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Reports

Published

Actions for Internal Controls and Governance 2017

Internal Controls and Governance 2017

Finance
Education
Community Services
Health
Justice
Whole of Government
Asset valuation
Compliance
Cyber security
Information technology
Internal controls and governance
Project management
Risk

Agencies need to do more to address risks posed by information technology (IT). Effective internal controls and governance systems help agencies to operate efficiently and effectively and comply with relevant laws, standards and policies. We assessed how well agencies are implementing these systems, and highlighted opportunities for improvement.   1. Overall trends New and

Published

Actions for Managing demand for ambulance services 2017

Managing demand for ambulance services 2017

Health
Information technology
Management and administration
Risk
Service delivery
Shared services and collaboration
Workforce and capability

NSW Ambulance has introduced several initiatives over the past decade to better manage the number of unnecessary ambulance responses and transports to hospital emergency departments. However, there is no overall strategy to guide the development of these initiatives nor do NSW Ambulance's data systems properly monitor their impact. As a result, the Audit Office was unable to assess whether NSW Ambulance's approach to managing demand is improving the effi

Published

Actions for Planning and evaluating palliative care services in NSW

Planning and evaluating palliative care services in NSW

Health
Management and administration
Service delivery
Workforce and capability

NSW Health’s approach to planning and evaluating palliative care is not effectively coordinated. There is no overall policy framework for palliative and end-of-life care, nor is there comprehensive monitoring and reporting on services and outcomes. Palliative care is an essential component of modern health care services and an increasingly important part of the wider health and social care s

Published

Actions for Passenger Rail Punctuality

Passenger Rail Punctuality

Transport
Information technology
Infrastructure
Service delivery

Rail agencies are well placed to manage the forecast increase in passengers up to 2019, including joining the Sydney Metro Northwest to the network at Chatswood. Their plans and strategies are evidence-based, and mechanisms to assure effective implementation are sound. Based on forecast patronage increases, the rail agencies will find it hard to maintain punctuality after 2019 unless the capacity of the network to carry trains and people is increased s

Published

Actions for 2016 - An overview

2016 - An overview

Education
Community Services
Finance
Health
Industry
Justice
Local Government
Planning
Premier and Cabinet
Transport
Treasury
Universities
Whole of Government
Environment
Asset valuation
Compliance
Cyber security
Financial reporting
Fraud
Information technology
Infrastructure
Internal controls and governance
Management and administration
Procurement
Project management
Regulation
Risk
Service delivery
Shared services and collaboration
Workforce and capability

This report focuses on key observations and findings from 2016 audits and highlights key areas of focus for financial and performance audits in 2017. The quality and timeliness of financial reporting continued to improve across the NSW public sector in 2016. Only one qualified audit opinion was issued and most agencies signed their financial statements on time. We found the Government’s cluster governance arrangements were unclear and inconsisten

Published

Actions for Building the readiness of the non-government sector for the NDIS

Building the readiness of the non-government sector for the NDIS

Community Services
Internal controls and governance
Management and administration
Project management
Risk
Service delivery
Shared services and collaboration
Workforce and capability

The Department of Family and Community Services has managed the risks of the transition to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in New South Wales effectively by increasing the overall capacity of the non-government sector and investing in provider capability. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a major reform that aims to change the way disability support is provide

Published

Actions for Assessing major development applications

Assessing major development applications

Planning
Compliance
Internal controls and governance
Management and administration
Risk
Shared services and collaboration

The Planning Assessment Commission (the Commission) has improved its decision-making processes for major development applications in recent years. The Commission has improved how it consults the public and manages conflicts of interest, and now also publishes records of its meetings with applicants and stakeholders. The Planning Assessment Commission (the Commission) is an independent body es

Published

Actions for Code Red: Hospital Emergency Departments

Code Red: Hospital Emergency Departments

Health
Service delivery
Shared services and collaboration

All three hospitals followed the Department of Health’s guidelines for judging capacity and had systems in place to notify hospital staff and ambulance crews of changes in status. We found discrepancies in the records kept by all three hospitals when compared to the records maintained by the Department of Health. Our view however, is that these records do not need to be a perfect match for the intended purpose, which is to guide ambulance crews to the sh

Published

Actions for Waiting Times for Elective Surgery in Public Hospitals

Waiting Times for Elective Surgery in Public Hospitals

Health
Information technology
Internal controls and governance
Management and administration
Service delivery

We recognise that managing waiting times is a difficult and complex task. Waiting times are influenced by many factors, some of which are outside the control of NSW Health. There are, however, steps which NSW Health could, and should, take to ensure that the processes to manage waiting times are efficient and effective. By all measures used by NSW Health, patients are waiting longer for elective treatment today than six or seven years ago. In March 2003

Published

Actions for Freedom of Information

Freedom of Information

Transport
Premier and Cabinet
Education
Management and administration
Regulation
Service delivery

Freedom of Information (FOI) Coordinators and their staff were supportive of the legislation. However, the agencies examined can do considerably more to fully achieve the intentions of the Act. On the positive side, all three agencies had processes in place to handle requests and had made a number of changes to improve the effectiveness of the FOI process. Fees and charges had also been kept to a minimum. No processing fees were requested in the majority