Standing Committee on Public Accounts

Examines, with the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General, whether the Government has spent the money granted by Parliament lawfully and on the purposes it was granted for. The Constitution requires this committee.

• Examining the accounts showing the appropriation of sums granted by Parliament for the expenditure of the Government, the annual finance accounts of the Government and other accounts laid before Parliament.
• Satisfying itself, from the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General, that the money was legally available for, and spent on, the purpose to which it was applied, that the expenditure conforms to the authority which governs it, and that every re-appropriation was made in accordance with the rules.
• Examining the statements of income and expenditure, balance sheets and profit and loss accounts of state corporations and government trading schemes and projects.
• Looking into irregularities and faults in these bodies, and reporting to Parliament with recommendations to remedy them.

Source: Rules of Procedure of Parliament, Article 76 of the Constitution; rules 233–234