In 2014, the State entered into a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with a private operator to deliver the Northern Beaches Hospital. The Northern Beaches Hospital opened in late 2018 and provides free public patient services as well as a range of services for private patients. 

This audit will examine whether the Northern Beaches Hospital PPP is efficiently and effectively delivering public hospital services.  

In doing so, the audit will answer the following questions: 

1. Do NSW Health agencies ensure the effective and efficient delivery of public funded hospital services from the Northern Beaches Hospital? 
   1. Do NSW Health agencies effectively identify and monitor risks to the success of the Northern Beaches Hospital?
   2. Do NSW Health agencies collect the information required to ensure effective delivery of public hospital services at the Northern Beaches Hospital?
   3. Do NSW Health agencies effectively manage the Northern Beaches Hospital contract to ensure effective delivery of public hospital services at the Northern Beaches Hospital? 
   4. Is the Northern Sydney Local Health District using the Northern Beaches Hospital Public Private Partnership to achieve efficient service delivery? 
2. Is the operator of the Northern Beaches Hospital effectively delivering public hospital services in selected clinical areas? 
   1. Does the Northern Beaches Hospital meet contract requirements for performance, planning and reporting? 
   2. Does the Northern Beaches Hospital provide quality care consistent with equivalent public health facilities in NSW?

Included within the scope: 

• The parties to the Northern Beaches Hospital contract deed: Northern Sydney Local Health District, the Ministry of Health (as the delegate for the Health Administration Corporation) and the private sector operator, NBH Operator Co (a subsidiary of Healthscope Ltd.). 
• Comparison against benchmarks for peer or near-peer NSW Health hospitals. 
• The audit will focus on two areas of clinical activity: Emergency Department activity and General Surgery. 
• The main period of focus for this audit is from July 2022 to June 2024.

Excluded from the scope: 

• The decision to deliver the Northern Beaches Hospital via a Public Private Partnership. 
• The design and construction phases of the Northern Beaches Hospital Public Private Partnership. 
• Quality as it relates to an assessment of the specific effectiveness of clinical activities or scopes of practice. However, the audit may comment on whether the agencies have themselves adequately considered and assessed clinical evidence as part of performance monitoring and oversight of clinical services. 
• Merits of government policy objectives.

Transport for NSW (TfNSW) enters into contracts with private companies to operate bus services. In Metropolitan Sydney these contracts are worth an estimated $4.8 billion.

This performance audit will assess the effectiveness of Transport for NSW’s design and management of metropolitan Sydney bus service contracts. It will examine whether TfNSW is effectively managing the performance of contracts held by private bus companies to ensure contractual commitments are being met, with a focus on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) relating to customer experience, and whether TfNSW has designed an effective governance regime to underpin the performance management of bus contracts in metropolitan Sydney, and demonstrating that contracts are being managed to deliver value for money. 

Under Section 27B(3) (c) of the Government Sector Audit Act 1983, the Special Minister of State has requested that the Audit Office perform a recurring performance audit of emergency relief grants commencing in 2024-25. 

In accordance with the Protocol for Auditing Emergency Relief grants, the Audit Office will select particular grants processes for review.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (the Department) is responsible for regulating mines under the Mining Act 1992. This includes ensuring that mine rehabilitation works are undertaken progressively by mining lease holders. The Department oversees this function in over 6,000 mines in a range of mining sectors.

This audit will assess the effectiveness of the Department in monitoring compliance with and enforcing mining rehabilitation requirements under the Mining Act 1992 and associated regulations. 

The audit will examine whether the Department has established a framework that enables it to effectively regulate mining rehabilitation. It will also examine whether the Department effectively monitors rehabilitation progress and ensures compliance with rehabilitation requirements at NSW mines.

This report will bring together findings and recommendations from our 2023–24 financial audits of local councils. It will comment on financial reporting and performance, internal controls and governance, and areas of interest that are in focus during the conduct of our audits. During the year, we will also investigate options to analyse financial sustainability as part of our audit program of work.

This report will analyse the results of the financial statements audits of the ten NSW universities for the year ended 31 December 2024. It will comment on financial reporting and performance, internal controls and governance, and areas of interest that are in focus during the conduct of our audits.

The NSW Premier signed the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (the Agreement) on behalf of New South Wales in July 2020. The Agreement is intended to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and achieve outcomes in areas including child protection, justice, health, housing and education. The Agreement proposes an approach to implementation that focuses on genuine partnership, shared decision-making and governance.

This audit will assess the effectiveness of the governance arrangements for the implementation of the Agreement. Areas of focus will include the governance structure for overseeing the Agreement in NSW and the governance policies and processes for supporting the implementation of the agreement.

Effectiveness of Transport for NSW’s procurement of new passenger rail rolling stock

The audit will assess the effectiveness of Transport for NSW in planning and sourcing new passenger rail rolling stock under two procurement projects:

• New Intercity Fleet (or ‘Mariyung’ fleet) procurement which will deliver approximately 61 intercity train fleet replacements to service the Central Coast, Newcastle, Blue Mountains and Wollongong.
• Regional Rail Fleet procurement will deliver approximately 29 regional train fleet replacements of the XPT, XPLORER and Endeavour trains, to service regional NSW, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane.

The audit will address these questions:

• Did Transport for NSW effectively identify its business needs, including to meet government objectives, during the planning stage of the procurements and justify any variations to scope?
• Did Transport for NSW execute a procurement sourcing process that ensured probity and value for money? 

The NSW Government has implemented a range of measures that aim to minimise the harm that can arise from gambling. Gaming machines, which are mostly located in clubs and pubs in NSW, are acknowledged as the form of gambling that has the highest risk of harm. 

This audit will assess the effectiveness of the NSW Government’s approach to minimising harm from gaming machines. It will focus on areas including the implementation and regulation of harm minimisation measures.

Australian Registry Investments (trading as NSW Land Registry Services) was granted the right to operate the titling and registry operations of New South Wales in April 2017, under a 35-year concession which commenced on 1 July 2017. The NSW Government continues to own the land titles register and guarantees title under the Torrens Assurance Fund. The Office of the Registrar General regulates NSW Land Registry Services (NSW LRS) as the operator of the NSW land titles registry under a regulator-operator model. 

This audit will assess the effectiveness of the Office of the Registrar General in overseeing and monitoring the operation and maintenance of the land titles registry by a private operator to ensure the integrity and security of the registry. The audit will address the following questions: 

• Does the Office of the Registrar General ensure that appropriate measures are taken to establish, maintain and protect the integrity (including quality) and security of information held on the land titles registry?
• Does the Office of the Registrar General ensure that there are effective arrangements for responding and resolving breaches of performance standards or obligations relating to the integrity, quality or security of information held on the land titles registry?

The Office of the Registrar General is situated in the Better Regulation Division of the Department of Customer Service.

Estimated tabling date: February 2025

Department of Customer Service and NSW Treasury.