The Auditor-General for New South Wales, Margaret Crawford, released a report today reviewing the additional entitlements claimed by Members of the New South Wales Parliament (Members) under the Parliamentary Remuneration Tribunal’s Determination (the Determination).

The Auditor-General found three material instances of Member non-compliance with the Determination. The Department of Parliamentary Services has subsequently requested the three Members repay amounts incorrectly claimed.

The report also acknowledges that the Department has worked with the Tribunal to address two of the three recommendations made in the 2019 Auditor-General’s review. These are now reflected in the 2020 Determination. The Department expects to address the third recommendation in the 2021 Determination.

The Auditor General has reviewed the compliance of the Members of the NSW Parliament (Members) with certain requirements outlined in the Parliamentary Remuneration Tribunal's Determination (the Determination) for the year ended 30 June 2020.

The Auditor General's review of Members' compliance with the Determination analyses claims made by Members during the 2019–20 financial year by testing a sample of transactions. Our sample included 66 claims submitted by 43 of the 136 Members.

Results

Our review identified three instances of material non compliance with the Determination for the year ended 30 June 2020:

• one Member claimed the General Travel Allowance for the full cost of a charter flight used to both attend a family event and perform the Member's parliamentary duties instead of estimating and claiming only the cost related to the Member's parliamentary duties
• one Member claimed the Communications Allowance for the same expenditure twice
• one Member elected to repay the allowance claimed in lieu of providing evidence to support their claims. The Member claimed the Sydney Daily Allowance and advised that they did not have records to support that the purpose of the travel related to their parliamentary duties.

The Determination requires Members to maintain appropriate records of expenditure for the purpose of any audit or assurance engagements. Repeated reviews have identified Members who elect to repay the allowances claimed in lieu of providing supporting documents. Justifying a claim for an allowance with supporting documents should not rely on the Auditor-General's review. Last year, we recommended the Department of Parliamentary Services (the Department) work with the Tribunal to provide additional guidance to Members to clarify the definition of parliamentary duties, the activities that meet the definition and the requirements for retaining documents. The recommendation is currently being considered by the Department.

Our review also identified 22 other departures from the administrative requirements of the Determination:

• two Members did not make the required authorisations and attributions on a publication to claim the expenditure from the Communications Allowance
• seven reconciliations for the Sydney Allowance were submitted after the due date
• 13 Members' claims were not submitted to the Department for payment within 60 days of receipt or occurrence of the expense.

Our audit procedures identified three other departures from the Department's administrative guidelines, which support the application of the Determination. Three Members submitted their annual loyalty scheme declarations after the due date specified in the guidelines (31 July 2020). The Declaration is important because it affirms that loyalty scheme benefits accrued using the Member's parliamentary allowances and entitlements were not used for private purposes.

Background

The Parliamentary Remuneration Tribunal (the Tribunal) determines the salary and additional entitlements of Members of NSW Parliament (Members), which are set out in the Tribunal's annual Determination

Appendix one – Response from Department of Parliamentary Service

A NSW Auditor General’s Report has found that the NSW Government and its agencies grossly underestimated the cost and number of people that would install systems under the Solar Bonus Scheme.

By October 2010, the estimated cost of the Scheme, if it continued the way it was going, would have reached $3.988 billion. More than ten times the original estimate of $362 million. In response to the increased cost, the gross tariff for new applicants was reduced from 60 to 20 cents reducing the estimated cost to $1.954 billion.

It was a statutory requirement that when 50 mega watts of installed capacity was reached, the Government would review the Scheme. By the time the review was completed the installed capacity had reached 101 mega watts.