Internal auditing is used as a tool to monitor and improve the effectiveness of internal controls within organisations. The primary concerns of internal auditors are to identify areas of risk and determine methods of controlling and minimising those risks. Sound and reliable internal auditing provides a strong mechanism to contribute to the governance and accountability requirements of local councils (DLG 2008) through an independent internal audit committee which in turn contributes to providing objective assurance that the accountability requirements of the NSW State Parliament (Sendt 2002) have been addressed