Redefining the Performance Auditing Space

Abstract

The tools of integrity institutions, including performance auditing (PA), are attracting growing research interest. Amidst this interest, there is ongoing debate about the definition of PA. This paper adopts a new definitional framework to characterise and investigate the performance auditing space, which is the conceptual space in which PA takes place. The paper then uses a case study from Australia to consider four integrity institutions that, after a process of convergence, now occupy that space. The paper explores the implications that arise when integrity institutions cohabit the PA space. The paper concludes that the space is both crowded and contested, and that this has implications for society, government agencies and the integrity institutions themselves.

Keywords: audit, performance audit, evaluation, definition, competition