There are many public inquiries and reviews into the government’s policy decisions and administration every year. Key sources of public inquiries and reviews include parliamentary committees, the Coroner, the Ombudsman, ICAC, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission and the Auditor-General. Other sources include statutory reviews of legislation, other reviews that the government has elected to make public and, more infrequently, special commissions of inqu

Efforts to address homelessness in NSW are guided by the NSW Homelessness Strategy 2018-23. This Strategy aims to facilitate collaboration between the Government sector, non-government organisations and the community to reduce the impact of homelessness on individuals and improve outcomes for people and families. The 2018–19 Budget committed $1.0 billion for homelessness services over four years. Under the NSW COVID-19 Stage 2 stimulus in March 2020, the

Following our 2018 audit of detecting and responding to cyber security incidents, this audit will examine how effectively agencies identify and manage their cyber security risks. This will include consideration of their compliance with the NSW Cyber Security Policy that came into effect in February 2019.

The WestConnex project is a motorway project that will link the M4 and M5 motorways with 33km of new motorway tunnels in Sydney. We conducted a performance audit of the WestConnex business case review process in 2014. Since then, the scope and projects included in WestConnex have changed. This audit will assess whether Transport for NSW and Infrastructure NSW effectively assessed and justified major scope changes to the WestConnex project since December

The Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network (Justice Health) is responsible for providing health care to adults in custodial environments. In order to facilitate access to healthcare, Justice Health works with Corrective Services NSW to manage patient access to care in custodial environments along with access to healthcare in non-custodial environments such as hospitals or specialist community health services. Healthcare is also provided by pri

On 3 April 2020, the government announced the planning system acceleration program, designed to ‘cut red-tape and fast-track planning processes to keep people in jobs and the construction industry moving throughout the COVID-19 crisis.’  Between April and October 2020, the government selected 101 projects and planning proposals in six tranches and fast-tracked assessment so that determination could be achieved in four weeks.  An audit into this area will

Freight is a critical component of the New South Wales economy. It is currently estimated to be worth nearly $66.0 billion a year to the economy. The economic growth and prosperity of New South Wales depends on the safe, efficient and reliable movement of goods. The NSW Government Future Transport 2056 strategy estimates that by 2056, 12 million people will live in New South Wales, and freight volumes will double in the Greater Sydney area and increase b

The 2019–20 bushfire emergencies, and the COVID-19 pandemic have had a significant impact on the people and public sector of New South Wales. The scale of government responses to both events has also been significant and has encompassed a wide range of activities, service delivery, governance and policy. Significant resources have been directed for emergency responses, and in assisting rebuilding and economic recovery. Some systems and processes have cha

Business continuity and disaster recovery planning assists organisations to prepare for and ensure they can respond to an incident or crisis. This includes natural disasters and pandemic events like COVID-19. Ideally, business continuity plans would ensure organisations are prepared to respond effectively to the impact of incidents or crises on a wide range of areas including service delivery, safety and availability of staff, availability of IT and othe

In February 2019 the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation launched the NSW Cyber Security Policy to ensure all NSW Government Departments and Public Service Agencies are managing cyber security risks to their information and systems. The policy mandates a number of requirements that are a minimum that all agencies must implement. In addition agencies must assess their level of cyber maturity. This audit will examine whether agencies are complyi