Public sector audit history in Britain and Australia

Abstract

AbstractThe introduction of an independent public sector audit function was a critical element in the nineteenth century constitutional reforms of parliamentary and government accountability and created an essential precedent for current practice. By examining the extent of scholarly research on public sector audit history, findings reveal considerable research examined the teleological development of public sector audit and the modern history in a New Public Management context. However, there has been very little published regarding the complex rationales around the origins, development and importance of independent public sector audit notwithstanding that without an appreciation of these precedents it becomes very difficult to protect the Westminster‐based system of democratic government.