The NSW Government’s ‘program evaluation initiative’, introduced to assess whether service delivery programs achieve expected outcomes and value for money, is largely ineffective according to a report released today by NSW Auditor-General, Margaret Crawford.

Government services, in areas such as public order and safety, health and education, are delivered by agencies through a variety of programs. In 2016–17, the NSW Government estimates that it will spend over $73 billion on programs to deliver services.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #277 - released 3 November 2016

Police officers and firefighters in NSW are benefiting from an improved focus on preventing and managing injuries, according to a report released today by the NSW Auditor-General. However, the audit found these gains may not be enough to offset risks associated with increasing common law claims, and death and disability scheme costs.

‘Emergency service workers face dangerous situations and traumatic scenes’ said the Auditor-General ‘and are at a significant risk of injury and illness. While the NSW Police Force and Fire & Rescue NSW have made positive shifts towards more proactive injury prevention and better return to work programs and practices, both face significant cost issues.’

Parliamentary reference - Report number #275 - released 13 October 2016

Overall, NSW Government initiatives and processes to prevent and reduce red tape were not effective, according to a report released today by the NSW Auditor-General.

In 2015, the Government reported that its red tape reduction initiatives, implemented between 2011 and 2015, had resulted in $896 million in savings. While these initiatives resulted in some savings, the total value of savings is unknown because estimates for some initiatives were based on unverified assumptions, cost transfers or unrealised projections.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #272 - released 25 August 2016

Juvenile Justice prepares and assists young people to reintegrate into the community reasonably well, given the complex needs of young people in detention, according to a report released today by the NSW Auditor-General, Margaret Crawford.

Juvenile Justice has many processes and programs to identify and address young people’s needs while in detention and links them to relevant support services in the community. It still faces some significant barriers which make reintegration difficult. Some are within its control to fix, such as improving training and recreational activities available to young people in detention. Others relate to external factors, such as the capacity of other organisations to address their reintegration needs like housing, education and employment, and a young person’s period of detention.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #269 - released 28 April 2016

The Public Service Commission is making good progress with leading the implementation of public sector management reforms, according to a report released today by the Acting New South Wales Auditor-General, Tony Whitfield.

'The Commission developed a sound evidence base for the reforms and gained wide public sector support by engaging with agency heads and using public sector working groups to develop options', said the Acting Auditor-General. 'They developed good guidance for government agencies and have improved the senior executive structure in the NSW public sector', he added.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #264 - released 28 January 2016

Many factors are contributing to the overcrowding of the NSW prison system. This is in turn putting pressure on operations in the courts, and could ultimately impact rates of reoffending.

The lack of capacity is impacting more than just the NSW prison system. Over the weekend of 31 October 2015 some inmates held by the NSW Police Force could not be brought before a court because of capacity shortages.

This was one of the findings reported in Volume Seven 2015 of the Auditor-General’s Report to Parliament, which covers law and order services provided by the NSW Police Force, Department of Justice, and NSW Trustee and Guardian.

Demand for emergency services increased by eight per cent, in response to 187,282 incidents during 2014-15. Total volunteer numbers have risen over the last three years by 2.4 per cent to 98,536, improving capacity to deal with such incidents. NSW Rural Fire Service had only five emergency declarations in 2014-15 compared to 48 the year before, resulting in natural disaster expenditure falling by $89.0 million.
 
Fire and Rescue NSW response time to incidents and NSW Rural Fire Service fire containment continue to improve.
 
These are some of the matters highlighted in Part 2 of Volume Seven 2015 of the Auditor-General’s Report to Parliament, which covers emergency services agencies.

This report examines selected areas of government activity to see if sufficient information was available to identify and assess changes in productivity. The areas examined were primary and secondary school public education, acute inpatient care in NSW public hospitals, CityRail, the NSW Police Force, and the NSW Local Court.

Productivity is commonly defined as the amount of output per unit of input.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #256 - released 16 July 2015

This performance audit looked at whether the Office of State Revenue was effective in collecting as much tax as it should, and at the lowest cost to the government. 
 
The Office of State Revenue (OSR) plays a crucial role in collecting revenue for NSW Government. About one-third of the money spent on services like our public schools and public hospitals is collected by OSR. This is through NSW Government taxes like stamp duty on real estate and payroll tax.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #255 - released 25 June 2015

NSW Government agencies have sound processes for implementing performance audit recommendations in Auditor-General’s Reports to Parliament. There are many cases of good practice. For example, some agencies formed a steering committee and developed a detailed plan to implement recommendations. Another incorporated the implementation of recommendations into both its business plan and the work plans of individual officers who were managing projects. Most agencies also used their Audit and Risk Committees to monitor recommendations.
 
We found some cases where agencies can improve how they coordinate actions to address recommendations. Most agencies were not revisiting these actions to determine whether they remain appropriate.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #254 - released 24 June 2015