❓ A WA parliamentary question reveals that agencies within the Minister's portfolio (Regional Development, Lands) have not fallen victim to recent scams. Agencies outline existing measures to prevent future losses.
AnsweredQoN 5843Legislative Assembly
Asked
14 September 2016
Member
Portfolio
Regional Development; Lands; Minister Assisting the Minister for State Development
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the online news article published by the ABC online on 17 August 2016 in relation to scammers stealing $500,000 from West Australian businesses over the past two years as reported by the Department of Consumer Protection, and I ask: (a) have any WA Government agencies within the Minister’s
portfolio of responsibility fallen victim to these scams over the past two
years; (b) if
so which agencies have been impacted; (c) for each agency impacted, what was the nature of, and the
dollar amount lost in connection to each scam; (d) have
criminal charges been laid against any persons or entities in connection to
these scams; and (e) what
measures have you taken to ensure that public funds are not lost to scammers
via WA Government agencies?
portfolio of responsibility fallen victim to these scams over the past two
years; (b) if
so which agencies have been impacted; (c) for each agency impacted, what was the nature of, and the
dollar amount lost in connection to each scam; (d) have
criminal charges been laid against any persons or entities in connection to
these scams; and (e) what
measures have you taken to ensure that public funds are not lost to scammers
via WA Government agencies?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
8 November 2016
Responded by
Minister for Regional Development; Lands; Minister Assisting the Minister for State Development
Response time
55 days
DEPARTMENT OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
(a) No
(b) – (d) Not applicable
(e) The Department of Regional Development (DRD) has in place several purchasing and payable control procedures to assist in mitigating the risk of public funds being lost to scammers. These control measures are regularly audited by DRD’s internal auditors and the Office of the Auditor General to ensure compliance with the statutory requirements including the Financial Management Act 2006, Treasurers Instructions as well as better practices.
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS
(a) No
(b)-(d) Not Applicable
(e) The Department of Lands reviewed its systems and financial management controls including communicating to key staff the warnings issued by the Department of Commerce in relation to scammers target areas to ensure that public funds are not lost to scammers.
LANDCORP
(a) LandCorp has not fallen victim to these scams over the past two years.
(b)-(d) Not Applicable
(e) LandCorp has robust finance payment processes that limit the risk of fraudulent activity including:
LANDGATE
(a) Nil
(b) Not Applicable
(c) Not Applicable
(d) Not Applicable
(e) Landgate ensures appropriate internal controls relating to payments are in place and that relevant Treasurer's Instructions, policies and procedures are strictly adhered to. Landgate is continually scanning the external environment and has recently tightened controls and further strengthened its policy regarding updates to its Supplier Details database.
GASCOYNE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a)-(d) No
(e) No direct measures. Indirect measures include sound financial management practices to ensure incurring, certifying and authorising of payments cannot be undertaken by a single staff member. This results in high level oversight prior to payment of invoices.
GOLDFIELDS ESPERANCE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a) No
(b)-(d) Not Applicable
(e) GEDC endeavours to ensure that public funds are not lost to scammers through the following;
GREAT SOUTHERN DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a) No
(b) Nil
(c) Nil
(d) Not applicable
(e) GSDC has strict procedures and policies in place for financial, IT and administration to ensure:-
i. Email attachments from unknown parties are forwarded to IT support if legitimacy concerns arise.
ii. No GSDC staff members have the capacity to transfer funds from the GSDC bank account. All payments must be accompanied by an invoice and are processed by the Department of Regional Development.
iii. All new suppliers or suppliers where bank details are amended are required to complete and sign a supplier creation form which is remitted to Department of Regional Development for processing and due diligence checks.
iv. Incoming Invoices are matched to appropriate purchase request forms (signed by recommending, incurring and certifying officers). The payment requests and invoice are submitted to the appropriate officers for confirmation and final approval prior to payment.
KIMBERLEY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a) No
(b)-(d) Not Applicable
(e) (i) All Kimberley Development Commission staff have been advised not to
open/respond to suspicious e-mails or phone calls and seek advice from their supervisor if required.
(ii) Automated junk e-mail filtering
MID WEST DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a) No
(b)-(d) Not Applicable
(e) Mid West Development Commission has several internal control procedures to assist in mitigating the risk of scammers accessing public funds. Our internal control measures are audited by our internal auditors and the Office of Auditor General to ensure compliance with statutory requirements. From an IT perspective we have software in place to prevent unauthorised access to our systems.
PEEL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a) No
(b)-(d) Not Applicable
(e) Finance staff have been made aware of this particular scam and have been reminded to be vigilant for unusual requests to amend account information. There are already strong controls on payment processes which include division of duties whereby account payments have to be signed off by at least two members of staff. Payments are controlled against purchase orders and no payments will be made without a valid purchase order being quoted.
Bank account details are verified when suppliers are set up in the finance system. Changes to the bank account details of suppliers must always be verified with the supplier before being implemented.
PILBARA DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a) No
(b)-(d) Not Applicable
(e) No additional measures have been put in place over or above current Procurement and Financial Management policies.
SOUTHWEST DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a) No
(b) – (d) Not applicable
(e) No payments are made until goods are received. Public grant funding is underpinned by a Financial Assistance Agreement completed through a due diligence process.
WHEATBELT DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a) No
(b)-(d) Not Applicable
(e) The Wheatbelt Development Commission has financial, risk management and communication technology internal policies and procedures in place. The Commission monitors the Dept. of Commerce website to remain up to date with the nature of scams occurring at any time.
(a) No
(b) – (d) Not applicable
(e) The Department of Regional Development (DRD) has in place several purchasing and payable control procedures to assist in mitigating the risk of public funds being lost to scammers. These control measures are regularly audited by DRD’s internal auditors and the Office of the Auditor General to ensure compliance with the statutory requirements including the Financial Management Act 2006, Treasurers Instructions as well as better practices.
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS
(a) No
(b)-(d) Not Applicable
(e) The Department of Lands reviewed its systems and financial management controls including communicating to key staff the warnings issued by the Department of Commerce in relation to scammers target areas to ensure that public funds are not lost to scammers.
LANDCORP
(a) LandCorp has not fallen victim to these scams over the past two years.
(b)-(d) Not Applicable
(e) LandCorp has robust finance payment processes that limit the risk of fraudulent activity including:
LANDGATE
(a) Nil
(b) Not Applicable
(c) Not Applicable
(d) Not Applicable
(e) Landgate ensures appropriate internal controls relating to payments are in place and that relevant Treasurer's Instructions, policies and procedures are strictly adhered to. Landgate is continually scanning the external environment and has recently tightened controls and further strengthened its policy regarding updates to its Supplier Details database.
GASCOYNE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a)-(d) No
(e) No direct measures. Indirect measures include sound financial management practices to ensure incurring, certifying and authorising of payments cannot be undertaken by a single staff member. This results in high level oversight prior to payment of invoices.
GOLDFIELDS ESPERANCE DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a) No
(b)-(d) Not Applicable
(e) GEDC endeavours to ensure that public funds are not lost to scammers through the following;
GREAT SOUTHERN DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a) No
(b) Nil
(c) Nil
(d) Not applicable
(e) GSDC has strict procedures and policies in place for financial, IT and administration to ensure:-
i. Email attachments from unknown parties are forwarded to IT support if legitimacy concerns arise.
ii. No GSDC staff members have the capacity to transfer funds from the GSDC bank account. All payments must be accompanied by an invoice and are processed by the Department of Regional Development.
iii. All new suppliers or suppliers where bank details are amended are required to complete and sign a supplier creation form which is remitted to Department of Regional Development for processing and due diligence checks.
iv. Incoming Invoices are matched to appropriate purchase request forms (signed by recommending, incurring and certifying officers). The payment requests and invoice are submitted to the appropriate officers for confirmation and final approval prior to payment.
KIMBERLEY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a) No
(b)-(d) Not Applicable
(e) (i) All Kimberley Development Commission staff have been advised not to
open/respond to suspicious e-mails or phone calls and seek advice from their supervisor if required.
(ii) Automated junk e-mail filtering
MID WEST DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a) No
(b)-(d) Not Applicable
(e) Mid West Development Commission has several internal control procedures to assist in mitigating the risk of scammers accessing public funds. Our internal control measures are audited by our internal auditors and the Office of Auditor General to ensure compliance with statutory requirements. From an IT perspective we have software in place to prevent unauthorised access to our systems.
PEEL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a) No
(b)-(d) Not Applicable
(e) Finance staff have been made aware of this particular scam and have been reminded to be vigilant for unusual requests to amend account information. There are already strong controls on payment processes which include division of duties whereby account payments have to be signed off by at least two members of staff. Payments are controlled against purchase orders and no payments will be made without a valid purchase order being quoted.
Bank account details are verified when suppliers are set up in the finance system. Changes to the bank account details of suppliers must always be verified with the supplier before being implemented.
PILBARA DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a) No
(b)-(d) Not Applicable
(e) No additional measures have been put in place over or above current Procurement and Financial Management policies.
SOUTHWEST DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a) No
(b) – (d) Not applicable
(e) No payments are made until goods are received. Public grant funding is underpinned by a Financial Assistance Agreement completed through a due diligence process.
WHEATBELT DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
(a) No
(b)-(d) Not Applicable
(e) The Wheatbelt Development Commission has financial, risk management and communication technology internal policies and procedures in place. The Commission monitors the Dept. of Commerce website to remain up to date with the nature of scams occurring at any time.
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