Management of the Audit Department was transferred to Montserrat on 1 July, 1956; and three positions were established to perform the audit duties and functions.

Originally, the legal authority for audit work was provided by the Finance Administration and Audit Act; and the department was viewed as being managed by the Ministry of Finance.  Recognizing the need to be, and seen to be, an independent audit office; the governance of the Audit Department was separated in 2001; with the enactment of a dedicated Audit Act.  The department was later renamed “Office of the Auditor General”.   

In addition to the above, the importance of having an independent audit function was recognized as a valuable contribution to public finance management. To show this, the audit function; including independence provisions; is given higher prominence; and is now included in the Montserrat Constitution Order 2010.  Some of the salient independence issues are set out in paragraphs 101 – 103.  These paragraphs focus on protections for hiring; and removal of an Auditor-General; the functions and duties of the Auditor-General; and non-interference in the conduct of audit work.  The Audit Act 2001 was repealed in 2010 to make way for a new legal audit provision; the National Audit Office Act which received its assent in July 2024 and was subsequently passed in September 2025.  The office was renamed the “National Audit Office”. 

The terminology used to identify the Audit Department’s senior manager has evolved significantly over the years. It began with Principal Auditor in 1956; then was changed to Director of Audit; and is currently styled Auditor-General.  As all persons essentially performed the same functions; they have been given the same designation; and are listed below in order of most recent service.

Current Auditor-General

Miss Marsha V. E. Meade, October 2025 – present  

Past Auditors-General

• Miss Marsha Verancia Eleanor Meade, BA, MSc, April 2021 – September 2025 (Acting Auditor-General)
• Miss Florence Augusta Lee, CPA, BSc, MSc, July 2002 – May 2021 
• Mr Lorenzo Everad Linnington Cassell, BA, MA, March 1977 – June 2002
• Mr Sydney St Alban Meade, July 1956 – March 1977