Reports
Actions for Government Advertising 2009
Government Advertising 2009
We found that the two NSW Health campaigns had followed the required approval processes and were appropriate. We had some concerns with the two Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) campaigns. The revised Guidelines, which incorporate recommendations from earlier audit reports, are a positive step towards reducing the risk that publicly funded advertising could be used inappropriately. But there are still parts of the Guidelines that require a sub
Actions for Improving Road Safety: Heavy Vehicles
Improving Road Safety: Heavy Vehicles
The RTA (Roads and Traffic Authority) approach to detecting and enforcing heavy vehicle safety has produced mixed results. There have been overall decreases in the number of crashes and people killed and injured in crashes involving heavy vehicles between 2002 and 2007. However, the number of crashes and the number of people injured have increased between 2006 and 2007. We recognise that the RTA is unable to prevent all crashes. However, we conside
Actions for Implementing Asset Management Reforms
Implementing Asset Management Reforms
Hospitals, schools, public housing, roads, bridges, buses and trains are just some of the assets used by government in providing services to citizens. The NSW Government’s asset base is impressive in size - with a value of around $167 billion and with government plans to spend around $8 billion acquiring or replacing assets in the current year. Another $2 billion is spent each year on maintenance. Good asset management is very important to government;
Actions for In-year Monitoring of the State Budget
In-year Monitoring of the State Budget
The annual Budget is one of the most important and visible statements about a government’s financial intentions. Once a Budget is released, it is important to monitor variations from the projections it contains. This is done for two reasons - first, to ensure that individual agencies are properly managing their budget allocations and that any genuine emerging need for additional funding is met. second, to ensure that any changes to the State’s overa
Actions for Coordination of Rescue Services
Coordination of Rescue Services
Nearly 11,000 rescues are carried out each year in New South Wales, the majority involving motor vehicle accidents. In metropolitan areas we have three emergency services providing general land rescue - NSW Police, the Ambulance Service and the NSW Fire Brigades. The two volunteer services, the State Emergency Service and the Volunteer Rescue Association, generally cover the remainder of the State. Rescue arrangements in NSW are different to all other
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
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. P
Actions for Fare evasion on public transport
Fare evasion on public transport
The Audit Office is of the opinion that whilst agencies have taken steps to combat fare evasion, the current arrangements are not adequate and improvement is required. A significant number of passengers travel without paying the due fare, resulting in many millions of dollars in revenue foregone. Even when infringed, the majority does not pay the fine. To some extent it would appear to be due to the lack of a provision requiring evaders to produce valid
Actions for Management of road passenger transport regulation
Management of road passenger transport regulation
The Audit Office is of the opinion that the Department’s levels of regulatory activity in respect of road passenger transport regulation may have exceeded optimum levels. The Department’s current focus on processing activity limits the Department in achieving all of its desired outcomes. The Audit Office considers that a change in the approach to undertaking and managing road passenger transport regulatory activities would achieve better outcomes for the
Actions for NSW Police Service: Staff rostering, tasking and allocation
NSW Police Service: Staff rostering, tasking and allocation
The Police Service is in the process of undertaking a wide range of information technology and systems developments that are expected to improve the Service’s capabilities to apply intelligence information to the deployment of staff at Local Area Commands (LACs). Implementation of the current phase is to take place over the next eighteen months. The Audit Office considers that the developments are timely and when fully implemented should significantly co