Volume Five 2015 covered Premier and Cabinet agencies such as the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Office of Sport, Venues NSW, Barangaroo Delivery Authority and Infrastructure NSW.

NSW Members of Parliament, when spending their additional entitlements, generally complied with the requirements of the Parliamentary Remuneration Tribunal’s Determination for the year ended 30 June 2014.

The Sydney Allowance and Member declarations about loyalty/incentive schemes continue to be the areas where members are most likely not to follow the Tribunal’s Determination.

NSW Government agencies have sound processes for implementing performance audit recommendations in Auditor-General’s Reports to Parliament. There are many cases of good practice. For example, some agencies formed a steering committee and developed a detailed plan to implement recommendations. Another incorporated the implementation of recommendations into both its business plan and the work plans of individual officers who were managing projects. Most agencies also used their Audit and Risk Committees to monitor recommendations.
 
We found some cases where agencies can improve how they coordinate actions to address recommendations. Most agencies were not revisiting these actions to determine whether they remain appropriate.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #254 - released 24 June 2015

The Government Advertising Act 2011 requires the Auditor-General to conduct an annual performance audit to check NSW Government agency compliance with the Act.

This audit focused on the Department of Premier and Cabinet’s (DPC) role in monitoring government agencies compliance with government advertising requirements, and examined advertising campaigns run by Destination NSW and the Sydney Opera House.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #253 - released 22 June 2015

The independent assurance given to the NSW Government and sponsor agencies on the viability of large capital projects throughout their lifecycle is inadequate. Government policy is regularly not followed and not properly communicated to those responsible for implementing such policy.
 
This audit sought to test the effectiveness of the NSW capital project assurance system - which includes gateway reviews and reporting - but significant levels of non-compliance identified in our case studies prevented this. The NSW Commission of Audit also identified this issue in 2012. Gateway reviews are conducted by independent reviewers at key stages of a project’s life cycle and provide an independent assessment on a project’s readiness to proceed to the next stage.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #252 - released 7 May 2015

SDRO deals well with very high volumes and collects substantial sums of money. However, there are a number of factors which limit the effectiveness of the fine enforcement process and affect SDRO’s capacity to recover debt. SDRO is confronted with conflicting roles as both law enforcer and debt collector. As a law enforcement agency, SDRO treats all matters the same. But as a debt collector, other approaches could be pursued which would recover more outstanding dollars.

Many of the factors which inhibit SDRO’s ability to collect unpaid fines are beyond its control and require legislative change or a coordinated inter-agency response. Until these problems are fixed, the credibility of the fine enforcement process, and people’s willingness to pay outstanding fines, will continue to be undermined.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #94 - released 17 April 2002