Unqualified opinions were issued for all agencies audited in the following report.

Some of the reports findings include:

• Most cultural bodies rely heavily on government grants to fund services

• The Sydney Opera House Trust earns most of its revenue from commercial operations

• Less than half of the 2014-16 service agreements between HealthShare NSW and its customers have been signed. HealthShare NSW and health entities should finalise their 2014-2016 service agreements by no later than 31 January 2014

• Five service level agreements with NSW Health Pathology for 2012-13 were never signed. NSW Health Pathology and local health districts/speciality networks should finalise their 2013-14 service agreements by no later than 31 December 2013

• HealthShare NSW is committed to sharing internal audit findings across NSW Health

• The Ministry has started a long-term project to review its policy directives

• A recent review concluded the health sector has mature risk management practices

• When changes to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 occur, the Minister should identify and assess any risks from the changes and develop strategies to mitigate against them.

Unqualified audit opinions were issued on the NSW Government controlled insurance and compensation entities’ 30 June 2013 financial statements, except the NSW Self Insurance Corporation (SICorp). SICorp’s audit opinion was qualified due to non-compliance with Australian Accounting Standards applicable to general insurance contracts. The auditor’s reports drew attention to the significant uncertainty in estimating outstanding claims liabilities of $14.0 billion in the Workers’ Compensation Nominal Insurer and $2.1 billion in the Lifetime Care and Support Authority. The audit of the Building Insurers’ Guarantee Corporation was not complete at the time of this report and is excluded from this commentary. 

NSW Health has put in place initiatives to reduce the time ambulance crews have to wait at a hospital before they are able to leave and attend to other calls. Despite these actions, ambulance crews are waiting longer at NSW hospitals. Crews now wait on average nearly 32 minutes at a hospital before handing over a patient, up from about 24 minutes seven years ago.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #233 - released 24 July 2013

Waiting times for elective surgery will continue to increase if NSW Health does not improve its management of operating theatres. On the positive side NSW public hospitals are performing more elective surgery than in previous years and are treating patients substantially within national clinical timeframes. However, more operations will be needed as targets are getting tighter and demand is growing.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #232 - released 17 July 2013

The National Parks and Wildlife Service is spreading its resources too thinly, running the risk that the heritage significance of important assets will eventually be lost.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #230 - released 29 May 2013

This overview summarises the significant findings included in my 2012 financial audit report, volumes three to eleven, and highlights NSW agencies’ overall achievements and challenges. The overview summarises key themes and messages arising from these audits to help readers understand common findings. Agencies and their audit and risk committees can use the overview to self-assess and identify issues that may be relevant to their organisations.

It found more than 85 per cent of the recommendations in my 2011 financial audit reports to Parliament were implemented in 2012. Whilst this is less than 100 per cent, NSW government agencies clearly acted on my significant recommendations. However, NSW government agencies need to do more to follow up more detailed recommendations that are made directly to management.

We issued unqualified audit opinions on the transport entities’ 30 June 2012 financial statements.

Some of the findings of the report include:

• government funding to the public transport operators totalled $4.4 billion in 2011-12 ($3.7 billion in 2010-11)

• passenger services revenue only covered 20 per cent of RailCorp's operating costs

• Transport for NSW has formalised a protocol to mitigate the risk of potential conflicts of interests

• At present, no sustainability framework exists for the transport agencies around environment and sustainability. Transport for NSW should complete its Environment and Sustainability Policy Framework by June 2013 and should publicly report its results annually

• Transport patronage continued to grow with 510 million journeys on train, bus and ferry services

• CityRail had two peak hour periods where only 36 per cent and 39 per cent of services were on time

• On-time running performance for Sydney Ferries was above the NSW 2021 plan target of 98.5 per cent for most routes in 2011-12

• Customer surveys by transport agencies no longer specifically address crowding on public transport. Transport for NSW should observe and report on crowding on all transport modes

• Over 2,500 transport staff, or 8.3 per cent of the workforce, have excessive leave balances. All transport entities should do more to reduce excessive annual leave balances to ensure they will comply with new targets set by the Premier.

The Department monitors the attendance of all students who remain enrolled at government schools, and responds when these students fail to attend. For young people that have been granted an exemption from attending school, the Department monitors apprentices, trainees and those completing the equivalent of Year 10 of secondary education at TAFE. However, the Department does not monitor young people post Year 10 in full-time work or vocational education programs until they turn 17 years of age. In accordance with the law, it is a parent’s responsibility to make sure that a child is attending school or involved in an approved alternate activity until they turn 17 years of age.

Parliamentary reference - Report number #226 - released 1 November 2012

The following overview of audits from 2011 found agency restructures significantly impacted agency financial reporting processes, agencies are having difficulty establishing and enforcing compliance with their own policies and procedures, agencies experienced problems complying with regulations and providing adequate documentation to support their financial statements, the poor quality of some financial statements with 1,256 misstatements identified, 540 so significant they had to be corrected, deficiencies in information security exist across many agencies, computer system disaster recovery plans for financial systems not existing or outdated, do not align with agencies’ business recovery requirements, do not properly identify and assess critical systems and processes and testing is incomplete.

The report includes comments on his financial audits of NSW Government emergency services and law and order agencies for 2009-10. The audits of these agencies’ financial reports for the year ended 30 June 2010 each resulted in an unqualified Independent Auditor’s Report. Significant backlog in victims’ compensation claims The Department of Justice and Attorney General paid $63 million in compensation to victims of crimes but only received $4.2 million from offenders in 2009-10. Over $222 million worth of victims’ compensation claims are to be processed by the Department. The number of outstanding claims increased thirty-five per cent from 13,384 to 18,118 in 2009-10.