❓ Ms. Davies questions the Premier about a significant increase in audit qualifications, attributing it to government changes. The Premier denies this, citing COVID-19 workload, reforms following the Paul Whyte scandal, and increased resources for the Auditor General as contributing factors.
AnsweredQoN 827Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PUBLIC SECTOR — AUDITOR GENERAL'S REPORT
827. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I note the report released today,
which reveals that this government has been handed the highest number of audit
qualifications ever issued by the Office of the Auditor General.
(1) What is the
Premier's explanation for the more than quadrupling of qualified
opinions reported since 2018–19?
(2) Does the Premier now concede that his
machinery-of-government changes have undermined and stretched the public
service, leading to a very concerning and significant upward trend in
qualifications and breakdown in controls in our government departments?
827. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I note the report released today,
which reveals that this government has been handed the highest number of audit
qualifications ever issued by the Office of the Auditor General.
(1) What is the
Premier's explanation for the more than quadrupling of qualified
opinions reported since 2018–19?
(2) Does the Premier now concede that his
machinery-of-government changes have undermined and stretched the public
service, leading to a very concerning and significant upward trend in
qualifications and breakdown in controls in our government departments?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) The
answer to the last question is no. In relation to the broader question, the
Auditor General's report acknowledges
the massive additional workload the public sector is under to respond to
COVID-19, including over $9 billion in measures to respond in capital
services, recurrent spend and other initiatives that were taken across the
entire public sector.
In the wake of the Paul Whyte
corruption scandal in Housing, which occurred from 2008 to 2019, a range of significant reforms were put in place to
financial management, including improving internal governance and audit
arrangements across the public sector, ensuring the segregation of duties and
payment authorisations so the officer issuing the invoice is separate from the
officer paying the invoice; the regular rotation of accounting firms conducting
internal audits; and mandating that agencies have independently chaired audit
committees by a person external to the agency, which we brought in after the
Paul Whyte affair came to light.
In addition to that, we resourced the
Auditor General to undertake targeted forensic audits of agencies, supported by data analytics. As a result of our
new mandatory requirements, this has identified w eaknesses that had
existed prior to us resourcing the Auditor General to undertake that work. That
shows that the additional resources we gave
the Auditor General to do this sort of work are bearing fruit. I expect a gencies
to work with the Office of the Auditor General, Treasury and the Public Sector
Commission to find a way to eliminate any weaknesses. The reforms have meant
that qualified audits on procurement controls received by the housing function
within the Department of Communities have been removed by the Auditor General
in the 2020–21 financial report. There are two other things we have
done to mitigate any of these issues. Firstly, the $500 million investment in
the digital capability fund will ensure that there are enhanced cybersecurity initiatives, additional funding for payroll,
and HR initiatives to support the public sector. Secondly, we also
announced recently, and funded, agency capability reviews across the public
sector to ensure performance and accountability and to drive improvement.
answer to the last question is no. In relation to the broader question, the
Auditor General's report acknowledges
the massive additional workload the public sector is under to respond to
COVID-19, including over $9 billion in measures to respond in capital
services, recurrent spend and other initiatives that were taken across the
entire public sector.
In the wake of the Paul Whyte
corruption scandal in Housing, which occurred from 2008 to 2019, a range of significant reforms were put in place to
financial management, including improving internal governance and audit
arrangements across the public sector, ensuring the segregation of duties and
payment authorisations so the officer issuing the invoice is separate from the
officer paying the invoice; the regular rotation of accounting firms conducting
internal audits; and mandating that agencies have independently chaired audit
committees by a person external to the agency, which we brought in after the
Paul Whyte affair came to light.
In addition to that, we resourced the
Auditor General to undertake targeted forensic audits of agencies, supported by data analytics. As a result of our
new mandatory requirements, this has identified w eaknesses that had
existed prior to us resourcing the Auditor General to undertake that work. That
shows that the additional resources we gave
the Auditor General to do this sort of work are bearing fruit. I expect a gencies
to work with the Office of the Auditor General, Treasury and the Public Sector
Commission to find a way to eliminate any weaknesses. The reforms have meant
that qualified audits on procurement controls received by the housing function
within the Department of Communities have been removed by the Auditor General
in the 2020–21 financial report. There are two other things we have
done to mitigate any of these issues. Firstly, the $500 million investment in
the digital capability fund will ensure that there are enhanced cybersecurity initiatives, additional funding for payroll,
and HR initiatives to support the public sector. Secondly, we also
announced recently, and funded, agency capability reviews across the public
sector to ensure performance and accountability and to drive improvement.
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