The Office of Local Government (OLG) in the Department of Planning and Environment is responsible for strengthening the local government sector, including through its regulatory functions. This audit assessed whether the OLG is effectively monitoring and regulating the sector under the Local Government Act 1993. The audit covered: the effectiveness of departmental arrangements for the OLG to undertake its regulatory functions

An Easy English version of the report highlights will be here soon. If you need help to know what this report says, please call us on 02 9275 7100 or email mail@audit.nsw.gov.au What this report is about This audit assessed whether NSW Trustee and Guardian is effectively delivering public guardianship and financial management services in line with legislative requirements and standards. What we found NSW Trustee and Guardian is delivering guardiansh

The Government Advertising Act 2011 requires the Auditor-General to undertake a performance audit on government advertising activities each financial year. This audit examined whether TAFE NSW's annual advertising campaign in 2021–22: was carried out effectively, economically, and efficiently complied with regulatory requirements and the Government Advertising Guidelines. What we found TAFE NSW complied with Section 6 of the 

This audit assessed the effectiveness of the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) and local councils in planning and managing equipment for bushfire prevention, mitigation, and suppression. What we found The RFS has focused its fleet development activity on modernising and improving the safety of its firefighting fleet, and on the purchase of new firefighting aircraft. There is limited evidence that the RFS has undertaken strategic f

Sydney Metro is Australia’s largest public transport project. It requires the acquisition of many private properties, including residential and business properties. This audit assessed the effectiveness of the acquisition of private properties for the Sydney Metro project. The audited agencies were Sydney Metro, the Department of Planning and Environment (Valuer General NSW) and Transport for NSW (the Centre for Property Acquis

Cyber Security NSW is part of the Department of Customer Service, and aims to provide the NSW Government with an integrated approach to preventing and responding to cyber security threats. This audit assessed the effectiveness of Cyber Security NSW's arrangements in contributing to the NSW Government's commitments under the NSW Cyber Security Strategy, in particular, increasing the NSW Government's cyber resiliency. The audit as

The Transport Asset Holding Entity (TAHE) is the State's custodian of rail assets. It is a state owned corporation and commenced operating on 1 July 2020. This audit assessed the effectiveness of NSW Government agencies' design and implementation of TAHE. We audited TAHE, Transport for NSW (TfNSW) and NSW Treasury. Separate and related audits on TAHE are reported in 'State Finances 2022', 'State Finances 2021' and 'Transport a

This audit assessed the effectiveness of NSW Government agencies’ coordination of the response to COVID-19, with a focus on the Delta variant outbreak in the Dubbo and Fairfield Local Government Areas (LGA) between June and November 2021. We audited five agencies - the Department of Premier and Cabinet, NSW Health, the NSW Police Force, Resilience NSW and the Department of Customer Service. The audit also considered relevant pl

Local councils in New South Wales are responsible for assessing local and regional development applications. Most development applications are assessed and determined by council staff under delegated authority. However, some development applications must be referred to independent local planning panels or Sydney and regional planning panels for determination. Councils provide support to local planning panels. The Department of

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 one, 2021. Missing more than 10% of school may put a stud