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

Overall, the NSW Police Force’s approach to managing injured officers since 2006 is appropriate, focusing on notification and early intervention and the development of successful return to work plans. Early intervention and return to work are the key factors in successfully managing injured officers and reducing the cost of workplace injuries. The Force has not done this well in the past. Through the establishment of the safety command, the Force has built a framework for managing injured officers that should optimise early return to work.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #184 - released 10 December 2008

During the course of the audit we were impressed by the dedication and efforts of teachers in NSW public schools, particularly when dealing with the needs of students with learning difficulties. Although NSW schools perform well nationally and internationally, NSW has a high concentration of poor outcomes in some schools and some regions. Each year a group of between 5 and 15 per cent of children are at risk of not reaching the minimum level of achievement needed to progress at school. In this group, indigenous students are over represented.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #183 - released 22 October 2008

Area Health Services and hospitals have developed programs which can provide clinical outcomes as good for patients as in-hospital care and can reduce the time they spend in hospital. They have operated for several years and show considerable potential. Ageing of the population, increasing costs and higher expectations of health care will continue to challenge health systems. Sometimes, unfortunately, the system struggles to cope. 

Parliamentary reference - Report number #182 - released 24 September 2008

In NSW alcohol-related assaults have almost doubled over the last ten years. In 2006-07 there were 20,475 alcohol-related assaults excluding domestic violence incidents, up from 10,305 in 1997-98. In fact, the number of these assaults is increasing at a faster rate than total assaults. Incidences of alcohol-related malicious damage and offensive conduct have also increased, rising by 87 and 70 per cent respectively. Working with hotels and clubs to reduce alcohol-related crime, however we found that the number of alcohol-related assaults has reduced or stabilised in the last two years in about 14 per cent of Police local area commands.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #179 - released 23 April 2008

The Authority has achieved staff reductions and salary related savings in line with targets. That said, the amalgamation was not project managed effectively. It has been slow to implement some of its key objectives against plans and the costs of the amalgamation have increased to the extent that it is unable to meet key objectives. Stakeholders are dissatisfied with the amalgamation outcomes. This dissatisfaction would have been mitigated with better communication.The Authority’s approach to implementing the amalgamation varied from that originally proposed by government. But it did not record the changed approach in an amalgamation plan.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #178 - released 3 April 2008

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) prosecutes the most serious criminal cases on behalf of the people of New South Wales. The ODPP says it is efficient. We acknowledge that the ODPP has many skilful and committed staff who work very hard to achieve good results for the people of NSW. It could not, however, provide sufficient evidence for us to reach a conclusion on its efficiency. We also identified some significant opportunities for the ODPP to improve its management practices.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #177 - released 26 March 2008

The Department of Education and Training including TAFE NSW is faced with the loss of large numbers of retiring teachers and their associated skills and the need to replace this loss in an increasingly competitive labour environment. While the overall impact of the ageing workforce is likely to be gradual, there is still a risk of shortages. This will particularly apply to specialist secondary school teachers and TAFE teachers in certain skill sets or at specific locations.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #174 - released 13 February 2008

Notwithstanding the considerable effort, it is not apparent that the Government's vision can be fully achieved without increased efforts. Based on the current position, to ensure that the Government's vision can be achieved the Audit Office is of the view that the following key issues need to be urgently addressed: 

• more robust mechanisms are needed to monitor, review and report publicly on progress and benefits

• a greater emphasis should be placed on central coordination to ensure that agencies act in a more uniform and integrated manner  

• the achievement of significant reform of business processes will require a substantial strengthening of accountability mechanisms and more comprehensive, rigorous and systematic approaches to e-government project and risk management. 

• despite an array of guidance material and support provided by central agencies, line agency needs for assistance do not seem to be being met to sufficiently advance matters across the sector at the pace and scope desired

• the Government’s e-government aspirations and funding are not always effectively harmonised. Agencies typically have limited resources available to trial or experience new technologies, and display an aversion to the associated risks.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #87 - released 19 September 2001

This performance audit indicates that the Service has considerable work to do to reach its aspirations of being recognised amongst leading examples of best practice services. The commitment of the Service to serving the community and the professionalism of the Service's officers is not in question. It is, however, apparent that a number of barriers to performance will need to be overcome for the Service to perform as well as it would wish.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #80 - released 7 March 2001