25 June 2003

MAINLY GOOD NEWS IN AUDITOR GENERAL'S PUBLIC SECTOR PERFORMANCE REPORT, BUT SOME CONCERNS REMAIN

A wide-ranging audit of the management of marine safety and sea search and rescue in WA has found that significant steps have been taken in recent years to enhance marine safety and that WA has a better marine safety record than the majority of other Australian States… however, the audit also identified a number of flaws in the system that will need to be promptly addressed.

The findings are contained in WA Auditor General Des Pearson's first Public Sector Performance Report for the year, tabled in State Parliament today, that also covers audits of the regulation of the taxi and small charter vehicles industries, and internet security at Government agencies.

Whilst commending the advances made in enhancing marine safety Mr Pearson raises a raft of concerns, however noting that the Department of Planning and Infrastructure which is largely responsible for the management of marine safety in WA had acknowledged those concerns and had committed to actively and expeditiously resolving them. Among the concerns raised were:

• Parts of WA's marine safety regulations are outdated (including standards for modern vessel construction and qualifications of pilots and marine surveyors) and that a Bill to modernise the legislation lapsed in 2000.
  
• Due to resource constraints there has been a 21% reduction in on-water safety inspections of commercial vessels since 2000-01, with no on-water checks conducted north of Geraldton or south of Geographe Bay.
  
• Whilst nearly $1 million has been spent on marine safety education campaigns in the last two years, no benchmarks have been set, or attempts made, to measure their effectiveness.
  
• Many serious marine incidents were not being reported, whilst the process for reporting and investigating marine incidents, and any subsequent issuing of cautions and infringements, was inconsistent with blurred accountability due to a lack of standing procedures and documented decisions - for example there was no documented investigation of a reported 'near drowning' of eight children in 1999 on a day charter, however there was an investigation of a collision between two recreational vessels with no injuries and no serious vessel damage was reported.
  
• 40,000 hours is necessary to train sea search and rescue volunteers to meet current desired skill levels.
  

The overall situation in regard the taxi industry was found to be similar, with Mr Pearson noting that most aspects of the taxi industry are being adequately administered with considerable progress made over the past few years.

However, some issues were identified which the Department of Planning and Infrastructure (DPI) has committed to addressing. These included:

• Planning and the monitoring and assessment of compliance with driver and vehicle standards need improvement, particularly for the country taxi industry where little monitoring is done.
  
• DPI does not enforce the requirement for taxi operators to work a minimum number of hours during peak periods, instead managing passenger demand by issuing more taxi plates - however excess demand appears to exist and audit testing indicates that drivers are not working the minimum hours, contributing to longer waiting times for the public. Testing of 170 taxis operating during Friday/Saturday or Saturday/Sunday nights in October 2002 indicated that 72% of conventional taxis, 83% of multi-purpose taxis and 87% of peak-period metropolitan plates appeared to start after or finish before the required start and finish times.
  
• Monitoring of the Small Charter Vehicle industry is minimal compared to the taxi industry because of fewer regulatory requirements and little assurance can be given that licence and operating conditions are being met; the most notable differences that potentially impact on public safety being the absence of aptitude and psychological assessment, photographic driver identification, and a register of current SCV drivers.

The audit of the Government's internet gateway (ServiceNet) found that the security infrastructure was generally sound though opportunities did exist to improve ongoing security; and that internet related risks could be reduced in at least one third of the 46 agencies connected to the internet through ServiceNet by them more fully utilising ServiceNet's security features.

Commenting today on the report Mr Pearson said he was satisfied with the overall outcomes.

"The three audits contained in this report all identified that the underlying systems and processes involved are generally sound; this is a pleasing result for which the agency staff and management should be recognised," he said.

"The audits did identify opportunities for improvement and again I'm pleased to note that in a number of cases work to bring this about commenced during the course of the audit and that the agencies concerned have committed to actively and promptly address the concerns I have raised."

Ends/.

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