Auditor Maxine Cooper said the ACT's 117 public artworks were in good condition, but improved maintenance and repair activities should be put in place through the creation of a formal plan for each piece.

The collection, valued at nearly $18 million, should be developed through the introduction of a new strategy to guide future direction and maximise opportunities for enhancing public spaces in the capital.

Artworks range in value from $3200 to $1.5 million, and in age from two to 56 years.

Civic is home to 51 per cent of all Canberra's public artworks, ahead of Belconnen, the parliamentary triangle and Woden.

The report said the new strategy should be developed cooperatively between various ACT government directorates who own public art, the federal government and private sector organisations who manage privately-owned artworks in publicly accessible spaces.

Private funding for the collection could be also explored, following the lead of other states and territories.

The report said Arts ACT lacks a risk management plan for its activities and a specific performance measure for reporting on the effectiveness of its management of public art.

A review of the 11 public artwork commissions showed each of the acquisitions were completed effectively.

The audit included inspection of 30 selected public artworks, with four found to be in excellent or "as new" condition, 22 artworks were in good condition with only minor issues present.

A further four artworks were in fair condition, while none were in poor condition.

While the need for a public art strategy was recognised in 2007, only a series of policy and planning documents have been put in place.

There has been no new funding for public art since 2011-12.

The Stanhope government allocated $1 million to the Sculpture Acquisition Fund in 2006 and in May 2007 established a scheme to guarantee 1 per cent of each year's capital works budget was devoted to public art.

In April this year, the government approved expenditure of the remaining cash from the 2007 scheme, totalling $191,000.

Dr Cooper called for an updating of the ACT Government Public Art Guidelines, released in 2015, and the Public Art Database.

"Although a strategy is lacking, governance and administration of operational aspects of public art are being effectively managed by ACT government agencies," she said.

"A management model to underpin the strategy needs to be identified.

"In doing this it would be prudent to explore models used in other jurisdictions that embrace private sector entities' participation and do not rely solely on public [or] taxpayer funding, as has been the case to date for most ACT government public art.

The report said public artworks faced risk from unavoidable damage, such as from the weather, as well as damage from government workers, business owners, contractors, drivers and tradespeople undertaking day‐to‐day activities.

It said additional protections from risk may be warranted, including legal penalties for damaging art in line with penalties for damaging protected trees.

In six recommendations, Dr Cooper called for a new comprehensive arts strategy, updating of the public art database, new public art asset acceptance protocols and improved risk management.

Arts Minister Gordon Ramsay said the government would consider the recommendations.

"We will continue to work closely with key stakeholders across government including ACT Health, the Cultural Facilities Cooperation and Transport Canberra and City Services to ensure our public art works are well managed," he said.