4 May 2005
AUDITOR GENERAL'S REPORT PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON PUBLIC SECTOR PERFORMANCE, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, AND LEGISLATIVE COMPLIANCE ISSUES
From disquiet over unauthorised software at government agencies, questions about the operation of associations and charities, to concerns regarding the reporting to Parliament of agency use of consultants, WA Auditor General Des Pearson’s first Public Sector Performance Report for 2005 details a disparate range of performance, financial management, and legislative compliance issues across the public sector.
The report, tabled in Parliament today, covers:
- Software Licensing
- Regulation of Incorporated Associations and Charities
- The Use of Consultants
- Management of Leave Liability
- A performance examination of “Environmental Assurance on Agricultural Research Stations”
Key findings in this report include:
Software Licensing
In assessing software management at a sample of four agencies, Mr Pearson found that:
- All four agencies had unauthorised software installed – this being inconsistent with government policy and Commonwealth legislation, and creating the risk of legal action by vendors.
- All four agencies could have purchased software more economically, with potential savings on just one product range across the agencies estimated at $155,000.
Regulation of Incorporated Associations and Charities
- The Department of Employment and Consumer Protection (DOCEP) does not know how many of WA’s 18,000 registered associations are still operating; but evidence suggests that at least a third may not be.
- Legislation governing associations does not require annual reporting to DOCEP, thus the Department has only a limited capacity to ensure associations are operating legitimately and in accordance with the legislation.
- Legislation governing charities is not clear about the accountability information that must be submitted – with the consequence that charities often provide only limited accountability information to DOCEP about how their donations are used.
The Use of Consultants
The cost of consultancies is reported by agencies to the Department of the Premier and Cabinet (DPC) for consolidation and reporting to Parliament, in accordance with a 1994 Premier’s Circular. The Auditor General found:
- Services are being included in individual agency reports that do not fit the Premier’s Circular definition of consultants – testing of 405 consultancies reported for the six months to June 2003 indicated that 60% fitted the definition, whilst 27 per cent did not. Assessment of the remaining 13% could not be made as the agency reports gave insufficient description of the service.
- DPC has since 1996 used a narrower definition of a consultant than that in the Premier’s Circular when collating individual agency reports into the whole-of-government report to Parliament – of the 405 consultancies worth $11.5 million reviewed for the June 2003 reporting period, DPC only accepted and reported 85 (21%) worth $5 million. No authority for applying the narrower definition was available.
- Agencies are generally not meeting the four-week timeline for reporting consultancies to DPC – 36%of agencies took eight weeks or more for the period ending June 2004. The last report to Parliament on the use of consultants was for the period ending June 2003 and was tabled on March 10, 2004 – assessment since 2000 shows that on average these reports have been tabled 12 months after the period to which they relate.
Management of Leave Liability
- Since June 2000, average leave accrual across the public sector has fallen from 11 weeks to 10.5 weeks – this comprises long service leave which has fallen from 7.4 to 6.3 weeks and annual leave which has increased from 3.6 to 4.2 weeks.
Performance Examination: “Environmental Assurance on Agricultural Research Stations”
- The Department of Agriculture has reasonable assurance strategies to demonstrate research outputs and station produce are safe and clean.
- These strategies are not designed to provide an assurance that the environmental condition of the stations is sustainable in the longer term.
Ends/.
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