Area Health Services and hospitals have developed programs which can provide clinical outcomes as good for patients as in-hospital care and can reduce the time they spend in hospital. They have operated for several years and show considerable potential. Ageing of the population, increasing costs and higher expectations of health care will continue to challenge health systems. Sometimes, unfortunately, the system struggles to cope. 

Parliamentary reference - Report number #182 - released 24 September 2008

At the time of our 2003 audit agencies were unable to measure the water quality in NSW rivers as they had not established a comprehensive and ongoing monitoring system for water quality. Agencies are now developing a monitoring system to measure the progress against the State Plan 2006 target to improve the condition of riverine ecosystems by 2015. It may not be possible to identify an overall trend in the condition of riverine ecosystems by the State Plan target date of 2015. This is because riverine ecosystems do not respond rapidly to change in the environment. A long period of time is required to collect sufficient data to establish a baseline for all indicators being used and to determine trends, particularly given the prolonged drought.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #180 - released 21 May 2008

The Authority has achieved staff reductions and salary related savings in line with targets. That said, the amalgamation was not project managed effectively. It has been slow to implement some of its key objectives against plans and the costs of the amalgamation have increased to the extent that it is unable to meet key objectives. Stakeholders are dissatisfied with the amalgamation outcomes. This dissatisfaction would have been mitigated with better communication.The Authority’s approach to implementing the amalgamation varied from that originally proposed by government. But it did not record the changed approach in an amalgamation plan.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #178 - released 3 April 2008

Both Commerce and DPI substantially achieved their stated amalgamation savings objectives as set by government. The departments are expected to achieve savings targets of about $150 million and $190 million respectively over their first four years. Our analysis indicates that there are two key factors in successful amalgamations. The first is effective early planning by departments based on clear objectives, supported by quick action. Second, significant synergies in service delivery can be achieved when departments with similar services and customers are amalgamated. The Department of Primary Industries is an example.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #175 - released 5 March 2008

In 1998 NSW Health developed Waste Management Guidelines to promote continuous improvement in waste management across the public health sector. Systematic implementation of the Guidelines was impeded in 1999- 2000 by resistance from the waste industry and transport workers. Since then, NSW Health has not actively promoted waste management in public hospitals. As a consequence Area Health Services (AHSs) and hospitals have developed separate and individual responses to waste management. This has resulted in inconsistent management of waste by public hospitals, inappropriate segregation of waste and additional costs of waste disposal.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #105 - released 10 December 2002

In our view, the agencies we studied cannot be sure that the grants they allocate align with their corporate objectives, and that program outcomes are achieved. This is mainly due to problems with grant selection and the evaluation of results. It was good to see that most of the grants programs had funding objectives which were fairly clear. But we found problems across most programs which could affect the fair and equitable selection of grants, such as, often no procedures for assessing applications, no assessment guidelines for advisory committees, often no clear rationale for assessments and poor documentation of the reasons for decisions.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #104 - released 4 December 2002

Reform of procurement in the NSW public health system is a huge, complex and difficult task. Much thought has been given to this reform. An immense amount of planning and preparatory work is required, and is apparent. In our opinion, at this time, the NSW public health system is making only limited progress towards achieving the economies in purchasing that its size and market dominance could deliver. While millions of dollars in savings are potentially available, much needs to be done to realise this. It is critical that all those involved, at all levels, ensure that reform is given priority, and driven through to fruition.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #102 - released 25 September 2002

The Audit Office is of the opinion that while planning, surveillance and response issues remain unresolved, the State is at significant risk from large-scale emergencies such as might occur with foot-and-mouth disease. Actions by NSW Agriculture since the Newcastle disease emergency at Mangrove Mountain in 1999 have positioned the State to manage better emergency animal diseases. Many of these actions have been pursued within the context of national agreements and programs.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #96 - released 8 May 2002

This performance audit indicates that the Service has considerable work to do to reach its aspirations of being recognised amongst leading examples of best practice services. The commitment of the Service to serving the community and the professionalism of the Service's officers is not in question. It is, however, apparent that a number of barriers to performance will need to be overcome for the Service to perform as well as it would wish.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #80 - released 7 March 2001

The Audit Office recognises that TAFE NSW has undergone significant change in the last decade in order to improve service delivery. Whilst the focus of change has been TAFE NSW's core educational role, administration has also benefited. The Quality Management Systems introduced by the Institutes are an example.

The Audit Office is of the opinion that TAFE NSW needs a means by which the efficiency and effectiveness of administrative functions can be assessed notwithstanding initiatives by certain Institutes to introduce monitoring, benchmarking and reporting of administration. In the interests of accountability, TAFE NSW requires the establishment of a common performance reporting framework for administration in each Institute and across Institutes. Along with other key result areas of TAFE NSW’s operations, a reporting framework would better able the TAFE Commission Board (the Board) to inform the Minister for Education, in compliance with the Act, of the efficiency and effectiveness of the administrative functions.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #79 - released 6 February 2001