Accounting for public accounts committees

Public accounts committees (PACs) in Australia as elsewhere are usually discussed and assessed in terms of their contributions to realizing the accountability of ministers and their departments to Parliament. Analysis of the history of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts (JCPA) of the Australian Commonwealth Parliament for the period 1914‐1932 shows, however, that the committee’s claimed centrality to financial accountability in government guaranteed neither the content of the issues which commanded its attention nor its survival. Suggests that the activities and standing of the JCPA were emergent contextually rather than design predetermined. Discusses the implications of these findings for further research.