In May 2025, members of parliaments and parliamentary officials from across the Asia-Pacific Region and the UK met in Nadi, Fiji, to discuss the crucial role public accounts committees (PACs) play in holding government to account for public spending.

Key areas explored by delegates throughout this three-day programme are summarised in the official report of the workshop.

See below for the press release published by the Parliament of Fiji, which co-hosted the workshop alongside CPA UK:  

Parliament of Fiji Press Release

Member of the Public Accounts Committee and the Assistant Minister for Public Works, Transport and Meteorological Services, Hon. Naisa Tuinaceva (Parliament of the Republic of Fiji) says he now looks forward to applying the skills acquired from the Asia-Pacific Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Regional Workshop that he recently attended.

Whilst closing the workshop on behalf of the Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Filimone Jitoko, the Hon. Assistant Minister says within a very short time, they have become familiar with better ways of scrutinising government activities and processes effectively, as well as strengthening their networks and reaffirming the relationships between jurisdictions in the region and the United Kingdom Parliament.

“Indeed, we are grateful for the opportunity to have been capacitated on the following sessions - the role and functions of the PAC; using audit reports for effective PAC inquiries; accountability, transparency and scrutiny; handling sensitive information in a PAC context; assessing PAC effectiveness, measuring impact and enhancing performance; and leveraging technology for enhanced PAC oversight.”

“We now have a broad understanding of the key features of these sessions, and can delve further into our roles, responsibilities and relationships. Further we will have added dimensions to our practical skills, identify limitations in oversight, share experiences, identify solutions, and address challenges when faced with it.

“As we now have had the time to reflect on our performance so far as a legislator, a representative of the people, and a Committee Member, I am adamant that we will now be leaving, equipped to be better and effective parliamentarians and better and effective Members of our Public Accounts Committees,” Hon. Tuinaceva said.

The Chairperson for the Committee on Public Accounts of the Parliament of India, Hon. Kozhummal Chattadi Venugopal MP says the three days has been a great learning experience on how the PACs are performing in the Asia-Pacific countries.

“Our parliament is one of the oldest parliaments, and our PAC has a long heritage. It started in 1921 and has submitted 2,400 reports to parliament. We have a tremendous track record on various subjects and have created an impact.

“Even for small countries, the way they have presented shows that they are also contributing a lot. Small countries are doing very well in this area, as the PAC is the financial watchdog of the Government,” Hon. Venugopal said.

The Chair of the PAC for the Parliament of Malaysia, Hon. Mas Ermieyati, says this is the first time she has been to PAC workshop.

“I've learnt a lot of from my counterparts. How they conducted the final exercise on simulation will help me to sharpen my skills, especially on questioning witnesses.

“I talked with my counterpart from Malaysia about how we can adopt the best practices so we can strengthen our role in PAC and to produce good reports in future.”

The three-day workshop was organised by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK branch in collaboration with the Fijian Parliament.