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Reports

Published

Actions for Administrative arrangements

Administrative arrangements

Universities
Internal controls and governance
Management and administration
Service delivery

The Audit Office is of the opinion that cost of administration at the University of Western Sydney is unnecessarily high and could be reduced. In addition, its approach to administration can place barriers in the way of potential students and other users of the University. To its credit, the University has recognised that administrative costs are high and is developing plans to reduce those costs. The Audit Office considers that there is now an urge

Published

Actions for Complaints and review processes

Complaints and review processes

Justice
Management and administration
Service delivery

The Audit Office found no evidence that the Office of the Protective Commissioner (OPC) or the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) decisions in respect of cases reviewed were flawed, but areas needing improvement were identified.  Currently there is no simple, inexpensive external appeal mechanism available to challenge or review decisions of OPC/OPG. Appeals are available to the Supreme Court. However, this seems to be widely regarded as intimidat

Published

Actions for Management of Court waiting times

Management of Court waiting times

Justice
Management and administration
Service delivery

The audit found that the court system in NSW does not possess a comprehensive management framework and, with some exception in relation to the District Court, there is a distinct lack of any reporting system in a management sense. There is little evidence of realistic objectives, forward plans, or clear definition of responsibilities for performance, and there have been few reviews of performance. There is no assessment of waiting time performance in rel

Published

Actions for Key performance indicators: Government-wide framework, Defining and measuring performance (better practice principles) and Legal Aid Commission case study

Key performance indicators: Government-wide framework, Defining and measuring performance (better practice principles) and Legal Aid Commission case study

Whole of Government
Management and administration

A lot of groundwork has been done in NSW to move towards improved performance accountability through the use of key performance indicators (KPIs). Recent initiatives have focussed attention on improving the quality and consistency of performance measurement. This audit concludes that, taken overall, NSW has a considerable array of performance information publicly reported. However, there are two substantial deficiencies with present arrangements, these b

Published

Actions for The school accountability and improvement model

The school accountability and improvement model

Education
Internal controls and governance
Management and administration

The Audit Office is of the view that the intention to achieve greater accountability for, and transparency in, public school performance is highly commendable. To date, these provisions have not been imposed by the Government on private schools even where public funds are provided to such schools. The model however has fallen short of its potential because the reporting protocols allow principals and self-evaluation committees the scope to determine wha

Published

Actions for The Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games - Review of estimates

The Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games - Review of estimates

Treasury
Financial reporting

The Olympic Coordination Authority (OCA) has made a concerted and commendable effort in preparing the Games Budget within the definition of expenditure for the Games approved by the Government. OCA has also effectively used the definition of cost to control claims made by government agencies against the estimates to host the Games. However, because the Games Budget was prepared in accordance with that definition, the Games Budget arguably does not captu

Published

Actions for Sale of the TAB

Sale of the TAB

Treasury
Internal controls and governance
Procurement

The Audit Office is of the opinion that: the sale was delivered with reasonable efficiency and effectiveness the sale yielded a satisfactory return to the NSW Government. The possibility for a higher return was limited to about 2% to 4% on gross proceeds of $936m. It would have required setting a higher share price for all investors and adopting a more flexible approach to share allocation the Government’s objective to promote community an

Published

Actions for Department of state and regional development: Provision of industry assistance

Department of state and regional development: Provision of industry assistance

Industry
Internal controls and governance
Management and administration

Guidelines for staff are available for each of the three schemes, but they do not yet provide staff with sufficient information on how to attract proposals, undertake assessments, negotiate agreements and monitor assistance. Some training of staff responsible for assessing proposals, negotiating agreements and monitoring outcomes has been provided, but needs to be enhanced. In particular, The Audit Office believes that there is insufficient guidance for

Published

Actions for NSW Senior Executive Service: Professionalism and Integrity Volume 1 Part 1 Summary and Research Report

NSW Senior Executive Service: Professionalism and Integrity Volume 1 Part 1 Summary and Research Report

Premier and Cabinet
Internal controls and governance
Workforce and capability

The Audit Office is of the opinion that there are several features of the current Senior Executive Service (SES) model, or its application, which hinder the capacity of the SES to operate effectively in line with the Government’s stated objectives. The ultimate effect of these features is to reduce the capacity or perceived capacity of the SES to meet the Government’s objectives for the operation of the SES. Taken overall, difficulties in the SES i

Published

Actions for NSW Senior Executive Service: Professionalism and Integrity Volume 1 Part 2 SES Research

NSW Senior Executive Service: Professionalism and Integrity Volume 1 Part 2 SES Research

Premier and Cabinet
Internal controls and governance
Workforce and capability

This Performance Audit Report, prepared by the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) on behalf of The Audit Office of New South Wales (NSW), is a study of the NSW Senior Executive Service (SES). It found the dissonance between where optimal executive performance might take place on a performance spectrum, encompassing the formal SES and less formal political arenas, is canvassed. The critical point here is that this arena, between the informal politica