Reports
Actions for Flood housing response
Flood housing response
What this report is aboutExtreme rainfall across eastern Australia in 2021 and 2022 led to a series of major flood events in New South Wales.This audit assessed how effectively the NSW Government provided emergency accommodation and temporary housing in response to the early 2022 Northern Rivers and late 2022 Central West flood events.Responsible agencies included in this audit were the Department of Communities and Justice, NSW Reconstruction Authority,
Actions for Regional, rural and remote education
Regional, rural and remote education
What this report is about Students in rural and remote areas of NSW face greater challenges compared to their metropolitan peers. This report examined how the NSW Department of Education (the department) is ensuring that rural and remote students have access to the same quality of early childhood, school education, and skills pathways as metropolitan students. What we found A decade since the previous (2013) strategy to address educational disadvanta
Actions for Planning and managing bushfire equipment
Planning and managing bushfire equipment
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
Actions for Development applications: assessment and determination stages
Development applications: assessment and determination stages
Local councils in New South Wales are responsible for assessing local and regional development applications. Most development applications are assessed and determined by council staff under delegated authority. However, some development applications must be referred to independent local planning panels or Sydney and regional planning panels for determination. Councils provide support to local planning panels. The Department of
Actions for Student attendance
Student attendance
Poor attendance at school is related to poor student outcomes, particularly once patterns of non-attendance have been established. This report examined how the NSW Department of Education (the department) is managing student attendance in NSW government schools. What we found Around a third of students in Years 1–10 attended school less than 90% of the time in semester one, 2021. Missing more than 10% of school may put a stud
Actions for COVID Intensive Learning Support Program
COVID Intensive Learning Support Program
This audit examined a state-wide program to provide small-group tuition to students disadvantaged by the move to learning from home during 2020. The audit assessed the design and implementation of the program. What we found The program design was based on research and data showing learning loss during 2020. The department rapidly planned and developed the policy design and guidelines for schools. Governance arra
Actions for Managing climate risks to assets and services
Managing climate risks to assets and services
This report assessed how effectively the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) and NSW Treasury have supported state agencies to manage climate risks to their assets and services. Climate risks that can impact on state agencies' assets and services include flooding, bushfires, and extreme temperatures. Impacts can include damage to transport, communications and energy infrastructure, increases in hospital admi
Actions for Fast-tracked Assessment Program
Fast-tracked Assessment Program
This report examines the effectiveness of the Fast-tracked Assessment Program, administered by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) between April 2020 and October 2020. The program aimed to support the construction industry during the COVID-19 crisis by accelerating the final assessment stages for planning proposals and development applications. DPIE selected projects and planning proposals f
Actions for Water management and regulation
Water management and regulation
Water regulation aims to achieve sustainable environmental, economic and social outcomes from the management of water resources, consistent with the Water Management Act 2000. Following recommendations from reviews into water theft, reforms were made to strengthen water regulation, compliance and enforcement – including the establishment of the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) in 2018. The Department of Planning and Environment shares responsibi
Actions for One TAFE NSW modernisation program
One TAFE NSW modernisation program
The Auditor-General for New South Wales, Margaret Crawford, released a report today examining the management of the One TAFE NSW modernisation program. In 2016, the Government released 'A Vision for TAFE NSW' which stated that TAFE NSW needed to become more flexible, efficient and competitive. It set out the need to progressively reduce significant cost inefficiencies, including by moving away from separate institutes to a single institute model. TAFE N