Stephen (Steve) Walker

Executive Director

 

Stephen (Steve) Walker took up his position as Executive Director in January 2009. He trained in the Audit Office (before Audit New Zealand was created) from 1987 to 1993 as a starting point for a successful international career.

Qualifying as a New Zealand Chartered Accountant in 1993, and holding a Bachelor's degree with First Class Honours in Commerce and Administration from Victoria University, Steve's career has seen him based in London, Wellington, and New York. He has performed roles in external and internal audit, financial reporting standard setting, policy development, strategic planning, governance, public sector management, training development and delivery, and executive operational management.

Steve was previously based in New York where he was Director of Operations for the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), a position he held from September 2002. He has also worked with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand as a Policy Manager and Project Manager - Accounting Standards, and internationally as a technical manager supporting the IFAC Public Sector Committee (now the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board).

Bethia Gibson

General Manager Operations

 

Bethia joined us in May 2007. She is a member of the executive leadership team, and is responsible for the financial auditors within Audit New Zealand.

Before joining us, Bethia was the Deputy Commissioner, Corporate Services in the State Services Commission. In her five years at the State Services Commission, she also held acting Branch Manager roles in the Chief Executives Branch, and as Acting Director of the E-Government Unit.

Bethia's early career was spent working with Valuation New Zealand as a Registered Valuer. She was involved with the establishment of Quotable Value New Zealand, and was initially appointed to the role of General Manager Operations (South), before becoming General Manager QV Valuations.

Chong Lim

General Manager, Professional Practices/Audit

 

Chong joined Audit New Zealand in 1983 and leads our Professional Practices Group (PPG). He is a member of the executive leadership team and is responsible for developing and enhancing our professional competence; maintaining the currency of our audit methodology and practices, accounting and legislation; ensuring the provision of accounting and auditing advice and support; monitoring the quality of our audit implementation; and managing the gathering, sharing and adaptation of audit-related knowledge.

Peter Grant

Assistant Auditor-General, Corporate Services

 

Peter joined the Office of the Auditor-General in June 2006 and was appointed to this role in October 2007. He is responsible for the corporate services teams supporting both the Office of the Auditor-General and Audit New Zealand, including Finance, Human Resources, Reports and Communications, Information Technology, Information Services, and Corporate Administration.

Before joining us, Peter's career focused on information technology management, including seven years in large organisations in the United Kingdom.

Jason Biggins

Tax Director

 

Jason joined Audit New Zealand in May 1994, and heads our in-house tax division. Jason is responsible for delivering tax audit and tax assurance services, and has developed our tax audit approach in relation to income tax, GST, and other taxes.

Jason has a comprehensive understanding of the tax risks and issues affecting the public sector. He also has an in-depth knowledge of the accounting requirements of SSAP 12 and IAS 12. Before joining Audit New Zealand, Jason worked for seven years in the private sector accounting arena, including four years with Touche Ross in Wellington.

Robert Cox

Audit Director/Head of Accounting

 

Robert has worked for the office since 2001. He leads our technical team, and has 20 years’ experience as an auditor. He is leading the Office of the Auditor-General's NZ IFRS Readiness Project, and retains responsibility for some audit clients, including the audit of the consolidated financial statements of the Government of New Zealand.

Robert previously worked for the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants on the development of the New Zealand Auditing Standards and the Institute’s Code of Ethics, for Wellington City Council as Internal Audit Manager, and as an external auditor for Deloittes. Robert spent a year on secondment to the Office of the Auditor-General as a sector manager in the Parliamentary Group, where he worked with the transport and social services select committees.

Stephen Lewis

Technical Director

 

In addition to his technical expertise, Stephen has hands-on audit experience with organisations across the public sector. As a member of the Technical Services Group, he provides training and advice to Audit New Zealand staff and audit clients on all aspects of financial reporting requirements and processes, and has been with the office since 1976.

Ann Kilpatrick

Information Manager, Professional Practices Group

 

Ann joined Audit New Zealand in 1987. She is responsible for supporting, implementing, and applying audit software used by the operational audit staff. This role includes developing and delivering user training. She also manages some of our most important knowledge databases. Ann has a particular interest in the practical application and usability of software tools.

Before joining Audit New Zealand, Ann was employed in Wellington’s local government sector in senior financial accounting roles. With 18 years of audit management experience, Ann's clients included the New Zealand Defence Force, Ministry of Economic Development, Hutt City Council, Whitireia Community Polytechnic, Te Puni Kokiri, and the Office of the Maori Trustee.

Mark Maloney

Audit Director, Methodology

 

Mark returned to Audit New Zealand in 2005 after spending four years as Group Manager Assurance Services at Auckland City Council. Before that Mark worked for Audit New Zealand for almost 10 years, originally joining the Auckland office in 1991.

Mark is responsible for the office's audit methodology development, maintenance, and training. Mark also retains an audit portfolio which encompasses a wide range of clients in the central government, local government, health, and tertiary sectors.

John Merrin

Director

 

John has worked for Audit New Zealand, the Office of the Auditor-General, and their predecessor (the Audit Office) since March 1982. He is principally responsible for monitoring employee ethical issues and audit independence. He is also responsible for developing appropriate audit standards for Audit New Zealand's auditors and monitoring the effectiveness of the Audit New Zealand's assurance-based quality control policies and procedures.

John has a particular interest in the area of fraud in audit.

John has significant public sector audit and inquiry experience, having taken part in a number of major probity inquiries for the Office of the Auditor-General.

Megan Wassilieff

National Professional Development Manager/Audit Manager

 

Megan joined Audit New Zealand in 1993. Her role involves writing policies and the planning, design, and logistics involved in preparing a new professional development programme for Audit New Zealand.

Megan’s public sector auditing experience has been gained through assignments for a cross-section of clients including District Health Boards, council-controlled organisations, tertiary education institutions, and Crown research institutes. Before joining us, Megan worked in a small chartered accountancy practice.

Brett Story

Technical Manager

 

Brett joined Audit New Zealand in February 2003 as a graduate. He is a member of the Accounting Technical team and is responsible for providing accounting advice and technical training to Audit New Zealand staff as well as developing NZ IFRS audit support tools.

Before being seconded to the Accounting Technical Team, Brett was responsible for supervising a number of clients in the Central Government, Crown Entity and Local Government sectors.