30 June 2004
AG's REPORTS PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON
PUBLIC SECTOR PERFORMANCE, FINANCIAL
MANAGEMENT, AND COMPLIANCE ISSUES
From concerns over food safety,
questions as to whether State
Agreement Acts are delivering
all their intended benefits,
to comment on the rising cost
of public servants' superannuation,
three reports from WA Auditor
General's Des Pearson tabled
in Parliament today throw the
spotlight on a diverse range
of performance, financial management
and legislative compliance issues
across the public sector.
The Second Public Sector
Performance Report 2004 covers:
- Management of Food Safety
in Western Australia by the
Department of Health
- Records Management in Government
- The Administration of Grants
- A follow-up examination of
"A Tough Assignment -
Teacher Placement in Government
Schools", tabled in October,
2000
Some key findings in this report
include:
Food Safety
Whilst acknowledging that WA
has a good food safety record
compared to other States, Mr
Pearson found that:
- The Department of Health
does not enforce the annual
food safety reporting requirements
of local governments, and thus
without consistent and meaningful
reporting the Department is
unable to provide assurance
that food safety standards
are being applied consistently
across the State.
- There is no coordinated approach
or guidance given to local
government on when, what or
how often food samples should
be tested for contamination
and despite all local governments
participating in, and paying
for, an analytical service
scheme, about 44% fail to conduct
any food sampling and analysis.
- Less than half of the 142
local governments have had
their food surveillance programs
assessed by the Department
since 1995, and assessments
have been undermined by lengthy
delays in reporting the findings
back to the local governments
and by a failure to monitor
and/or enforce implementation
of the recommendations.
Teacher Placement
- It was not possible for Mr
Pearson to conclude whether
the overall staffing of schools
has improved or deteriorated
as detailed objectives and
measures recommended in his
2000 report have not yet been
developed by the Department
of Education and Training.
Records Management
- The four agencies reviewed
were making progress towards
the implementation of good
recordkeeping practices though
some key steps still need to
be taken.
Administration of Grants
- The four agencies reviewed
were adequately managing their
grant schemes, with availability
of grant funding properly publicised,
applications impartially assessed
against clear eligibility guidelines,
and grant moneys being suitably
acquitted.
Mr Pearson's report "Developing
The State: The Management of
State Agreement Acts"
reviewed the effectiveness of
the administration of WA's 64
natural resource related State
Agreement Acts by the Department
of Industry and Resources, focussing
on the extent to which the Agreements
have achieved their main objectives.
Key findings included:
- Nearly 90 per cent of current
Agreements have delivered major
projects, however their success
in delivering supplementary
downstream processing is less
clear, and whilst the State
has had some success in using
Agreements to develop further
processing industries, benefits
such as steel mills, pulp mills,
aluminium smelters and petrochemical
industries have not yet been
realised.
- The Department has not methodically
monitored how well companies
discharge Agreement obligations
to maximise the use of local
labour, services and materials,
thus it is difficult to demonstrate
how effective Agreements have
been in encouraging companies
to maximise the use of local
content.
- Agreements provide the State
with annual royalties of about
$1 billion, however a 1995
government policy to remove
iron-ore royalty concessions,
valued in excess of $40 million
a year, has not yet been achieved.
- The Department needs to follow
a structured process to evaluate
how well Agreements are achieving
their objectives and what lessons
can be learned, and then improve
reporting to Parliament on
Agreement status and performance.
Mr Pearson further emphasised
this need for an improved system
of regular reporting to Parliament.
"Although ratified by Parliament
at inception, Agreements contain
no provisions for reporting back
to Parliament on their status
and performance," he states,
"… there is no aggregate
or analytical reporting.
"Given the importance of
Agreements to the State, there
should be regular disclosure
of Agreement status and performance
to Parliament.
"By comparison, public
companies have to comply with
continuous disclosure obligations
to meet the information needs
of their shareholders."
The report Administration
of Superannuation reviewed
how effectively the Government
Employees Superannuation Board
(GESB) administers superannuation
for public sector employees.
It finds that GESB is managing
its primary responsibilities
of investing funds and paying
benefits effectively, however,
GESB's administration costs per
member have risen 45% in the
last three years and are at the
higher end when compared with
other State public sector schemes.
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
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