The Development of Public Sector Audit Independence: The Colonial Experience in Western Australia

Abstract

This thesis connects the histories of public sector audit, Parliament and public administration within a Westminster-based constitutional framework, generating a new narrative description of the development of audit independence. It provides a foundational understanding identifying a precedent for retaining and defending the independent Auditor General as a fundamental requirement in Australia's own constitutional arrangements. The study also contributes to filling substantial gaps in the specific history of the Auditor General’s role in nineteenth-century Western Australia.