What this report is about Results of the financial statement audits of the public universities in NSW for the year ended 31 December 2022. What we found Unmodified audit opinions were issued for all ten universities. Nine universities reported net deficits in 2022, and all showed a decline from their 2021 results. Results were impacted by a decline in investment income and government grants. Wage remediation provisions across the universities incre

This audit assessed how effectively NSW government agencies procure and manage consultants. It examined the role of the NSW Procurement Board and NSW Procurement (a unit within NSW Treasury) in supporting and monitoring agency procurement and management of consultants. The audit used four sources of data that contain information about spending on consultants by NSW government agencies, including annual report disclosures and th

This audit assessed the effectiveness of the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) and local councils in planning and managing equipment for bushfire prevention, mitigation, and suppression. What we found The RFS has focused its fleet development activity on modernising and improving the safety of its firefighting fleet, and on the purchase of new firefighting aircraft. There is limited evidence that the RFS has undertaken strategic f

Sydney Metro is Australia’s largest public transport project. It requires the acquisition of many private properties, including residential and business properties. This audit assessed the effectiveness of the acquisition of private properties for the Sydney Metro project. The audited agencies were Sydney Metro, the Department of Planning and Environment (Valuer General NSW) and Transport for NSW (the Centre for Property Acquis

Cyber Security NSW is part of the Department of Customer Service, and aims to provide the NSW Government with an integrated approach to preventing and responding to cyber security threats. This audit assessed the effectiveness of Cyber Security NSW's arrangements in contributing to the NSW Government's commitments under the NSW Cyber Security Strategy, in particular, increasing the NSW Government's cyber resiliency. The audit as

The Bushfire Local Economic Recovery (BLER) program was created after the 2019–20 bushfires, and commits $541.8 million to bushfire affected areas in New South Wales. It is co-funded by the Commonwealth and NSW governments. This audit assessed how effectively the Department of Regional NSW (the department) and Resilience NSW administered rounds one and two of the BLER program. These rounds were: Round one: early co-funding, spl

Results of the Treasury cluster agencies' financial statement audits for the year ended 30 June 2022. The results of the audit of the NSW Government's consolidated Total State Sector Accounts (TSSA), which is prepared by NSW Treasury, are reported separately in our report on 'State Finances 2022'. What we found Unmodified audit opinions were issued on all 30 June 2022 general purpose financial statement audits. Qualified audit

Results of the 2021–22 consolidated General Government Sector (GGS) and Total State Sector (TSS) financial statements audits. What we found The Independent Auditor’s Report on the 2021–22 GGS and TSS financial statements was modified with a limitation of scope and also contained an emphasis of matter. The opinion in the TSS Independent Auditor’s Report was modified with a limitation of scope on certain balances consolidated i

This audit assessed the effectiveness of NSW Government agencies’ coordination of the response to COVID-19, with a focus on the Delta variant outbreak in the Dubbo and Fairfield Local Government Areas (LGA) between June and November 2021. We audited five agencies - the Department of Premier and Cabinet, NSW Health, the NSW Police Force, Resilience NSW and the Department of Customer Service. The audit also considered relevant pl

This report analyses the internal controls and governance of the 25 largest agencies in the NSW public sector, excluding state-owned corporations and public financial corporations, for the year ended 30 June 2022. What we found Internal control trends The proportion of control deficiencies identified as high-risk this year increased to 8.2% (5.9% in 2020–21). Sixteen of the 23 high-risk findings related to financial controls