3. An apolitical public sector

The Public Administration Act 2004 requires public sector agencies to be apolitical and act in the public interest. This applies to conduct as well as government communications and advertising. 

But we found examples of conduct and government communications that did not meet these requirements.

Covered in this section:

1. Our key findings

What we examined

Our audit followed 2 lines of inquiry:

1. Are government advertising and communications compliant with relevant standards and legislation?

2. Do agencies monitor, understand and report on their advertising and communications spending?

To answer these questions, we examined:

1. Introducing our annual plan

What we do

Our role

The Auditor-General is an independent officer of the Victorian Parliament who is supported by the Victorian Auditor General's Office (VAGO). 

We provide assurance to Parliament and the Victorian community about how effectively and efficiently public sector agencies provide services and use public money.

Annual Plan 2026–27

Body
This annual plan sets out our proposed work program for the 2026–27 financial year.

Follow-up: Protecting Critically Endangered Grasslands

Body
We plan to examine if the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action has implemented the actions it proposed in response to the recommendations in our 2020 report Protecting Critically Endangered Grasslands, and a strategy that can deliver the Melbourne Strategic Assessment's intended ecological offsets.

Pest animal control

Body
We plan to examine if responsible agencies are managing the distribution and population of pest herbivores to reduce their impacts.