AUDITOR GENERAL'S REPORT HIGHLIGHTS STATE'S WATER MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS

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24 September 2003

AUDITOR GENERAL'S REPORT HIGHLIGHTS STATE'S WATER MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS

WA Auditor General Des Pearson has identified serious deficiencies in the management of the State's water resources.

Mr Pearson's Second Public Sector Performance Report 2003, tabled in Parliament today, reveals that whilst there has been a doubling in demand for water over the last 15 years, funding in real terms has fallen 33 per cent in the last five years for the core water resources management operations of investigation, assessment, planning, licensing and regulation.

This situation, plus amendments to the Rights in Water Act requiring more rigorous environmental assessment and greater community consultation, has created 'major challenges' for the Water and Rivers Commission (WRC) and it is struggling to cope.

Key findings from the audit include:

WRC does not have the information needed to accurately determine the sustainable level of groundwater and surface water use in many areas of the State because its ground and surface water monitoring program has been progressively wound back.
WRC has not determined allocation limits for a significant number of water resources; however where limits have been determined, they have not always been entered into WRC's primary water management database, though licences to take water from these areas have nevertheless been issued.
Licensed water use in parts of 13 of the State's 44 groundwater management areas exceeds the estimated sustainable limit.
Only 11% of the State's 25,652 water licences have ever been checked for compliance; this lack of regular surveys meaning WRC cannot accurately assess water use and availability.
WRC has not won any of the last 25 appeals against decisions to refuse further water allocations; the Appeals Tribunal often finding that WRC's decisions lacked scientific rigour.
WRC is falling behind in its processing of water licences with the average waiting time for a licence being three months and some licences taking over nine months to process - at June 2003, over 1000 new applications were waiting to be processed whilst thousands of licences were renewed after minimal assessment.

Also contained in the Second Public Sector Performance Report 2003 are the results of two other examinations:

The Regulation of Gaming and Wagering in Western Australia.
Planning and Monitoring Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Western Australia.

The regulation of gaming and wagering audit concludes that adequate controls exist in key areas such as licensing of casino and bookmakers' employees, payment of casino tax, and TAB systems and processes.

However, there was room for improvement by the Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor in a number of areas such as their inspection program, their computerised management system and some aspects of community gaming procedures.

In relation to community gaming the report indicates a necessity for greater assurance about the conduct of games, recommending improvements to processes in approving permits and in requiring greater accountability from permit holders in relation to prizes and donations.

The review of strategic management of VET finds that the work to date undertaken by the Department of Education and Training has largely concerned the principles of a more sophisticated model for monitoring the outputs and outcomes of the State training system.

However, the report recommends that these ideas now need to be part of a broader overhaul of the planning, purchasing and monitoring of VET if the potential benefits of the initiative are to be fully realised.

The main directions recommended for the future, are:

Developing plans which recognise that the student population is not all the same but includes groups with very different motivations and aspirations.
Expanding the focus of planning and reporting to give greater emphasis to training results and post-training outcomes.
Developing the purchasing framework, mainly with TAFE colleges, to ensure that training effort is allocated to student groups in accordance with plans and targets
Making better use of enhanced performance information in planning and seeking improvements in service delivery and student completions.

Ends/.

Media Contact: Peter Villiers, Manager Reporting and Communications
Tel: (08) 9222 7558. Mobile: 0417 936 171 Fax: (08) 9322 5664
4th Floor Dumas House 2 Havelock Street West Perth