Vietnam State Audit Delegation attends IMPACT 2023 Conference

According to VNA correspondent in Sydney, within the framework of the working trip of the State Audit Delegation of Vietnam led by Ms. Ha Thi My Dung - Deputy State Auditor General to New Zealand and Australia from April 14 - 23, 2023, on April 19 - 20, the delegation attended the IMPACT 2023 Conference on critical thinking in performance auditing.

The State Audit Delegation of Vietnam attends the IMPACT 2023 Conference. Photo: Thanh Tu/VNA

The conference was hosted by the Australian Audit Authority (SAI) in collaboration with the Australian Capital Territory Audit Office. Over 200 delegates from SAIs around the world, relevant Australian ministries and many leading domestic and international experts attended the conference. The theme of the conference was “Auditors of the Future”, focusing on two main topics: Technology as a tool; Technology and its impact on auditors. On April 19, the conference heard representatives from SAI Indonesia, SAI USA, the Australian National Cyber ​​Security Centre and the Australian Minister of Finance share their experiences in attracting future auditors, the necessary skills of auditors in the digital world; cybersecurity and challenges in the public sector; Auditing in the era of artificial intelligence and Australia's achievements in enhancing accountability, transparency and anti-corruption, in which artificial intelligence has become a prominent trend and created positive impacts in public management in Australia. To adapt to the rapidly changing context, future auditors need to be equipped with a comprehensive system of skills and professional competencies to overcome the limitations of traditional financial auditing. Meanwhile, digital technology has changed the way governments operate and increased the complexity and volume of data that government agencies can handle. The COVID-19 pandemic has made digital transformation stronger and organizations face new challenges. The increasing scope and intensity of risks require flexible, effective and efficient audit strategies. In addition, the topic of professional ethics and public administration, challenges to integrity and ethics in the government system were also presented and discussed by experts from the Australian Council on Legal Integrity and the Council including the Auditor General of New Zealand, leaders of Ernst & Young, and Secretary General of the Australian Public Sector Reform Commission. During the discussion, delegates focused on clarifying the importance of integrity, considering it a core skill of all public servants. The Supreme Audit Institution, along with other integrity agencies, is an essential part of the integrity and accountability system of the public sector. The public always expects integrity, honesty and transparency as core values ​​in organizational culture and public governance. On April 20, the State Audit delegation continued to participate in discussion sessions on the main topics of the conference, focusing on the audit impact from the perspective of some SAIs, the relationship with the National Assembly, and ways to enhance the audit impact from the perspective of the legislature, public audit agencies, and audited entities. Along with the development of the public audit industry in general, legislative bodies and the public are increasingly interested in and more deeply involved in the activities and audit reports of SAIs, thereby requiring SAIs to continuously reform the content and form of audit reports to meet the increasingly high requirements on quality, reporting deadlines... to be able to widely reach many different audiences, including National Assembly deputies, the public through social networks, audited units with concise, easy-to-understand reports, expressed in graphic language... In particular, most SAIs have flexibly adapted to changes in the post-COVID-19 period to continue promoting core values ​​to the National Assembly, relevant agencies and the public on accountability, transparency and compliance with the law, emphasizing the results achieved from reporting on integrity, promulgating a public procurement management framework, and centralized management methods for conflicts of interest. On the afternoon of April 20, the Conference was divided into discussion sessions on 4 sub-topics: Environmental and sustainability auditing - SAI's experience in applying the environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting model and sustainability auditing; Data analysis - SAI's experience in applying analytics and technology to enhance audit results; Environmental management framework - The importance of effective coordination mechanisms, the role and benefits of the legal system; Digital transformation and Artificial Intelligence - impacts on auditing activities - Finding modern tools to help auditors identify gaps in risk management with the help of current and emerging artificial intelligence technologies.

The State Audit Delegation of Vietnam held a bilateral meeting with the Australian Auditor General on the sidelines of the conference. Photo: Van Linh/VNA

During the conference, Deputy State Auditor General Ha Thi My Dung had sideline meetings with SAIs attending the conference and bilateral meetings with the State Audit of Australia. The delegation was received by Mr. Grant Hehir - State Auditor General of Australia, Ms. Rona Mellor - Deputy State Auditor General of Australia.

Deputy State Auditor General Ha Thi My Dung highly appreciated the State Audit of Australia for chairing the IMPACT Conference to discuss a very practical topic for the international SAI community in the context of the 4.0 industrial revolution and the world entering a new normal period after the COVID-19 pandemic. Deputy State Auditor General Ha Thi My Dung hopes that the bilateral cooperation between the two agencies will be further strengthened in the coming time through multilateral forums and exchanges of delegations to study and share experiences in auditing expertise at the State Audit of Australia, especially in improving audit quality, data analysis and enhancing the application of information technology in auditing activities. With its important role and contributions to ASOSAI, the State Audit of Vietnam hopes that the State Audit of Australia will support the State Audit of Vietnam's candidacy for membership of the ASOSAI Audit Committee for the 2024-2027 term at the ASOSAI Congress in 2024. Deputy State Auditor General Ha Thi My Dung also sent greetings from the State Auditor General of Vietnam Ngo Van Tuan to the State Auditor General of Australia Grant Hehir, and respectfully invited him and his colleagues to visit and work with the State Audit of Vietnam in the coming time. At the meeting, the State Auditor General of Australia also expressed his pleasure to meet and work with the State Audit of Vietnam within the framework of the Conference. With hundreds of years of history and experience in public audit, the State Audit of Australia is ready to share experiences with the State Audit of Vietnam in areas where the State Audit of Australia has strengths, including data collection and analysis; application of information technology in audit activities. According to Mr. Grant Hehir, data analysis is a big topic and currently, the Australian State Audit Office is facing some challenges in collecting data, especially non-financial audit data due to the unstructured nature of the information. The Australian State Auditor General expressed his willingness to welcome officials from the State Audit of Vietnam to learn more about the above areas and hoped to have the opportunity to visit and work at the State Audit of Vietnam.

Thanh Tu - Van Linh - Le Dat (Vietnam News Agency)