Report highlights
Report highlights: Education 2023
What this report is about Results of the Education portfolio of agencies’ financial statements audits for the year ended 30 June 2023. What we found Unqualified audit opinions were issued for all Education portfolio agencies. An ‘other matter’ paragraph was included in the TAFE Commission’s independent auditor’s report as it did not have a delegation or sub-delegation from the Minister for Education and Early Learning to incur expenditure on grants from other portfolio agencies.
Report highlights: Regional, rural and remote education
What this report is about Students in rural and remote areas of NSW face greater challenges compared to their metropolitan peers. This report examined how the NSW Department of Education (the department) is ensuring that rural and remote students have access to the same quality of early childhood, school education, and skills pathways as metropolitan students.
Report highlights: Education 2022
Result of the Education cluster financial statement audits for the year ended 30 June 2022. What we found Unmodified audit opinions were issued for Education cluster agencies. An 'other matter' paragraph was included in the TAFE Commission's independent auditor's report as it did not have a delegation or sub-delegation from the Minister for Education and Early Learning to incur expenditure from cluster grants.
Report highlights: Student attendance
Poor attendance at school is related to poor student outcomes, particularly once patterns of non-attendance have been established. This report examined how the NSW Department of Education (the department) is managing student attendance in NSW government schools. What we found Around a third of students in Years 1–10 attended school less than 90% of the time in Semester 1, 2021. Missing more than 10% of school may put a student's educational outcomes at risk.
Report highlights: Audit Insights 2018-2022
In this report, we have analysed the key findings and recommendations from our audit reports over the past four years. This analysis includes financial audits, performance audits, and compliance audits of state and local government entities that were tabled in NSW Parliament between July 2018 and February 2022. The report is framed by recognition that the past four years have seen significant challenges and emergency events.
Report highlights: COVID-19: response, recovery and impact
This report draws together the financial impact of COVID-19 on the agencies which were integral to the response across the state government sector of New South Wales. What we found Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit NSW in January 2020 until 30 June 2021, $7.5 billion has been spent by state government agencies for health and economic stimulus. The response was largely funded by borrowings. The key areas of spending since the start of COVID-19 in NSW to 30 June 2021 were:
Report highlights: COVID Intensive Learning Support Program
This audit examined a state-wide program to provide small-group tuition to students disadvantaged by the move to learning from home during 2020. The audit assessed the design and implementation of the program. What we found The program design was based on research and data showing learning loss during 2020.
Report highlights: Education 2021
The results of the Education cluster (the cluster) agencies' financial statements audits for the year ended 30 June 2021. What we found Unmodified audit opinions were issued on the Department of Education (the department), the NSW Education Standards Authority and the NSW Skills Board's financial statements.
Media release: Delivering school infrastructure
The Auditor-General for New South Wales, Margaret Crawford, released a report today examining the planning and delivery of new, redeveloped and upgraded public schools. School Infrastructure NSW has identified the need to accommodate an additional 180,000 enrolments in public schools by 2039 with a large portion of this growth expected in metropolitan Sydney. It has also identified that around 34,000 teaching spaces will require upgrading to be fit-for-purpose.
Media release: One TAFE NSW modernisation program
The Auditor-General for New South Wales, Margaret Crawford, released a report today examining the management of the One TAFE NSW modernisation program. In 2016, the Government released 'A Vision for TAFE NSW' which stated that TAFE NSW needed to become more flexible, efficient and competitive. It set out the need to progressively reduce significant cost inefficiencies, including by moving away from separate institutes to a single institute model. TAFE NSW established the One TAFE NSW modernisation program to deliver on that vision.