Public transport revenue decreased by 2.7 per cent despite a fare increase and increased patronage. Twenty-five per cent of all Opal trips (over 74 million) were free, including 47 per cent of trips on ferries, according to a report released today by the New South Wales Acting Auditor-General, Tony Whitfield. These trips were valued at $189 million.

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.

Roads and Maritime Services and Transport for NSW have deployed many controls to protect traffic management systems but these would have been only partially effective in detecting and preventing incidents and unlikely to support a timely response. There was a potential for unauthorised access to sensitive information and systems that could have disrupted traffic.
 
Until Roads and Maritime Services’ IT disaster recovery site is fully commissioned, a disaster involving the main data centre is likely to lead to higher congestion in the short-term as traffic controllers would be operating on a regional basis without the benefit of the Traffic Management Centre.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #248 - released 21 January 2015

Unqualified audit opinions were issued on the NSW Government controlled insurance and compensation entities’ 30 June 2013 financial statements, except the NSW Self Insurance Corporation (SICorp). SICorp’s audit opinion was qualified due to non-compliance with Australian Accounting Standards applicable to general insurance contracts. The auditor’s reports drew attention to the significant uncertainty in estimating outstanding claims liabilities of $14.0 billion in the Workers’ Compensation Nominal Insurer and $2.1 billion in the Lifetime Care and Support Authority. The audit of the Building Insurers’ Guarantee Corporation was not complete at the time of this report and is excluded from this commentary. 

This overview summarises the significant findings included in my 2012 financial audit report, volumes three to eleven, and highlights NSW agencies’ overall achievements and challenges. The overview summarises key themes and messages arising from these audits to help readers understand common findings. Agencies and their audit and risk committees can use the overview to self-assess and identify issues that may be relevant to their organisations.

It found more than 85 per cent of the recommendations in my 2011 financial audit reports to Parliament were implemented in 2012. Whilst this is less than 100 per cent, NSW government agencies clearly acted on my significant recommendations. However, NSW government agencies need to do more to follow up more detailed recommendations that are made directly to management.