Reports
Actions for State heritage assets
State heritage assets
This audit assessed how effectively the Department of Planning and Environment (Heritage NSW) is overseeing and administering heritage assets of state significance. Heritage that is rare, exceptional or outstanding to New South Wales may be listed on the State Heritage Register under the Heritage Act 1977. This provides assets with legal recognition and protection. Places, buildings, works, relics, objects and precincts ca
Actions for Regulation of public native forestry
Regulation of public native forestry
What this report is about The Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW) is a state-owned corporation that manages over two million hectares of public native forests and plantations supplying timber to sawmills across NSW. The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is responsible for regulating the native forestry industry in NSW. FCNSW must comply with Integrated Forestry Operations Approvals (IFOAs), which set out rules for how timber harvesting may oc
Actions for Regulation and monitoring of local government
Regulation and monitoring of local government
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 function
Actions for Managing the affairs of people under financial management and/or guardianship orders
Managing the affairs of people under financial management and/or guardianship orders
Click here for the Easy English version of the report highlights The Easy English version of the report highlights is intended to meet the needs of some people with lower literacy skills, some people with an intellectual disability, and some people from different cultural backgrounds. The Easy English document is not the final audit report that has been prepared and tabled in NSW Parliament under s.38EB and s.38EC of the Government Sector Audit Act 198
Actions for Planning and managing bushfire equipment
Planning and managing bushfire equipment
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
Actions for Bushfire recovery grants
Bushfire recovery grants
The Bushfire Local Economic Recovery (BLER) program was created after the 2019–20 bushfires, and commits $541.8 million to bushfire affected areas in New South Wales. It is co-funded by the Commonwealth and NSW governments. This audit assessed how effectively the Department of Regional NSW (the department) and Resilience NSW administered rounds one and two of the BLER program. These rounds were: Round one: early co-funding,
Actions for Facilitating and administering Aboriginal land claim processes
Facilitating and administering Aboriginal land claim processes
The Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW) (the Act) provides land rights over certain Crown land for Aboriginal Land Councils in NSW. If a claim is made over Crown land (land owned and managed by government) and meets other criteria under the Act, ownership of that land is to be transferred to the Aboriginal Land Council. This process is intended to provide compensation for the dispossession of land from Aboriginal people in N
Actions for Fast-tracked Assessment Program
Fast-tracked Assessment Program
This report examines the effectiveness of the Fast-tracked Assessment Program, administered by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) between April 2020 and October 2020. The program aimed to support the construction industry during the COVID-19 crisis by accelerating the final assessment stages for planning proposals and development applications. DPIE selected projects and planning proposals f
Actions for Government advertising 2018-19 and 2019-20
Government advertising 2018-19 and 2019-20
A report released today by the Auditor-General for New South Wales, Margaret Crawford found that select advertising campaigns conducted by Service NSW and the NSW Rural Fire Service met most requirements of the Government Advertising Act, regulations, Guidelines and other laws. However, the audit found that Service NSW inappropriately used its post campaign evaluation to measure sentiment towards and confidence in the NSW Government. While agency
Actions for Governance and internal controls over local infrastructure contributions
Governance and internal controls over local infrastructure contributions
The Auditor-General for New South Wales, Margaret Crawford, released a report today on how well four councils managed their local infrastructure contributions during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 financial years. Local infrastructure contributions, also known as developer contributions, are collected from developers to pay for local infrastructure such as drainage, local roads, open space and community facilities. Controls over local infrastructure cont