SAI Samoa, Performance and Environmental Audit (PEA) team of 4, participated in a virtual workshop on the 9th-12th February 2021.

The four days training from 1pm-8pm Samoan time was conducted and led by Australian Council of Auditor General (ACAG) in coordination with PASAI; facilitated by Mike Scott, Stephen Cull and Terry Campbell.  

As representatives of SAI Samoa, PEA Team were fortunate to be part of this important training to enhance their knowledge and understanding in conducting performance and environmental audit by learning from one another's shared experiences.

The workshop required participants to go through the process of conducting a performance audit from the beginning to the end. This was to identify the issues to be covered by audit in the beginning and allowing auditors to follow up the audit, in the end, so that it has the intended impact. Sessions were well introduced with an overview of the topic being covered and some key points about performance audit methodology. Exercises were discussed in small groups for most sessions before they shared things one learned among the other groups. Constructive feedback were also received from the facilitators.

On the last day of the workshop, the opportunity was given to provide lessons learnt throughout the workshop and how it will be applied in audits. The PEA Team already planned their next audit to be executed with the topic - "Banning Single-use Plastic?", not only to practice what they have learnt from the workshop but also in response to the WGEA Work Plan 2020-2022.

The main key takeaway from this workshop was establishing respectable Line of Inquiry (LOI) with solid audit criteria to conduct a performance audit. Having good LOI supporting by strong criteria will no doubt provide feasible and practical recommendations with the aim to improve quality of audit which lead to improve quality of life.