What the report is about The Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW) (the Act) provides land rights over certain Crown land for Aboriginal Land Councils in NSW. If a claim is made over Crown land (land owned and managed by government) and meets other criteria under the Act, ownership of that land is to be transferred to the Aboriginal Land Council. This process is intended to provide compensation for the dispossession of land from Aboriginal people in N

What the report is about This report assessed how effectively the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) and NSW Treasury have supported state agencies to manage climate risks to their assets and services. Climate risks that can impact on state agencies' assets and services include flooding, bushfires, and extreme temperatures. Impacts can include damage to transport, communications and energy infrastructure, increases in hospital admi

In 2017, the NSW Government announced a Regional Development Framework which provides a scaffold for better coordination, decision making and effort on the ground. The NSW Government recognised the need to be more strategic and better coordinated if it is to make a difference, particularly in addressing some of the serious issues facing regional NSW such as pockets of youth unemployment, social disadvantage, changing economic opportunities and increased

What the report is about This audit assessed how effectively Transport for NSW (TfNSW) and Sydney Trains identify and manage their cyber security risks. The NSW Cyber Security Policy (CSP) sets out 25 mandatory requirements for agencies, including implementing the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s Essential 8 strategies to mitigate cyber security incidents, and identifying the agency’s most vital systems, their ‘crown jewels’.  The audited agencies h

What the report is about The report examined whether NSW Treasury, Service NSW and the Department of Customer Service effectively administered grants programs funded under the $750 million Small Business Support Fund, including: $10,000 Small Business Support Grant $3,000 Small Business Recovery Grant. What we found The agencies effectively implemented the grants within required timeframes, reflecting the NSW Government’s decision to deliver urgent f

What the report is about The report examined whether Transport for NSW (TfNSW) and Infrastructure NSW (INSW) effectively assessed and justified major scope changes to the WestConnex project since 2014. What we found NSW Government decisions to fund WestConnex-related projects outside WestConnex's $16.812 billion budget have reduced transparency and understate the full cost of WestConnex. The NSW Government's decision to separate Sydney Gateway from W

The Auditor-General for New South Wales, Margaret Crawford, has today released a report on Transport for NSW’s (TfNSW) acquisition of 4–6 Grand Avenue in Camellia. This audit, which was requested on 17 November 2020 by the Hon. Andrew Constance MP, the Minister for Transport and Roads, examined: whether TfNSW conducted an effective process to purchase 4–6 Grand Avenue, Camellia whether TfNSW has effective processes and procedures to identify and acquir

The Auditor-General for New South Wales, Margaret Crawford, released a report today examining how effectively NSW emergency response agencies address public inquiry recommendations. The audit found that agencies’ governance arrangements to address public inquiry recommendations have important and consistent gaps.  The agencies did not sufficiently verify that they had implemented accepted recommendations as intended, and in line with the outcomes sough

The Auditor-General for New South Wales, Margaret Crawford, released a report today examining the management of the One TAFE NSW modernisation program. In 2016, the Government released 'A Vision for TAFE NSW' which stated that TAFE NSW needed to become more flexible, efficient and competitive. It set out the need to progressively reduce significant cost inefficiencies, including by moving away from separate institutes to a single institute model. TAFE N

The Auditor-General for New South Wales, Margaret Crawford, released a report today examining NSW Health’s management of health and safety risks to nurses and junior doctors in high demand hospital wards over the past five years, including during the first six months of the 2020 COVID-19 health emergency. The Auditor-General found that while NSW Health effectively managed most incidents and risks to the physical health and safety of hospital staff durin