Reports
Actions for Sydney metropolitan bus contracts
Sydney metropolitan bus contracts
On 9 September 2015, the Acting Auditor-General of New South Wales, Tony Whitfield, released a report on Sydney Metropolitan Bus Service Contracts. All scheduled bus services in the Sydney metropolitan area are provided under contracts with the public and private operators. The contracts allow Transport for NSW (TfNSW) to determine what bus services are provided and to whom. This audit assessed the effectiveness of TfNSW’s design and management of
Actions for Identifying productivity in the public sector
Identifying productivity in the public sector
This report examines selected areas of government activity to see if sufficient information was available to identify and assess changes in productivity. The areas examined were primary and secondary school public education, acute inpatient care in NSW public hospitals, CityRail, the NSW Police Force, and the NSW Local Court. Productivity is commonly defined as the amount of output per unit of input. Parliamentary reference - Report number #256
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 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 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 Liverpool to Parramatta Bus Transitway
Liverpool to Parramatta Bus Transitway
Several of my recent audits have identified a need to improve our public transport system – both for the benefit of travellers and to assist in achieving better air quality. Bus Transitways can provide a good public transport solution for lower density population areas, potentially at a relatively low capital cost. This audit examines the transitway running between Liverpool and Parramatta, the first of several planned for Sydney. This audit should cont
Actions for Managing Disruptions to Cityrail Passenger Services
Managing Disruptions to Cityrail Passenger Services
About one in every twelve Sydney people travels by train each weekday. Unplanned disruptions to services are inevitable, even on the best-run railways. Because of the complexities of Sydney’s rail network, a single event can disrupt many services. From a passenger’s perspective, three issues are important – how quickly the disruption is fixed (“When will my train arrive?”) the accuracy of information provided about the disruption (“Should I change
Actions for Follow-up of Performance Audit: Bus Maintenance and Bus Contracts
Follow-up of Performance Audit: Bus Maintenance and Bus Contracts
Periodically we review the extent to which agencies have implemented the recommendations they accepted from our earlier audits. This gives Parliament and the public an update on the extent of progress made. In this follow-up audit, we examine changes following our May 2002 report on how well the: State Transit Authority maintained its buses Ministry of Transport administered contracts for the provision of regular passenger bus services. P