The Auditor-General's Office (AGO) is an

organ of state The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state power (usually law-making, adjudication, and execution) and requires these operations of government to be conceptually and institutionally distinguishable ...

and Singapore's national auditor. The

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

is empowered under the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

to appoint the Auditor-General in accordance with the advice of the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. The Audit Act 1966 imposes a duty on the Auditor-General to audit the accounts of all departments and offices of the

Singapore Government The government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to consist of the President and the Executive. Executive authority of Singapore is vested in the President but exercised on the advice of the Cabinet le ...

(including the office of the

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), the accounts of the

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, all subordinate courts, and

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. The Act confers on the Auditor-General various investigatory powers to facilitate the carrying out of audits. The AGO reports their findings directly to the President, Parliament, and the public, through the Annual Report of the Auditor-General. Audit findings are also shared with the management of the audited organisation.

History

On 2 October 2017, Parliament passed amendments to the Audit Act 1966 to grant the AGO additional powers to conduct "follow-the-dollar" audits to trace public monies beyond government agencies to non-government organisations to which the monies are disbursed, such as

voluntary welfare organisations A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...

and autonomous universities. These "follow-the-dollar" audits can only be carried out by the AGO if it is directed to do so by the Minister for Finance, who may only give such a direction if they are satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so.

Management

The current Auditor-General is Goh Soon Poh. Goh was previously deputy secretary at the

Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

and the Prime Minister's Office before her appointment as Auditor-General in 2019. Goh is the wife of Senior Minister of State for Defence

Heng Chee How Heng Chee How ( zh, s=王志豪, p=Wáng Zhìháo, poj=Hêng Chì-hâu, first=poj; born 14 July 1961) is a Singaporean union leader and former police officer and politician who served as Senior Minister of State for Defence from 2018 to 2025 a ...

. Responding to a question from MP

Sylvia Lim Sylvia Lim Swee Lian (; born 28 March 1965) is a Singaporean politician, lawyer, former police officer and former Temasek Polytechnic law lecturer. She has been the chairperson of the Workers' Party (Singapore), Workers' Party (WP) since 2003 a ...

in Parliament, the Minister-in-charge of the Public Service, Chan Chun Seng, clarified that there is generally no conflict of interest between the AGO and the ministries which they audit and further, political office-holders are not involved in the audits conducted by the AGO.

References

{{reflist Auditing organizations Government Accountability Office