Reports
Actions for Volume Thirteen 2014 Focusing on Education and Communities
Volume Thirteen 2014 Focusing on Education and Communities
The quality of financial statements in the education and communities cluster continues to improve with fewer reported misstatements over the last three years. The financial statements of all agencies within this cluster received unqualified audit opinions. The Department of Education and Communities has 24 performance targets for early childhood through to tertiary education. Seven of these are either not being achieved or unlikely to be achieved.
Actions for Volume Twelve 2014 Health
Volume Twelve 2014 Health
The quality of financial statements in the health cluster continues to improve with significantly fewer misstatements. The financial statements of all cluster agencies received unqualified audit opinions. Health has maintained or bettered its emergency triage performance and the percentage of patients admitted for elective surgery within clinically appropriate timeframes has improved.
Actions for Volume Nine 2014 Focusing on Family and Community Services
Volume Nine 2014 Focusing on Family and Community Services
The quality of agencies’ financial statements in the Family and Community Services cluster continues to improve with the number of misstatements identified during audit steadily decreasing over the past five years. The financial statements of all cluster agencies were submitted on time and received unqualified audit opinions. Family and Community Services finds it difficult to fill all funded caseworker positions, with an average ten per cent vacancy rate for the past five years.
Actions for Volume Seven 2014 Focusing on Transport
Volume Seven 2014 Focusing on Transport
All agencies in transport cluster received unqualified audit opinions for the year ended 30 June 2014. The quality of financial reporting continues to improve with the number of misstatements identified during audits falling for the fifth year in a row.
Actions for Volume Four 2014 focusing on New South Wales State Finances
Volume Four 2014 focusing on New South Wales State Finances
For the second consecutive year, the General Government and Total State Sector Accounts received an unqualified auditor’s opinion following more than a decade of qualifications. The quality and timeliness of financial reporting across the NSW public sector has continued to improve. Compared to previous years, there were fewer errors in agencies’ 2013–14 financial statements submitted for audit and used for whole-of-government financial reporting.
Actions for Volume One 2014 - Areas of focus from 2013
Volume One 2014 - Areas of focus from 2013
Today the Auditor-General of New South Wales, Grant Hehir, released his Volume One Report to Parliament for 2014. The observations included in this report are designed to inform readers of common findings from the 2013 financial and performance audits so agencies and audit committees can use them to identify issues that may be relevant to their organisations.
Actions for Purchasing Hospital Supplies: Follow-up of 2002 Performance Audit
Purchasing Hospital Supplies: Follow-up of 2002 Performance Audit
Periodically we review the extent to which agencies have changed their practices as a result of our audits. This gives Parliament and the public an update on the extent of progress made.
In this follow-up audit, we examine changes following our September 2002 report, to assess whether NSW Health has improved its buying of hospital supplies using electronic systems.
NSW Health spends over $1.3 billion on hospital supplies. It is the largest expenditure area after employee costs. Reform of this area has the potential to make significant savings that could be redirected to frontline services.
As part of our series of audits in the area of e-government, our previous audit looked closely at the extent to which technology was being used to deliver potentially major savings in purchasing hospital supplies. This is a key area of so-called “process re-engineering” in the “e” field, and NSW Health provided an ideal case study.
Whilst implementing large-scale e-procurement has many technical aspects, it is not chiefly a technical issue. The key requirements for success reside in effective change management, in particular being clear as to who has the authority to make change decisions and be held accountable.
This audit looks at NSW Health’s successes to date, and its frustrations and challenges in making further progress in this field. Many of the issues raised in this report may provide lessons for any agency that is seeking to drive a significant change program.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #145 - released 23 November 2005
Actions for Managing Disruptions to Cityrail Passenger Services
Managing Disruptions to Cityrail Passenger Services
About one in every twelve Sydney people travels by train each weekday.
Unplanned disruptions to services are inevitable, even on the best-run railways.
Because of the complexities of Sydney’s rail network, a single event can disrupt many services.
From a passenger’s perspective, three issues are important –
- how quickly the disruption is fixed (“When will my train arrive?”)
- the accuracy of information provided about the disruption (“Should I change my travel/meeting/other arrangements?”)
- how often the disruptions occur (“Should I give up on rail travel?”).
In this audit, we looked at how well RailCorp responds when there are routine disruptions to its CityRail passenger services. We focused on how RailCorp manages passenger journeys and informs passengers.
This report informs Parliament and the community about the limitations of the current system, and what more needs to be done in order to minimise the impact of disruptions on passengers.
It should also help passengers judge the extent to which they can rely on the information they receive, and to better understand some of the obstacles faced by staff.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #139 - released 22 June 2005
Actions for Follow-up of Performance Audit: Bus Maintenance and Bus Contracts
Follow-up of Performance Audit: Bus Maintenance and Bus Contracts
Periodically we review the extent to which agencies have implemented the recommendations they accepted from our earlier audits.
This gives Parliament and the public an update on the extent of progress made.
In this follow-up audit, we examine changes following our May 2002 report on how well the:
- State Transit Authority maintained its buses
- Ministry of Transport administered contracts for the provision of regular passenger bus services.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #138 - released 14 June 2005
Actions for Emergency Mental Health Services
Emergency Mental Health Services
It is estimated that one in five people will be affected at some stage by a mental health problem or illness. The increasing prevalence of mental illness means that at some point in time most of us will either be affected or we will know of someone who is.
Although most people with mental illness can be treated in the community, at times some may require emergency treatment or admission to hospital for shortterm intensive therapy.
Not only are more mental health patients presenting to an emergency department for treatment than ever before, they are reportedly sicker and a greater number require admission to a hospital bed for further treatment. And, because of its very nature, those suffering from acute mental illness may not understand what is wrong or be able to communicate their problems clearly.
This makes access to emergency mental health services a significant issue for government that requires continuing attention.
The focus of this report is on the provision of 24-hour crisis services to adults. Emergency mental health services play a vital role in providing timely and appropriate care. Without proper treatment the severity of the illness may escalate, increasing the risk of self-harm or harm to others.
There have been many changes to mental health services over the last decade to deal with increasing demand. Much has been done to improve access to, and the quality of emergency services through significant increases in funding, the opening of new beds and the employment of more mental health staff.
Yet recent reviews have highlighted problems with accessing mental health beds and inadequate levels of psychiatric support in rural areas.
I believe that our report will provide valuable assistance to area health services on alternative models of emergency mental health care that better manage patient risk and further improve service quality.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #136 - released 26 May 2005