Reports
Actions for Planning and Environment 2016
Planning and Environment 2016
Auditor-General, Margaret Crawford released a report on the planning and environment cluster today, concluding that the quality of financial reporting is improving. However, the cluster can improve its financial controls and governance framework.
Actions for Implementation of the NSW Government’s program evaluation initiative
Implementation of the NSW Government’s program evaluation initiative
The NSW Government’s ‘program evaluation initiative’, introduced to assess whether service delivery programs achieve expected outcomes and value for money, is largely ineffective according to a report released today by NSW Auditor-General, Margaret Crawford.
Government services, in areas such as public order and safety, health and education, are delivered by agencies through a variety of programs. In 2016–17, the NSW Government estimates that it will spend over $73 billion on programs to deliver services.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #277 - released 3 November 2016
Actions for Monitoring food safety practices in retail food businesses
Monitoring food safety practices in retail food businesses
New South Wales has a lower rate of foodborne illness than the national average. This reflects some good practices in the NSW Food Authority’s approach to monitoring food safety standards. It also is a factor of the long-standing commitment by local councils’ to ensuring retail food businesses meet these standards.
To ensure foodborne illness remains low, the Authority needs to better monitor its arrangements with councils which inspect retail food businesses on its behalf, and receive additional and more timely information from councils on compliance with food safety standards.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #274 - released 15 September 2016
Actions for Areas of focus in 2015
Areas of focus in 2015
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.
Actions for Realising the benefits of the Service NSW initiative
Realising the benefits of the Service NSW initiative
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
Actions for Administering Domestic Waterfront Tenancies
Administering Domestic Waterfront Tenancies
The audit’s overall conclusion is that Lands and Maritime are broadly achieving outcomes consistent with the IPART report on administering domestic waterfront tenancies. But a lack of collaboration between the agencies is contributing to poor customer service. Inconsistencies with the IPART report recommendations and operational differences between the two agencies result in different rents and conditions for tenants in the two agencies. The differences are having a significant impact on customer service.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #191 - released 23 September 2009
Actions for Environmental Grants Administration
Environmental Grants Administration
We found many aspects of good grants management, particularly in the Trust. All of the programs we looked at are clearly aligned to the Government’s objective to improve environmental outcomes. The Trust also has good practices for allocating grants. Performance in respect of results was mixed although many grants delivered tangible benefits - homes were protected from floods, degraded waterways restored and endangered habitats protected.
Generally we found that while both Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water and the NSW Environmental Trust had a range of strategies to monitor grants these were not always applied consistently or effectively. Grant programs need to be regularly evaluated to see what is working and what can be done better.
Parliamentary reference - Report number #190 - released 26 August 2009