In April 2024, the AER commenced a review into the composition of the Auditors Panel for the Retailer Reliability Obligation (RRO) as per clause 4A.E.5(d) of the National Electricity Rules (NER). The AER has now finalised the review. The two major outputs of this review are version 3 of the Auditors Panel Handbook (Handbook), and the Auditors Panel Conflict of Interest Register (Register). 

Auditors Panel Handbook 

The most significant changes include:

• addition of section 3 ‘Duties of an Independent Auditor’. It provides clarity on the AER’s expectations of the duties of auditors based on the AER’s Reliability Compliance Procedures and Guidelines and previously published guidance provided to auditors;
• addition of sub-section 4.2 ‘Information and updates provided to Independent Auditors by the AER’, which now clarifies what and how the AER proposes to communicate to auditors, including at key junctures in the RRO process;
• addition of section 5 ‘Conflicts of interest’, which provides guidance to auditors for identifying and declaring to the AER any circumstances which would result in their not meeting the definition of ‘Independent Person’ in chapter 10 of the NER, or any other conflicts of interest; and
• additional detail in section 7 ‘Auditors Panel Membership’. We have provided more detail about the potential scope of future reviews, as well as the process the AER will undertake when reviewing and confirming auditors’ status on the Panel, or when considering whether to remove an auditor from the panel.

Auditors Panel Conflict of Interest Register

The AER has developed the Register to promote effective and transparent conflict of interest management. The Register provides details of all current conflicts of interest advised to the AER. It is published on the AER website and updated by the AER after staff have reviewed a relevant conflict of interest notified by an auditor.