The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) is responsible for preventing, mitigating, and suppressing fires in rural fire districts and is the lead combat agency for bush and grass fires in the State. The NSW RFS works alongside local councils, government agencies, and other statutory fire authorities to coordinate and oversee bushfire prevention. Local councils are responsible for establishing rural fire brigades, preparing bushfire risk managemen

Aboriginal children are over-represented in the child protection system. Approximately 50% of the children in out of home care are Aboriginal, despite comprising four per cent of the population in New South Wales. The Aboriginal Case Management Policy (ACMP) and the Aboriginal Child Placement Principles (ACPP) are designed to ensure that when Aboriginal children encounter the child protection system their connections to family, kin, community, culture an

There are over 1,000 schools in rural and remote areas of New South Wales. Students in these schools have lower attendance rates, lower educational results and are less likely to successfully complete Year 12 compared to students in metropolitan schools. The Department’s Rural and Remote Education Strategy 2021–24 aims to improve student learning and wellbeing outcomes in rural and remote schools. This audit could assess the effectiveness of the departm

The NSW Premier signed the new National Agreement on Closing the Gap on behalf of New South Wales in July 2020. The objective of the Agreement is to overcome the entrenched inequality faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples so that their life outcomes are equal to those of all Australians. The NSW Government and NSW Coalition of Aboriginal Peak Organisations developed an implementation plan for 2021–22 which sets out five 'priority reform

Audit background Some government agencies have the power to compulsorily acquire private properties, including residential and commercial buildings and vacant land, for infrastructure developments. Over the past decade, this has happened for major projects including Sydney Metro, WestConnex, and light rail projects. There is a large forward program of major infrastructure projects planned for the next decade in NSW. Many of these projects will require

NSW government entities are consolidated into ten ‘clusters’ reflecting ten broad policy areas of government. The NSW Public Sector Governance Framework (February 2013) articulated the anticipated benefits from the cluster model, including: better alignment of entities to deliver key policy, business and service delivery priorities and consistent accountability and reporting relationships for entities across clusters improved administrative and financi

iCare provides workers' compensation insurance to more than 329,000 public and private sector employers in New South Wales and their 3.2 million employees. It also insures builders and homeowners, provides treatment and care to people severely injured on NSW roads, and protects more than $266.6 billion of NSW government assets, including the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, schools and hospitals. This audit will examine how effectively key

Under the NSW Government Advertising Act 2011, the Auditor-General is required to undertake a performance audit on government advertising activities undertaken by agencies in each financial year. This audit will examine selected government advertising campaigns approved and/or conducted in 2021–22.

The Digital Restart Fund was established in 2019 to accelerate whole-of-government digital transformation and enable iterative, multidisciplinary approaches to digital or information and communications technology (ICT) planning, and development and service provision. In 2020, there was $1.6 billion available in the fund. This audit will assess the governance and administration arrangements for the fund and whether it will achieve its objectives.

This audit will examine the effectiveness and integrity of the government’s identification, allocation and management of risk, with a particular focus on the project initiation, planning and development, procurement and delivery stages. Advice to government and probity will be key considerations.