New South Wales has over 180,000 km of roads across its network. Local councils manage over 85% of these roads.

This audit will consider how effectively three councils are managing their road assets. The audit will examine whether the selected councils have a strategic framework in place for road assets, have effective data and systems for managing road assets and whether they manage their road assets in line with planned service levels and quality outcomes.  

The councils selected for this audit are Gwydir Shire Council, Wollondilly Shire Council and Clarence Valley Council.

The audit will also consider relevant guidance and support provided to councils by the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure.

Local Health Districts in New South Wales create, collect and maintain patient data, including sensitive personal information. Cyber security incidents can harm service delivery and may include the theft of information, denial of access to critical technology, or even the hijacking of systems for profit or malicious intent.

This audit may examine the effectiveness of Local Health Districts in safeguarding patient data and ensuring data security, including how well LHDs ensure they have effective cyber security measures in place.

Objective

This audit will assess the efficiency and effectiveness of ambulance services in regional New South Wales.  

Estimated tabling period

June 2024

Agencies audited

• Ministry of Health
• NSW Ambulance
• Murrumbidgee Local Health District
• Southern NSW Local Health District 

Audit background

Under the NSW Government Advertising Act 2011, the Auditor-General is required to conduct a performance audit of at least one government advertising campaign each year.

We have selected two Transport for NSW road safety campaigns in 2022-23. The campaigns are ‘Don’t trust your tired self’ and ‘Saving lives on country roads’.

Audit objective

This audit will assess whether the selected campaigns were carried out effectively, economically, and efficiently, and in compliance with the Government Advertising Act 2011, the Regulation, other laws, and the Government Advertising Guidelines.

Estimated tabling period

Estimated late June 2024

Agencies audited

Transport for NSW and Department of Customer Service

Transport for NSW enters into contracts private companies to operate bus services.

This performance audit will assess the effectiveness of bus service contract planning, management, and enforcement. It will examine whether contracting has delivered the expected improvements in bus services for citizens, and whether Transport for NSW is effectively managing private operator performance, utilising data analytics.

NSW transport agencies have been acquiring rollingstock for the new inner-city fleet, regional fleet and for Metro rail, with individual contracts with the private sector valued more than $2 billion.

In this audit we will assess the effectiveness of agencies in planning and management the procurement of rollingstock, as well as value-for-money. We will also consider if lessons learnt from the Tangara and Millennium train acquisitions has been put into practice.

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 areas' and outlines the approach to achieving improvements in each of these. Aboriginal Affairs NSW, a unit within the Department of Premier and Cabinet, is leading this work.

This audit will focus on Aboriginal Affairs NSW’s approach to, and progress in implementing, the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. This may include its approach to partnerships and communication, governance and accountability for outcomes.

Each year approximately 200,000 patients have elective procedures/surgery in New South Wales public hospitals. Patients are placed on a waiting list and given a clinical priority depending on the seriousness of their condition. Managing elective surgery patients and waiting lists is a key priority for the NSW Government and NSW Health.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were temporary suspensions of non-urgent elective surgeries to ensure there was sufficient staffing and hospital bed capacity in New South Wales to meet COVID-19 related demand. This audit may examine how NSW Health manages the public elective surgery waitlist, and could include a focus on the impact on patient health caused by the suspension of elective surgery during COVID-19.

Virtual health care, also known as telehealth, safely connects patients with health professionals to deliver care when and where it is needed. It complements face-to-face care. The COVID-19 Recovery Plan details a range of NSW Government recovery responses including a planned focus for NSW Health that involves a further rollout of digitization and virtual services across the state. Virtual health care services received a major boost during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Patients and clinicians embraced the service with a 700 per cent increase in February to May 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. This audit may examine the use of virtual care services, where clinically appropriate, and NSW Health’s focus on sustainably embedding the virtual care model.

New South Wales has experienced periods of high demand for ambulance services in metropolitan areas and ambulance services have needed to meet surges in demand. New South Wales has implemented strategies to manage its emergency responses, including the Sydney Ambulance Metropolitan Infrastructure Strategy that aims to reshape operations in metropolitan Sydney, transforming the majority of the 43 ambulance stations in the area into a network of NSW Ambulance superstations. This $184 million program has created ambulance hubs that are supported by smaller, standby stations called Paramedic Response Points. This audit could assess impacts of this and other strategies in meeting demand for ambulance services and improving ambulance response times.