context 1. Public Accountability: The role of the Auditor General in Legislative oversight(Zahirul Hoque and Thiru Thiagarajah) 2. Partnering with the Auditor-General’s Office to Improve the Effectiveness of a Public Accounts Committee: An Auditor-General’s perspective(Des Pearson) 3. Government Accountability in Sri Lanka: The roles of parliamentary oversight committees and Auditor General’s office(Zahirul Hoque and Ethugalage Anura Gotabaya Ananda) 4. Parliamentarians’ Relations with the Auditor General of Canada during Sheila Fraser’s Mandate (2001-2011)(Danielle Morin) 5. Danish Public Sector Performance Audit: An SAI and PAC Tango(Peter Skærbæk and Mark Christensen) Part II: Public Accounts Committees in Europe 6. The Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons (Anthony Staddon)7. In the Absence of a Public Accounts Committee: The Swedish experience(Louise Bringselius) Part III: Public Accounts Committees in Australia and the Pacific 8. Pragmatism, Black Letter Law and Australian Public Accounts Committees(David Gilchrist and Kylie Coulson) 9. Making a Public Accounts Committee Effective: A Chair’s perspective from the state of New South Wales, Australia(Jonathan O’Dea) 10. Public Accounts Committees in the Pacific – A PEFA Perspective(Kylie Coulson and David Gilchrist) Part IV: Public Accounts Committees in Asian Regions 11. The Development of Public Accounts Committees of Bangladesh’s Parliament: An overview(Sajjad H. Khan and Zahirul Hoque) 12. The Role of the Public Accounts Committee in Enhancing Government Accountability in Malaysia (Zakiah Saleh and Haslida Abu Hasan) 13. Responses to Public Accounts Committee of India: A textual analysis(Bikram Chatterjee, Alistair Brown and Victoria Wise) 14. Promoting Public Sector Accountability in Indonesia: An historical overview(Bambang Setiono and Chandra Ery Prasetyo) 15. The Public Accounts Committees in Thailand: A short note(Prapaipim Sutheewasinnon and Supot Saikaew) Part V: Public Accounts Committees in African Regions 16. Evolution and Effectiveness of the Kenyan Public Accounts Committee(Robert Ochoki Nyamori and Bosire Nyamori) 17. Strengthening PACs in Small Parliaments: Perspectives from the Caribbean(Anthony Staddon)

Zahirul Hoque is Professor and Head of the Department of Accounting at La Trobe Business School, Australia and the founding Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change (Emerald).