Administration arrangements for the NSW public sector play an important role in how effectively agencies deliver their core responsibilities and collaborate to deliver cross-government initiatives. These arrangements are subject to change, depending on the policy and program objectives of the government of the day. Establishing and changing how departments are structured and administered can entail significant cost and disruption. Our 2021 performance audit on Machinery of government changes found that benefits and costs of such activities can be unclear unless effective planning and tracking is undertaken.

This audit will examine selected public administration and departmental arrangements to determine whether they are effectively supporting the public sector to deliver its objectives—having regard to important governance and accountability structures—while avoiding inherent conflicts between functions and unnecessary administration and cost.