In a report released today, the NSW Auditor-General, Margaret Crawford provides a snapshot of reported fraud in the NSW public sector and an analysis of NSW Government agencies’ fraud controls based on a survey of 102 agencies.

Overall, the peer review process provides good assurance that government advertising campaigns are necessary and cost effective, according to a report released today by the NSW Auditor-General, Margaret Crawford.

In NSW, the Government Advertising Act 2011 requires government advertising campaigns with a likely expenditure over $50,000 to be independently peer reviewed before launch. The Department of Premier and Cabinet manages this process, which includes allocating and coordinating peer reviewers to assess campaigns against the Premier’s ‘Government Advertising Guidelines’.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #276 - released 27 October 2016

In a report released today, the NSW Auditor-General, Margaret Crawford found some NSW Government agencies were not publicly releasing all the required information on contracts with the private sector, nor were they publishing it in a timely manner.

This report assessed whether 13 agencies were complying with Part 3 Division 5 of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act), relating to Government contracts with the private sector.

This report analyses the results of the financial statement audit of the Total State and General Government Sectors for the year ended 30 June 2016.

The Audit Office reviewed whether Members of NSW Parliament complied with certain requirements outlined in the Parliamentary Remuneration Tribunal’s Determination for the year ended 30 June 2015.

The review was designed to provide Parliament with limited assurance about whether a sample of 34 Members complied with the Tribunal’s Determination. The review performed was less than a full audit and not designed to detect all instances of non-compliance.

This report focuses on key observations from financial and performance audits in 2015. The findings have been broadly classified into four themes, which has informed the focus of financial and performance audits for 2016.

The current benefits realisation approach for Service NSW needs to improve so benefits and savings can be effectively measured, reported and realised, according to a report released today by the NSW Acting Auditor-General, Tony Whitfield.

Customers are finding that Service NSW provides a convenient and practical way to access all government transaction services.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #266 - released 17 February 2016

The Total State Sector Accounts for the year ended 30 June 2013 received an unqualified independent auditor’s opinion. This is the first time in over a decade the Total State Sector Accounts have not been qualified.

In looking into the resolution of qualifications:

• We obtained enough evidence supporting the value of education buildings and their depreciation expense
• Sufficent evidence has been obtained to support the existence and value of the State archives
• We obtained enough evidence supporting the completeness of land and infrastructure holdings recognised
• Improvements are still needed in the accuracy of information used to record the State’s land holdings.

The following report assessed the activities of the two agencies in relation to their government advertising campaigns in 2012-13 and tested compliance by tracking a campaign through from development to dissemination.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #236 - released 23 September 2013