PLANNED AUDITS TO 2021–22

Land and property: the effectiveness of strategic property portfolio management, and the integrity of processes and outcomes for property acquisitions and disposals

The NSW Government owns and manages a significant amount of land, and is acquiring more in support of its infrastructure objectives. The NSW Government also regularly disposes of property assets that are no longer required or suitable for their original purpose. Property transactions undertaken by the NSW Government can involve compulsory acquisitions, expressions of interest in the open property market, and direct negotiations. The outcomes of these processes can have significant impacts on the community. They can also involve the exchange of significant sums of public money, and need to be managed within a robust strategic framework to reduce waste, promote transparency and accountability, and ensure the best use of public resources. This performance audit topic has a number of components that may be addressed in a series. Over the course of this work, we will consider significant property transactions, as well as the management and oversight of the Government’s property portfolio, and the governance of entities that manage these processes, including Crown Lands, Landcom and Property & Development NSW (within the Department of Industry, Planning and Environment Cluster).

Performance audit insights: Key findings from 2018–2021

This report will analyse the key findings and recommendations from performance audits tabled in the New South Wales Parliament between July 2018 and June 2021, spanning varied areas of government activity. The report will present common findings and lessons from the past three years of performance audits with particular focus on issues relating to the integrity and transparency of decision making and processes, as well as the fundamentals of good governance such as probity controls and record keeping. We will also use this report to help determine areas of unaddressed risk across all parts of government, and to shape our future audit priorities.

PLANNED AUDITS TO 2021–22

Managing heritage assets

The NSW Government owns and manages a range of significant heritage assets across a number of government agencies. These assets include historic buildings, gardens, artefacts and Aboriginal places with heritage significance. This audit will consider whether these significant cultural assets and sites are being managed effectively and to the benefit of the community. This audit may examine how well the department oversees heritage asset management and the management and maintenance practices of a selection of agencies’ portfolio of properties, relics and precincts. This audit may focus on assets in regional NSW, or Aboriginal cultural assets.

Jobs for NSW

Jobs for NSW is a statutory body established pursuant to the Jobs for NSW Act 2015. The intention was to utilise high level private sector business experience to drive the creation of new jobs, attract new businesses and facilitate economic development in NSW, through the provision of strategically targeted incentives from the $190 million Jobs for NSW Fund. A target of 150,000 new jobs in the four years to 2020 was announced by the NSW Government. This audit will consider the effectiveness and efficiency of Jobs for NSW (and the Jobs for NSW Fund) in fulfilling its objectives.

PLANNED AUDITS 2022–23 TO 2023–24

Council amalgamations

For the council amalgamations that took place in 2016, the NSW Government projected benefits would be realised over a 20-year period. The 2015 IPART Fit for the Future report found that reducing waste and red tape through local government mergers in metropolitan Sydney could free up to $2.0 billion over 20 years for NSW ratepayers, which could stabilise council rates and fund new infrastructure for communities. It also quantified benefits available by merging selected regional councils.

This audit will assess whether the NSW Government effectively planned for the amalgamations process, including whether advice supporting the decision to implement amalgamations was based on robust analysis and enabled an assessment of progress in achieving clearly-defined, long-term benefits.

International engagement – trade and investment

Investment NSW, a new NSW Government agency, was established in March 2021 with the ‘mission’ of enhancing the state’s global position as a safe place to do business, attracting investment capital, and creating jobs. It brings together a number of groups from across government: Invest NSW, Global NSW, Destination NSW, Study NSW, Research and Development NSW, Office of the Chief Scientist & Engineer, and the Waratah Research Network from the Department of Education, as well as visas and migration, the COVID-19 recovery plan, 24-hour economy, exports from NSW and support for business. It aims to be a one-stop-shop for the private sector — intended to attract and grow Australian and global companies, overseas capital, talent, tourists and international students. This audit could assess the economic development framework being used by Investment NSW to underpin its functions, as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of the incentives structure it uses to create new jobs and support small business and its approach to managing potential conflicts of interest and competitive neutrality issues.

PLANNED AUDITS TO 2021–22

Transport Asset Holding Entity (Treasury and Transport agencies)

Established 1 July 2020, Transport Asset Holding Entity (TAHE) is a statutory state-owned corporation that holds rail property assets, rolling stock and rail infrastructure in the Sydney metropolitan area and limited country location. TAHE makes these assets available to Sydney Trains and NSW Trains for their operations. It also provides rail infrastructure to other operators under the terms of track access agreements. This audit will examine whether TAHE’s operating model is fit-for-purpose to effectively and efficiently achieve the outcomes intended by government, particularly in relation to rail safety, and the extent to which key milestones have been achieved in the transition from RailCorp to TAHE and post-July 2020.

Outcome budgeting (Treasury and selected agencies)

Outcome budgeting was announced in the 2017–18 Budget as a reform that aimed to deliver better outcomes for the people of NSW through increased transparency, accountability, and value for money. The reform has been rolled out over several years, with an initial focus on creating a framework, developing performance measures, and piloting the reforms with selected agencies. NSW Treasury is working with agencies to implement the initiative. This audit will examine how effectively NSW Treasury has overseen the implementation of outcome budgeting to ensure that the reform’s policy goals are achieved.

PLANNED AUDITS TO 2021–22

Building regulation – responding to combustible external cladding

Following fires at the Lacrosse Building in Melbourne in 2014 and the Grenfell Tower in London in 2017, the NSW Government began implementing a coordinated, whole-of-government policy response to the fire safety risks posed by combustible external cladding. An inter-agency NSW Cladding Taskforce, led by the Department of Customer Service, was established to implement the Government’s ten-point fire safety reform plan. This audit may examine how effectively the Department of Customer Service, Department of Planning and Environment, Fire and Rescue NSW, and local councils are implementing the NSW Government’s fire safety reforms, including to:

• identify and remediate existing risks from the use of external cladding
• prevent the future use of unsafe external cladding.

Government advertising

Under the NSW Government Advertising Act 2011, the Auditor-General is required to undertake a performance audit on government advertising activities undertaken by agencies in each financial year. This audit will examine selected government advertising campaigns approved and/or conducted in 2020–21.

NSW Telco Authority’s Critical Communications Enhancement Program

This audit will examine how efficiently and effectively the NSW Telco Authority is leading the improvement of emergency and day-to-day operational communications for NSW Government agencies through the CCEP, with particular reference to the five Emergency Service Organisations (NSW Police Force, NSW Ambulance, Fire and Rescue NSW, NSW Rural Fire Service and the NSW State Emergency Service). It will assess the extent to which the program’s progress and achievements to date have addressed the most significant risk faced by these organisations.

Cyber Security NSW

Established in May 2019, Cyber Security NSW aims to build stronger cyber resilience across the whole-of-government by providing an integrated approach to preventing and responding to cyber security threats. The audit could examine the effectiveness and efficiency of Cyber Security NSW in safeguarding information, assets and services through its stated mandate.

Effectiveness of the land titles registry

Australian Registry Investments (trading as NSW Land Registry Services) was granted the right to operate the titling and registry operations of New South Wales in April 2017, under a 35-year concession which commenced on 1 July 2017.

The NSW Government continues to guarantee title under the Torrens Assurance Fund (TAF). The Office of the Registrar General regulates NSW LRS as the operator of the NSW land titles registry under a regulator operator model. This audit could examine how effectively the Registrar General monitors NSW LRS’s operation of the land titles registry in respect of defined service levels, KPIs and the integrity and security of the data in the register.

PLANNED AUDITS 2022–23 TO 2023–24

Building regulation – regulating to prevent building defects

In response to high-profile examples of building defects, the NSW Government responded to heightened community concerns through a range of building regulation reforms. The reforms include the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 and the Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020. The reforms have or will come into force progressively from mid-2020 through to July 2021. This regulatory reform will make a range of changes to building regulation, including:

• greater consumer protections for owners’ corporations, including a retrospective ten-year statutory duty owed to them by builders and developers to exercise reasonable care to avoid defects
• requirements for designers, builders, professional engineers, and others carrying out specialist work to be registered as practitioners with the Department of Customer Service (the Department)
• stronger investigation and enforcement powers for the Department and the newly established Building Commissioner, including to take disciplinary action against registered practitioners, issue ‘stop work’ orders, and require written undertakings from developers to remediate defective work.

This audit may examine how effectively the department, including the Office of the Building Commissioner, has implemented these reforms to meet the intent of the legislation, and in a manner consistent with good regulatory practice.

Digital Restart Fund

NSW Government agencies rely on information and communications technology (ICT) to assist in delivering services. In NSW, more than 40 million transactions are performed by the government for customers each year. Consumers and businesses expect continuous service improvements from government in the same way they do from any service provider. The NSW Government aims to use technology and data to better integrate government services and massively improve the quality and level of services available. The Digital Restart Fund (the fund) was established in 2019 to accelerate whole-of-government digital transformation and enable iterative, multi-disciplinary approaches to digital/ICT planning, development and service provision and complements existing ICT investment approaches. In 2020, there was $1.6 billion available in the fund. This audit would assess the governance and administration arrangements for the fund and whether it will achieve its objectives.

Revenue NSW Hardship Policy

The intention of this policy is to assist people that have a debt with Revenue NSW and are experiencing economic hardship, including those affected by natural disasters and COVID-19. The policy also applies to people experiencing homeless, or who are considered vulnerable due to mental illness, an intellectual disability or cognitive impairment, domestic violence, or substance misuse. This audit will consider effectiveness the policy in meeting its objectives and efficiency in the administration of this policy.

PLANNED AUDITS TO 2021–22

Transport Asset Holding Entity (Transport and Treasury)

Established 1 July 2020, Transport Asset Holding Entity (TAHE) is a statutory state-owned corporation that holds rail property assets, rolling stock and rail infrastructure in the Sydney metropolitan area and limited country location. Transport Asset Entity (TAHE) makes these assets available to Sydney Trains and NSW Trains for their operations. It also provides rail infrastructure to other operators under the terms of track access agreements. This audit will examine whether TAHE’s operating model is fit-for-purpose to effectively and efficiently achieve the outcomes intended by government, particularly in relation to rail safety, and the extent to which key milestones have been achieved in the transition from RailCorp to TAHE and post-July 2020.

Use of data in transport

Planners and managers in NSW’s transport system rely on accurate data to ensure the system runs effectively and to the satisfaction of its customers. Good data is also important to citizens as it helps to drive accountability and transparency. Reliable data are also needed to ensure that future transport needs are identified, to ensure that infrastructure and service planning can take place. This audit may examine how effectively and efficiently Transport for NSW collects, analyses and uses relevant data for its operations and/or future transport modelling (for example: estimate and predict travel demand, identify opportunities for innovation and service improvement, quantify service reliability, inform infrastructure planning, and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of all modes of transport across NSW).

Unsolicited proposal for the Martin Place metro station

Sydney Metro is Australia’s biggest public transport project. From the north-west, metro rail is being extended under Sydney Harbour, through new underground city stations and beyond to the south-west. This audit may consider whether:

• the unsolicited proposal was effectively assessed, planned and managed (including benefits realisation)
• any land acquisitions relating to the project were managed effectively.

Road safety

In 2021, the NSW Government set a state priority target to reduce road fatalities by 30 per cent by 2021 (from 2008 to 2010 levels) and launched a new road safety plan ‘Toward Zero’. The plan features targeted initiatives intended to meet road safety goals, by addressing key trends, trauma risks and the types of crashes occurring on NSW roads. This audit may examine progress to date and review the effectiveness of the design and implementation of select initiatives.

PLANNED AUDITS 2022–23 TO 2023–24

The DRIVES system

The Driver and Vehicle IT System (DRIVES) is the central system for motor vehicle registration and driver licensing in NSW, including collecting associated revenue and recording driving infringements. The DRIVES has increasing data processing needs and has a widespread impact on various agencies.

This audit may examine how DRIVES data is managed and used, including the management and security of sensitive information.

Privatisation of services

In New South Wales, Transport for NSW (TfNSW) contracts private companies to operate some public transport services. This performance audit will consider Transport for NSW’s approach to the privatisation of bus services. It may assess whether the goals of privatisation were well defined and whether benefits were realised.

Natural disaster preparedness and responses

Many agencies, including those in the Transport cluster, have funding allocated to respond to natural disasters. This can include events such as bushfires and severe weather conditions (such as flooding or storms) that can impact directly on transport infrastructure as well as affecting local communities and the economy. This audit will consider how effectively TfNSW applies this funding to prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disaster events.

Transport’s environmental focus

The former Roads and Maritime Services released an Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2019–2023 (the strategy), which outlined focus areas to address the most important environmental and sustainability issues associated with its activities. It also identifies how targets and measures for each focus area. This audit may consider how effectively and efficiently Transport for NSW is achieving the objectives of the strategy and identify lessons learned for other government agencies who are developing similar strategies.

PLANNED AUDITS TO 2021–22

COVID Intensive learning support program

This $337 million program will employ up to an additional 5,500 staff to deliver small group teaching sessions across the State during 2021. The program aims to support students who were disadvantaged by school closures due to COVID-19. An audit in this area will focus on the justification for the program as well as planning and implementation. It could also consider whether the Department of Education has put in place arrangements to evaluate the impact of the program, which may take several years to be fully evident.

Student attendance

Poor attendance at school is related to poor student outcomes, particularly once patterns of non-attendance have been established. It is important that schools have reliable procedures and systems that record student attendance accurately to enable schools to identify whether any interventions or additional support is required. Poor attendance is a particular issue for Aboriginal students, where there is a gap in attendance of five percentage points in primary school which increases to 15 percentage points by year ten. An audit in this area could consider whether the Department has comprehensive information on student information and uses this information to inform effective strategies that address the needs of high-risk groups.

PLANNED AUDITS 2022–23 TO 2023–24

Security of student information

Schools collect and maintain detailed student data, including sensitive personal information. Schools can also require or encourage students to use third party software applications for learning and other school related activities. This audit will examine how effectively schools ensure student data is secure – both within their own systems and when provided to third parties.

Student behaviour management

Around four per cent of public school students received a short-term-suspension in 2019. Aboriginal students and students with a disability or other complex needs are over-represented in these data. The NSW Ombudsman found gaps in the approach to behaviour management in a 2017 report. Since then, the department released a new Student Behaviour Strategy (the strategy) in March 2021. Our performance audit on this issue will consider the Department’s progress since the Ombudsman’s report and whether the new strategy is meeting its intended objectives.

Teacher and principal wellbeing

According to the 2020 People Matter Employee Survey, only 44 per cent of teachers agreed they were able to keep their work stress at an acceptable level. This performance audit will explore how effectively the department is ensuring the wellbeing of teachers and principals. The audit may look at issues such as bullying, support to respond to challenging student behaviour, workplace compensation claims, absenteeism, and management of complaints.

Literacy and numeracy in NSW schools

The Literacy and Numeracy Strategy 2017–2020 (the strategy) was a four-year plan to support the quality teaching of literacy and numeracy across NSW schools. Targeted strategies included early years intervention, guidance on explicit teaching and diagnostic assessments, more support in secondary schools, additional training for teacher education students, and evaluation to focus effort on what works. An audit in this area could consider whether the key elements in the strategy were implemented well, and whether the strategy was successful in improving education outcomes in the targeted areas.

Planning for curriculum change

In June 2020, the NSW Government released a comprehensive review of the school curriculum. The review recommended a new curriculum be introduced from Kindergarten to Year 12. Given the extent of recommended changes, the review stated that ‘the new curriculum arrangements will need to be phased in over an extended period of time, and teachers will need to be provided with professional development and support’. The NSW Government has set an ambitious reform timeline, with the new curriculum to be implemented by 2024. This audit may examine how the NSW Education Standards Authority and the Department of Education are co‑ordinating planning to successfully implement changes to the school curriculum.

Vocational education and training in schools

Vocational education and training (VET) courses can help students prepare for further education, training or employment. Students in NSW have the option of studying VET courses at school or through TAFE NSW or other training providers. The number of VET in school students in NSW fell from around 54,100 to 46,900 between 2015 and 2019. The NSW Curriculum Review report (2020) raised concerns about the cost, complexity and variable quality of VET in schools. This audit could examine whether students can access the courses they want, and the support and oversight of quality provided by the department.

Supporting successful transitions between school and work

After leaving school, young people are particularly vulnerable in the labour market. In January 2021, the New South Wales youth unemployment rate (13 per cent) was twice that of the working age population (six per cent). In some regions of New South Wales, the youth unemployment rate is over 20 per cent. In 2014, the New South Wales Public Accounts Committee recommended the department evaluate the quality and appropriateness of career advice provided in schools to support successful transitions to work. An audit could examine whether the availability and quality of career advice has improved since that time.

Supporting students in remote areas

In terms of aggregated results, students in rural and remote areas of New South Wales underperform on major educational indicators when compared to students inmetropolitan locations. Students in rural and remote areas also have lower attendance rates and engagement and are less likely to transition to further study. This audit will consider the effectiveness of the Department of Education’s (the department) initiatives to reduce the gap in educational outcomes between rural and remote students and metropolitan students.

Supporting students with a disability

We last reported on this topic in 2016, which was followed by a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry in 2017. Both reports found significant shortcomings and recommended broad changes to the department. In response, the department launched a new disability strategy in 2019. An audit in this area could examine how well the department has implemented the 2019 Disability Strategy and whether it has addressed the findings made in the 2016 and 2017 reports.

Early childhood education

Children who participate in a quality early childhood education program are more likely to arrive at school equipped with the social, cognitive and emotional skills they need to engage in learning. We last reported on this topic in 2016 and recommended the department improve targeting of funding and efficiency of regulation. An audit in this area could examine how well the department supports universal access to quality early childhood education services. This could focus on regulatory oversight and grants administration.

Before and after school care

Before and after school care (BASC) services operate in more than 800 public schools in New South Wales as well as another 930 offsite locations. In April 2019, the NSW Government announced $120 million to expand access to and reduce the cost of BASC. This funding includes $50.0 million for new equipment and facility expansions and $40.0 million for rental subsidies to service providers who can demonstrate savings have been passed on to families. This audit will consider how effectively the department has administered the BASC funding program to meet the government’s objectives.

PLANNED AUDITS TO 2021–22

Managing information security risks in NSW Health

NSW Health, primarily through Local Health Districts, manages large volumes of patient information. Clinicians in busy hospital environments require timely access to data and systems to effectively treat patients. Increased accessibility may in turn increase the risk of poor data and system security practices. Recent experience in other jurisdictions has also demonstrated that operational assets that are controlled using technology may be targeted for cyber attacks. All NSW Health organisations must comply with the NSW Government’s Cyber Security Policy, as well as with NSW Health’s own policy directive on electronic information security. This audit could assess how effectively NSW Health, particularly Local Health Districts and eHealth NSW, is ensuring the security of electronic information and systems used for patient care.

Ambulance demand management

New South Wales has experienced periods of high demand for ambulance services in metropolitan areas and ambulance services have needed to meet surges in demand. New South Wales has implemented strategies to manage its emergency responses, including the Sydney Ambulance Metropolitan Infrastructure Strategy that aims to reshape operations in metropolitan Sydney, transforming the majority of the 43 ambulance stations in the area into a network of NSW Ambulance superstations. This $184 million program has created ambulance hubs that are supported by smaller, standby stations called Paramedic Response Points. This audit could assess impacts of this and other strategies in meeting demand for ambulance services and improving ambulance response times.

Virtual health care

Virtual health care, also known as telehealth, safely connects patients with health professionals to deliver care when and where it is needed. It complements face-to-face care. The COVID-19 Recovery Plan details a range of NSW Government recovery responses including a planned focus for NSW Health that involves a further rollout of digitization and virtual services across the state. Virtual health care services received a major boost during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Patients and clinicians embraced the service with a 700 per cent increase in February to May 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. This audit may examine the use of virtual care services, where clinically appropriate, and NSW Health’s focus on sustainably embedding the virtual care model.

PLANNED AUDITS 2022–23 TO 2023–24

Access to specialist paediatric services

In the early stages of life, the health and wellbeing of children is monitored by clinicians at child and family health care centres or by GPs. If a clinician suspects that a child needs further assessment for a health condition, they will make a referral to a specialist paediatric service. Extended wait times for publicly funded specialist services can delay access to assessments, treatments and to NDIS funded support. This audit may assess the availability of specialist paediatric services and wait times for services across metropolitan, regional and rural areas.

Health workforce planning

Workforce planning has the potential to influence the effectiveness of the entire New South Wales hospital system. Governments are responsible to ensure the availability of a capable and qualified nurse and medical workforce to staff NSW Health’s public hospitals. There are challenges across the country in sourcing staff with some clinical specialties. This is particularly acute in regional and rural areas. NSW Health needs assurance that nurse and medical staff are sufficient in numbers and appropriately qualified to service the current and future requirements. This audit may assess the effectiveness of workforce planning to supply sufficient health staff, with a particular focus on regional, rural and remote areas.

Value-based health care

In New South Wales, value-based healthcare aims to deliver care that improves health outcomes that matter to patients, experiences of receiving care, experiences of providing care and the effectiveness and efficiency of care. NSW Health is progressively implementing value-based healthcare by piloting, scaling and embedding state-wide priority programs and developing a range of system wide enablers including the Leading Better Value Care, Integrated Care and Commissioning for Better Value programs. This audit could assess how effectively NSW Health are implementing value-based healthcare.

Community-based mental health care

Increasing numbers of people are presenting at hospital emergency departments requiring treatment during an acute mental health episode. Over the past ten years, a higher volume of mental health presentations has increased stress on hospital emergency department personnel and resources. NSW Health has a range of community mental health services and programs, including the statewide Community Living Supports program to support people to live with mental illness in the community. This audit could consider NSW Health’s actions to enhance community-based mental health care through coordination and integration of community care with other services and non-government providers, as well as actions to enhance telehealth and community mental health workforce planning.

NSW Immunisation Program

The NSW Immunisation Program provides the community of New South Wales with protection against a range of preventable diseases. With the roll out of the Commonwealth COVID vaccination program, there is potential to assess the role of NSW Health in contributing to the COVID vaccination program, as well as NSW Health’s actions to maintain its ongoing vaccination programs. This audit could consider NSW Health’s actions to cooperate with the  Commonwealth and primary health agencies in COVID vaccinations, as well as its actions to implement the NSW vaccine programs and maintain health information and vaccine promotion activities.

Health e-Net and e-MR projects

Health e-Net aims to connect disjointed information systems across a range of health agencies, providing clinicians with secure and immediate access to patient medical histories. Health e-Net includes the Health e-Net Clinical Portal; My Health Record; and Secure Messaging to GPs. The aim of the program is to improve communication between hospitals, community and private healthcare organisations by sharing patient information electronically. This audit could assess the effectiveness of the implementation of the range of e-record systems across Local Health Districts and Specialty Health Networks.

PLANNED AUDITS TO 2021–2022

NSW Trustee and Guardian

NSW Trustee and Guardian provides financial management and legal guardianship services for over 33,000 clients who are unable to manage their own affairs. Our previous reports to Parliament have identified a need to set performance indicators and targets for the cost and quality of the services NSW Trustee and Guardian provides to the community. This audit may consider whether NSW Trustee and Guardian effectively provides trustee and guardianship services to the satisfaction of its clients.

Rural Fire Service preparedness and capability

The NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) is responsible for the prevention, mitigation and suppression of fires in rural fire districts. It is the lead combat agency for bush and grass fires in New South Wales. Following the 2019–20 bushfire season, the NSW Government allocated funding of $700 million for the RFS. The NSW Bushfire Inquiry into the 2019–20 bushfire season recommended improvements to RFS’s technology, data collection and analysis, communication infrastructure, equipment, fleet, and aviation assets and support to personnel. This audit may examine the effectiveness of RFS preparedness and capability to respond to bushfires.

Access to Legal Aid and community legal services

Legal Aid NSW and non-government community legal centres (CLCs) provide free legal assistance services across the state, particularly to people experiencing economic hardship, social disadvantage or discrimination. Previous national and state reviews have found unmet demand for legal assistance services and specific service gaps, and made recommendations for adequate and stable funding. In 2019–20 the NSW Government provided $224 million in funding to Legal Aid NSW for legal assistance services, and an additional $88.0 million to enable Legal Aid NSW to increase hourly rates for private lawyers in line with other states and territories. This audit may consider how accessible Legal Aid NSW and CLCs services are, and how effectively they are prioritising their services to meet demand.

PLANNED AUDITS 2022–23 TO 2023–24

Child protection systems

Children and young people deserve to be protected from abuse and neglect and have the best possible start in life. Once a child has been reported at ‘risk of significant harm’, child protection practitioners are charged with supporting families to create change and provide safer homes for their children. The number of ‘risk of significant’ harm reports have been increasing in recent years. Decreasing the proportion of children and young people re reported at risk of significant harm by 20 per cent by 2023 is a Premier’s Priority, led by the Department of Communities and Justice (the department). This audit may focus on the access, timeliness and quality of the department’s child protection responses, including resourcing and demand modelling; triaging and allocation; capacity and capability of staff; and completeness and accuracy of relevant data.

Future Directions for Social Housing

The 2016 Future Directions for Social Housing strategy sets out the NSW Government’s ten-year vision for social housing. The $1.0 billion Social and Affordable Housing Fund is a key initiative under Future Directions and is expected to provide 3,400 new social and affordable dwellings by the end of 2023. The 2020–21 State Budget allocated a further $812 million for new and upgraded social housing across New South Wales. This is intended to deliver a further 1,280 new social homes and Aboriginal housing, place-based redevelopment projects at some existing housing estates, and upgrades to over 3,500 social housing dwellings. This audit may consider:

• the effectiveness of the implementation, monitoring and outcomes evaluation for initiatives under the Future Directions strategy and the additional funding
• whether the planning of major social and affordable housing projects is supported by sound evidence to effectively meet the needs of people in housing stress
• the effectiveness of the transfer of housing to community providers and the governance surrounding these arrangements (follow up of 2015 audit).

Aboriginal Outcomes Strategy

The Aboriginal Outcomes Strategy 2017–2021 sets out the Department of Communities and Justice (the department) plan to deliver outcomes for First Nations people across its different services. Targets include increased access to early intervention for Aboriginal families, reduced overrepresentation of Aboriginal children and young people in out-of-home care, improved economic and social outcomes for Aboriginal social housing clients, increased number of Aboriginal staff and increased engagement with disability services. This audit may consider whether the department is effectively working with First Nations leaders, families and staff to: establish and sustain governance arrangements to drive strategy and program implementation; monitor outcomes; and adjust where necessary.

Managing offenders in the community

An offender may be placed on a diverse range of community-based court orders in New South Wales. Conditions may include home detention, electronic monitoring, curfews, community service work, alcohol/drug bans, place restrictions or non-association requirements. NSW Government reforms in September 2018 aimed to increase the proportion of offenders sentenced to supervised community-based orders and reduce the proportion of offenders serving short prison sentences. These have increased the number of offenders on supervised community orders from around 39,000 at the introduction of the reforms to more than 59,000 as at 31 January 2020. There were also large drops in the NSW prison population in the second quarter of 2020 during COVID-19, due in part to an increase in custodial discharges as people were released from remand to wait for their court case in the community. This audit may look at the effectiveness and efficiency of managing offenders on community-based orders and alleged offenders on remand in the community and may follow on from our 2019 report examining responses to growth in the prisoner population.

Community services portfolio management

This performance audit could take a broad view of how programs and services are targeted within the Community Services portfolio of the Department of Communities and Justice (the department). This may include an examination of demand modelling, workforce planning, evaluation and data, and other evidence for the department’s decisions on service planning, funding and delivery including piloting, decommissioning and reprioritisation.

Victims services

The Victims Rights and Support Act 2013 establishes standards for the appropriate treatment of victims of crime. It is administered by a division within the Department of Communities and Justice (the department), and overseen by the Commissioner of Victims Rights, a senior executive in the department. Victims services provides support, information, referrals, counselling and compensation to victims, their families, and witnesses to violent crimes, as well as to families and friends of missing people. The Commissioner is also responsible for ensuring compliance with the Charter of Victims Rights by government and government-funded agencies. Changes were made to the claim process for the Victims Support Scheme in 2020 and a statutory review of the legislation is commencing in 2021. This audit may consider the efficiency and effectiveness of Victims Services including accessibility, service delivery and data quality.

PLANNED AUDITS TO 2021–22

ePlanning portal

The NSW planning portal has been rolled out in a staged approach to councils from May 2018 and aims to increase efficiency and provide greater transparency across the planning process through an online portal. All councils were required to commence using the portal from 1 January 2021 and to process 100 per cent of planning applications using the portal from 1 July 2021. This audit will focus on whether the ePlanning program has realised its intended benefits related to efficiency, transparency and collaboration and whether the rollout process to councils has been implemented in a successful and timely way.

The effectiveness of local government regulation and support

The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (the department), is the primary department with policy, legislative, investigative and program functions for local government matters in New South Wales. It provides regulation, monitoring and support for local government. It is the key adviser to the NSW Government and Minister for Local Government for Local Government matters. This audit may consider whether the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment effectively regulates, monitors and supports the local government sector in New South Wales.

Biodiversity offsets

The Biodiversity Offsets Scheme intends to create a transparent, consistent and scientifically based approach to biodiversity assessment and offsetting for development that is likely to have a significant impact on biodiversity. This audit may examine the effectiveness of the scheme’s design and implementation and examine issues such as whether the scheme is trading ‘like for like’, the management of ‘in-perpetuity’ agreements and the management of conflicts of interest.

Coastal management reforms (also in selected local councils)

The coast is one of our greatest assets in New South Wales, and home to nearly 85 per cent of the state’s population. It is a diverse landscape with considerable natural, cultural, and economic value. The NSW Government has established a new framework to manage the coastal environment in a sustainable way for the wellbeing of the people of New South Wales. This framework includes the Coastal Management Act 2016, the State Environmental Planning Policy (Coastal Management) 2018, and support and funding to local councils for their coastal management programs. A performance audit on this topic could assess how effectively the department has overseen and implemented key elements of this reform package, and how effectively coastal councils have delivered coastal management programs.

PLANNED AUDITS 2022–23 TO 2023–24

Threatened species protection

There are 1,025 threatened species and 112 threatened ecological communities in NSW. These numbers continue to rise, with pests and weeds, habitat loss and climate change as some of the key threatening processes. The 2019–20 bushfires in NSW were some of the worst in recorded history, and bushfires are also expected to become more frequent and severe.

The department administers legislation and programs to protect biodiversity, including threatened species and ecological communities. Immediately following the 2019–20 bushfires, the department took action to maximise the survival of affected species, and since then developed the 2021 Wildlife and Conservation Recovery Bushfire Medium-term Response Plan to support biodiversity. An audit on the topic of threatened species protection may consider the development and early implementation of this bushfire response plan, with a focus on its integration with the department’s existing threatened species programs (such as Saving our Species), and its capacity to monitor the effectiveness of its investments.

Precinct planning (also in selected local councils)

Precinct planning requires multiple government agencies to work together to deliver positive outcomes for communities. They aim to deliver ‘a planned approach to growth in Sydney, with new homes and jobs located close to public transport, shops and services, while retaining and enhancing a community’s character’. New priority precincts were announced in July 2017. This audit will consider how effectively the department coordinates other responsible government entities to deliver on this objective.

Water management and regulation

Water regulation, including licensing and water sharing plans, aim to achieve sustainable environmental, economic and social outcomes from the management of water resources. Reforms have been made to strengthen regulation, compliance and enforcement. This audit may examine how well the department has undertaken requirements under the Water Management Act 2000, responded to and implemented the recommendations from reviews into water licencing, regulation and theft. We plan to conduct this piece of work as part of a multivolume series on the theme of water.

State infrastructure contributions and voluntary planning agreements

A recent audit focused on local infrastructure contributions collected and spent by local councils. We found that increasing balances were present in councils that did not have strong governance over the funds. The state government also collects developer contributions, often through voluntary planning agreements. The balance of these contributions is growing. The audit will examine governance over these contributions and transparency over how contributions are levied and spent.

Planning and delivery of major water infrastructure projects

In October 2019, the NSW Government announced a major upgrade of the Wyangala Dam in the state’s Central West, build the Mole River Dam in the Border Rivers region and replace the Dungowan Dam near Tamworth. This was a part of the NSW Government’s response to prolonged drought in the state. Water NSW is a state-owned corporation that is responsible for managing each of these projects.

This audit will examine the planning and management of one or more of these projects and may include a focus on the assessment of costs and benefits and the management of the cost of the projects.

PLANNED AUDITS TO 2021–22

Grants administration for disaster relief: bushfire recovery grants (also including Resilience NSW)

In response to the 2019–20 bushfires, The Bushfire Local Economic Recovery (BLER) Package was established as part of the $4.4 billion bushfire support program co-funded by the Commonwealth and the NSW Government for bushfire recovery, response and preparedness in New South Wales. BLER funding is intended to support job retention and creation in bushfire impacted regions, strengthen community resilience and reduce the impact of future natural disasters. An audit in this area will consider whether applications are being assessed and funds are being distributed in accordance with program objectives and guidelines. The audit could also look at the efficiency of grants administration and whether funds have been distributed and received in a timely manner.

Special Activation Precincts

Special Activation Precincts are a new way of planning and delivering industrial and commercial infrastructure projects in dedicated areas in regional NSW, by bringing together planning and investment support services. The creation of Special Activation Precincts is delivered as part of the $4.2 billion Snowy Hydro Legacy Fund. Seven areas have been identified: Parkes, Wagga Wagga, Snowy Mountains, Moree, Williamtown and Narrabri. This audit may select one or more Special Activation Precincts and examine how the state government and local council are working together to deliver the anticipated outcomes.

Investment in regional development

In 2017, the NSW Government announced a Regional Development Framework which provides a scaffold for better coordination, decision making and effort on the ground. The NSW Government recognised the need to be more strategic and better coordinated if it is to make a difference, particularly in addressing some of the serious issues facing regional New South Wales such as pockets of youth unemployment, social disadvantage, changing economic opportunities and increased competition. This audit will consider whether regional development and grant programs are well coordinated and delivering improvements. Grants programs of interest include Regional NSW’s growth and infrastructure funds, such as the Snowy Hydro Legacy Fund, and funds for tourism, jobs and community amenity. It may be performed as a standalone topic or as part of a place-based audit and may also consider the role of the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.

PLANNED AUDITS TO 2021–22

Effectiveness of financial management and governance in selected council(s)

Under the Local Government Act 1993 (the Act), councils must apply sound financial management principles that require responsible and sustainable spending and investment, and ensure that future decisions consider intergenerational effects and equity. This audit will consider one or more councils, and examine how these principles are effectively applied in the councils’ financial and asset management, funding decisions and risk management practices, and may examine how councils’ expenditure and investment decisions have complied with the Act.

Development assessment processes in local councils: assessment stage

The development assessment process is used to assess formal applications for development that require consent under the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. Applications are usually lodged with the relevant local council for processing and determination. Guidance from the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) describes the development assessment process in five stages: pre-lodgement, lodgement, assessment, determination and issuing construction certificates. In 2018–19, we completed an audit that focused on the 'pre-lodgement' and 'lodgement' stages of the development assessment process at two local councils.

This audit could assess the extent to which the 'assessment’ stage at selected local councils aligns with relevant legislation and relevant guidance from DPIE and the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Coastal management (also in planning, industry and environment)

The coast is one of our greatest assets in NSW, and home to nearly 85 per cent of the State’s population. It is a diverse landscape with considerable natural, cultural, and economic value. The NSW Government has established a new framework to manage the coastal environment in a sustainable way for the wellbeing of the people of NSW. This framework includes the Coastal Management Act 2016, the State Environmental Planning Policy (Coastal Management) 2018, and support and funding to local councils for their coastal management programs. A performance audit on this topic could assess how effectively DPIE has overseen and implemented key elements of this reform package, and how effectively coastal councils have delivered coastal management programs.

PLANNED AUDITS 2022–23 TO 2023–24

Road asset maintenance

New South Wales has over 144,000 km of roads across its network. This audit will have a focus on regional roads and will build on lessons learned in our 2014 audit on Regional Road Funding and our 2018 audit on Road Maintenance Contracts. The audit may consider how effectively and efficiently local councils plan for, and manage, their road assets including maintenance activities, rehabilitation and rebuilding roads at the end of their useful life.

Cyber security

The increasing global interconnectivity between computer networks has dramatically increased the risk of cyber security incidents. Such incidents can harm local government service delivery and may include the theft of information, denial of access to critical technology, or even the hijacking of systems for profit or malicious intent. This audit will consider how well selected councils ensure they have effective cyber security measures in place.

Precinct planning (also in Planning, Industry and Environment)

Precinct planning requires multiple government agencies to work together to deliver positive outcomes for communities. They aim to deliver ‘a planned approach to growth in Sydney, with new homes and jobs located close to public transport, shops and services, while retaining and enhancing a community’s character’. New priority precincts were announced in July 2017. This audit will consider how effectively the Office of Local Government (OLG) coordinates other responsible government entities to deliver on this objective.

Managing the code of conduct

In August 2020, the OLG released a model code of conduct for council officials which covers topics including bullying and harassment, pecuniary interests and managing conflicts of interest. Section 440 of the Local Government Act 1993 requires every council to adopt a code of conduct that incorporates the provisions of this model code. An audit could look at the compliance of councils’ codes of conduct against this model code, the effectiveness of their implementation and the effectiveness of complaint handling. It could focus on one or more of the issues covered by the code including bullying and harassment, managing conflicts of interest and disclosure of pecuniary interests. It could also consider the OLG’s role to provide oversight, right of review and support functions under the model code.

Performance management and monitoring

Councils need to be transparent and accountable to the public about their operations and performance, and ensure they deliver in line with community expectations. All councils in New South Wales should have adopted the Integrated Planning & Reporting (IP&R) framework by June 2012. This framework ensures councils’ delivery of programs and operational plans are aligned with community priorities. Councils are to report on their performance in their annual reports. This audit could examine councils’ compliance with IP&R Guidelines and could also examine how the OLG has supported councils through the development of a performance measurement framework and delivered direct support to rural councils. This audit would follow on from our 2018 performance audit which reviewed the annual reports of all local councils to look at the performance of a select number of councils in depth.

Audits of issues within a particular council

From time-to-time the Auditor-General receives requests for special reviews or is alerted to matters of concern from the public in relation to individual councils. We will consider these requests and may carry out a performance audit on a single council including their efficiency, effectiveness, economy or compliance with laws. Issues under consideration in such an audit could include the effectiveness of financial and performance management, governance, legislative compliance and the effectiveness of service delivery. This audit could also assess how well councils that supply water and/or sewer services are managing these.