Reports
Actions for Volume Three 2015 Members' Additional Entitlements
Volume Three 2015 Members' Additional Entitlements
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.
Actions for Implementing performance audit recommendations
Implementing performance audit recommendations
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 ag
Actions for Government advertising 2015
Government advertising 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 #2
Actions for Large construction projects
Large construction projects
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
Actions for Country towns water supply and sewerage program
Country towns water supply and sewerage program
The Country Towns Water Supply and Sewerage Program has effectively promoted adoption of better management practices by local water utilities, but will not achieve its objective of eliminating the water supply and sewerage infrastructure backlog in urban areas of country NSW. The $1.2 billion Program aims to help local water utilities provide appropriate, affordable, cost effective and well-managed water supply and sewerage services in the urban a
Actions for Managing length of stay and unplanned readmissions in NSW public hospitals
Managing length of stay and unplanned readmissions in NSW public hospitals
NSW Health has achieved considerable success over recent years in reducing average length of stay despite increasing pressure on hospital admissions by older and chronically ill patients. This success has been driven by changes in the way health services are delivered, such as the increasing use of same day care for treatments that previously required overnight hospital stays. There is a good level of length of stay information available and
Actions for Areas of focus from 2014
Areas of focus from 2014
The 2014 audits showed that the quality and timeliness of financial reporting have continued to improve. However, many agencies do not have financial sustainability indicators that provide early warning of management issues, such as an inability to meet financial obligations. Weaknesses were identified in information security, management of leave balances, asset management and internal controls. Governance issues and gaps in performance informat
Actions for Security of critical IT infrastructure
Security of critical IT infrastructure
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
Actions for WestConnex: Assurance to the Government
WestConnex: Assurance to the Government
This audit assesses the assurance provided to the NSW Government for the initial stages of the WestConnex project. The audit examined the WestConnex project from concept development to the pre-tender phase for Stage 1A – M4 (Parramatta to Homebush Bay). It did not examine the merit of the project or whether it represented value-for-money. This audit found a number of shortcomings with the governance of the WestConnex project during its early stages and
Actions for Volume Twelve 2014 Health
Volume Twelve 2014 Health
The quality of financial statements in the health cluster continues to improve with significantly fewer misstatements. The financial statements of all cluster agencies received unqualified audit opinions. Health has maintained or bettered its emergency triage performance and the percentage of patients admitted for elective surgery within clinically appropriate timeframes has improved.