Ninth of twelve

The Australasian Council of Auditors-General assessed how independent each auditor-general is in 2020 and again in 2025. Australia's ranking fell from seventh to ninth, ahead only of South Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Northern Territory. Its weakest scores were on financial, managerial and administrative autonomy and on freedom to decide the content and timing of reports. The assessment noted that the Auditor-General's Act has not been amended in ways that affect independence since 2020, that the budget is still set by the executive, and that the government is "yet to respond" to the parliamentary committee's 2022 review of the Act.