Queensland Audit Office

What Queensland Audit Office does

The Queensland Audit Office (QAO) is the independent statutory auditor of the Queensland public sector, operating under the Auditor-General Act 2009 as a constitutional office that reports directly to the Queensland Parliament. Established with its first Auditor-General in 1860, the office is the 24th holder of which is Rachel Vagg, appointed in 2024 for a fixed seven-year term that insulates the role from political direction. QAO audits all Queensland state public sector entities and the state's 77 local governments, providing assurance over the use of public resources on behalf of Parliament and the public.

QAO's core outputs comprise financial audits (expressing an opinion on entity financial statements), performance audits (examining economy, efficiency, effectiveness, and compliance), and reports to Parliament. These are supported by a growing suite of public-facing products including interactive sector dashboards (covering education, water, energy, health, and local government), better practice guides, self-assessment maturity models, fact sheets, cyber and digital resources, podcasts, and stakeholder events and briefings. The technical audit foundation rests on the Auditor-General Auditing Standards, which adopt the standards issued by the Australian Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB), supplemented by an in-house data analytics capability and a new Technology Audit function that assesses ICT, cyber, and emerging-technology risk across audited entities.

The business model combines two revenue streams. Financial audit fees are charged to audited entities on the basis of charge-out rates approved by Queensland Parliament's Governance, Energy and Finance Committee, ranging from $112 to $286 per hour across ten experience tiers. Performance audits, by contrast, are funded through parliamentary appropriations. Specific revenue and financial figures are not publicly disclosed. QAO is headquartered in Brisbane and employs approximately 200 staff.

Name

Queensland Audit Office

Legal name

Queensland Audit Office

Website

https://qao.qld.gov.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1860

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

The Queensland Audit Office (QAO) is the independent statutory auditor of the Queensland public sector, operating under the Auditor-General Act 2009 to deliver financial and performance audits of state entities and 77 local councils to the Queensland Parliament.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Sector Auditing

NAICS

Public Finance Activities (921130), Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support (921), Public Administration (92)

akta.pro primary industry

Audit & Assurance Services (BPAHABAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Government Accounting & Financial Reporting (BPAIAEAD), Financial Risk, Controls & Audit (Public Sector) (BPAIAEAH)

Keywords

• Public sector auditing
• Financial audit services
• Performance audit services
• Government accountability
• Parliamentary assurance

Headquarters

HQ city

Brisbane

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel

Revenue model

1. Financial Audit Fees: Financial audit program progressively audits the financial statements of hundreds of public sector entities and is paid for by the entities audited. The audit fee is based on recovering the operating costs associated with performing the audit.
2. Parliamentary Funding: Performance audit program is paid for by funding from parliament. QAO also receives funding approval from the Governance, Energy and Finance Committee for charge-out rates.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

QAO provides independent financial audits and performance audits of Queensland public sector entities, culminating in reports tabled to the Queensland Parliament. Financial audits cover hundreds of state entities and 77 local councils, while performance audits examine the efficiency, effectiveness and economy of public service delivery. The office also publishes reports to parliament, interactive dashboards, better practice guides and self-assessment tools to support public sector accountability and improvement.

Product overview

The Queensland Audit Office operates as Queensland's independent auditor of the public sector, providing audit and assurance services rather than commercial software products. Its core offerings are Financial Audits and Performance Audits of state and local government entities, culminating in Reports to Parliament. Supporting these core audit services is a portfolio of advisory tools and resources including Interactive Dashboards for exploring audit results across sectors (education, water, energy, health, local government), Better Practice Guides and self-assessment Maturity Models covering governance, risk management, fraud controls, and asset management, Fact Sheets explaining audit concepts, Cyber and Digital Resources addressing technology and AI risks, Podcasts on relevant topics, and Events/Briefings for audit committee chairs and finance professionals. The QAO Queensland Dashboard and Status of Recommendations Dashboard provide interactive data exploration capabilities. These products collectively support public sector accountability, transparency, and performance improvement across Queensland.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Financial Audits Annual audits of public sector entity financial statements, providing audit opinions on whether proper accounts have been kept, financial position is fairly presented, and entities have complied with relevant legislation. Paid for by the audited entities on a cost-recovery basis.
• Performance Audits Independent examinations of the efficiency, effectiveness, and economy of public service delivery, assessing whether public money is being used well and whether entities are achieving their objectives. Funded by parliamentary appropriations and reported to parliament.
• Reports to Parliament Formal audit reports tabled in Queensland Parliament containing audit findings, conclusions, recommendations and insights from QAO's financial and performance audit work. Reports to Parliament include Insights on Audit Committees (Local Government) and follow-up audits.

Quantifiable outcome

• Provides audit opinions on reliability of financial statements for hundreds of public sector entities annually
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and core.

• Queensland TreasurysupportingOthersQAO works with Queensland Treasury on technical audit updates, accounting standards guidance, and financial accountability matters. Queensland Treasury provides input on auditing and accounting standards updates at QAO's annual technical audit update events.
• Queensland Government Cyber Security UnitsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerQAO collaborates with Queensland Government's Cyber Security Unit on podcast discussions about cyber risk, sharing insights on risk management, controls, and recommendations from audit reports on responding to and recovering from cyber attacks.
• Australasian Council of Auditors General (ACAG)supportingOthersQAO participates in the ACAG survey on independence of Auditors-General, comparing legislative framework safeguards across jurisdictions including Fiji and Papua New Guinea for the first time in 2025.
• Australian Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB)coreOthersQAO adopts standards issued by the AUASB in its Auditor-General Auditing Standards, to the extent consistent with the Auditor-General Act 2009 requirements.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Australian National Audit Office (ANAO): Federal-level audit office that audits Australian government entities and reports to the Commonwealth Parliament. Directly comparable in mandate, structure, and statutory independence to QAO, with the same AUASB/ACAG standards alignment; differs only in jurisdictional scope (federal vs. state).

Direct peers

• Western Australian Office of the Auditor General: Independent audit office for the Western Australian public sector, conducting financial and performance audits of WA state and local government entities. Directly comparable as a state-level audit office with parallel reporting structures to the WA Parliament.
• Victorian Auditor-General's Office (VAGO): Victoria's independent auditor of the state public sector, providing financial audits, performance audits, and reports to the Victorian Parliament. Operates under a near-identical mandate structure to QAO with strong parallels in scope and product offerings.
• Tasmanian Audit Office: Statutory body auditing Tasmanian state and local government entities. A smaller-scale direct peer to QAO operating under the same Australian state-audit-office model with parallel reporting to parliament.
• NSW Audit Office: NSW state audit office conducting financial and performance audits of NSW public sector entities and reporting to the NSW Parliament. The closest direct peer in scope, scale, and product mix (financial audits + performance audits + dashboards), and a fellow ACAG member.
• South Australian Audit Office: Independent statutory office auditing South Australian public sector entities and reporting to the SA Parliament. Comparable in core financial audit and performance audit mandate, though with smaller scale and less developed digital/analytics tooling than QAO.
• ACT Audit Office: Independent auditor of the ACT Government, ranked alongside QAO at the top of the 2025 ACAG independence survey. Directly comparable in mandate and ACAG-evaluated independence safeguards, though smaller in scale due to ACT's jurisdiction size.
• Northern Territory Auditor-General's Office: Independent audit office for the Northern Territory, conducting financial and performance audits of NT public sector entities. A smaller-jurisdiction direct peer operating under the same statutory-audit-office model with parallel reporting to the NT Legislative Assembly.

Regional players

• Office of the Auditor-General of Papua New Guinea: Papua New Guinea's national audit office, included in the 2025 ACAG independence survey for the first time alongside QAO. Comparable in mandate to audit a public sector, though operating in a substantially different governance and capacity environment.
• Office of the Auditor-General of New Zealand: New Zealand's central government audit office, conducting financial and performance audits of public entities and reporting to the New Zealand Parliament. Comparable in mandate, structure, and independence framework; differs geographically (NZ vs. Queensland).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/qld-audit-office

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Queensland Audit Office