The independent assurance given to the NSW Government and sponsor agencies on the viability of large capital projects throughout their lifecycle is inadequate. Government policy is regularly not followed and not properly communicated to those responsible for implementing such policy.
 
This audit sought to test the effectiveness of the NSW capital project assurance system - which includes gateway reviews and reporting - but significant levels of non-compliance identified in our case studies prevented this. The NSW Commission of Audit also identified this issue in 2012. Gateway reviews are conducted by independent reviewers at key stages of a project’s life cycle and provide an independent assessment on a project’s readiness to proceed to the next stage.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #252 - released 7 May 2015

The Department’s framework for VET reform has the potential to effectively achieve the government’s immediate objectives for the reform, which are associated with meeting its commitments under the National Partnership Agreement for Skills Reform without spending more. We found that the government is addressing VET reform objectives in the following order of priority: no extra cost (budget neutrality), TAFE viability, quality VET, access to VET for regions and equity groups, more contestability, student choice. Overall, we conclude that a more balanced approach, by putting more emphasis on increased contestability and student choice, is more likely to maximise the public value for the government’s investment in VET.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #249 - released 29 January 2015

Roads and Maritime Services and Transport for NSW have deployed many controls to protect traffic management systems but these would have been only partially effective in detecting and preventing incidents and unlikely to support a timely response. There was a potential for unauthorised access to sensitive information and systems that could have disrupted traffic.
 
Until Roads and Maritime Services’ IT disaster recovery site is fully commissioned, a disaster involving the main data centre is likely to lead to higher congestion in the short-term as traffic controllers would be operating on a regional basis without the benefit of the Traffic Management Centre.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #248 - released 21 January 2015

This audit assesses the assurance provided to the NSW Government for the initial stages of the WestConnex project.

The audit examined the WestConnex project from concept development to the pre-tender phase for Stage 1A – M4 (Parramatta to Homebush Bay). It did not examine the merit of the project or whether it represented value-for-money.

This audit found a number of shortcomings with the governance of the WestConnex project during its early stages and makes recommendations on how to better govern the remainder of the project to minimise the risk of failure.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #247 - released 18 December 2014

The Learning Management and Business Reform (LMBR) program was established in 2006 to improve service delivery to schools, corporate staff and TAFE NSW. Some parts of the three major components of the LMBR program have been delivered to different areas of the Department of Education and Communities. However, complete implementation is behind schedule and over budget, and the Department has yet to demonstrate that it will achieve the expected benefits.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #246 - released 16 December 2014

More NSW Police officers are returning to work after being injured and there are fewer medical discharges as a result of the new NSW Police death and disability scheme. The new scheme is also costing less and if early trends continue, costs may fall sufficiently to meet the government’s target.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #242 - released 22 May 2014

In 2013–14, Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) provided over $170 million to local councils through the Block Grant and REPAIR programs to spend on Regional Roads. Regional Roads are the link between State Roads and Local Roads.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #241 - released 8 May 2014

The SES needs to better understand the location, availability and skills of its volunteers so it can properly plan for emergency events. It needs to improve how it selects and retains the right volunteers and provide more up-to-date and focused training.

The SES has improved volunteer safety with injury claims falling by 40 per cent to 70 in the four years to 30 June 2013. The average cost of claims has fallen by 58 per cent to $3,547. The SES attributes this reduction to better equipment and work practices. 

Parliamentary reference - Report number #240 - released 15 April 2014

Fire and Rescue NSW do not know whether all its firefighters are fit to perform their full range of operational duties. Once they are employed, there are no formal checks on firefighters’ health and fitness during their career. Also, while a health standard for firefighters has been developed it has not been agreed nor implemented.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #239 - released 1 April 2014

Ten years ago, the then Department of Education and Training responded to concerns about classes without teachers by:

• increasing the number of teachers approved to teach casually

• giving temporary employment to extra teachers in hard-to-staff schools

• running a call centre that helped schools find casual teachers at short notice.

These measures significantly improved the supply of casual teachers to schools in South Western and Western Sydney.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #237 - released 3 October 2013