Overview
2.1
Table 2.1 sets out the Committee’s activities for the financial year ended 30 June 2020.
2.2
In 2019-20, 12 recommendations came from two reports presented in parliament, including the previous annual report (Report 480: Annual Report 2019-20 and Report 481: Efficiency and Effectiveness: Inquiry into Auditor-General's Reports 25, 29, 38, 42, 44, 45 and 51 (2018-19)).
2.3
A total of 28 Government responses to recommendations made in five reports were received by the Committee during the Financial Year (see Appendix A). Responses to Committee recommendations are expected to be received from Commonwealth entities within a six-month period. Responses to the Committee’s recommendations can be found on the Committee’s webpage.
Table 2.1: Committee Activities 2019-20
|
|
|
|
Number of sitting weeks
|
15
|
|
Committee reports tabled in the Parliament
|
2
|
|
Recommendations made
|
12
|
|
Government Responses received
|
28
|
|
Government Responses received on time 100%
|
|
|
Recommendations agreed to by agencies
|
26
|
|
Auditor-General’s Reports selected for review
|
14
|
|
Inquiries Underway
|
4
|
|
Total meetings held
|
14
|
|
Public hearings held
|
8
|
|
Submissions received
|
79
|
Source: Committee records
Reviews
Performance Audit Reports
2.4
The Auditor General presented the following performance audit reports to the Parliament:
2018-19 - 48 performance audit reports.
2019-20 – 42 performance audit reports.
2.5
Over the period, the Committee presented one report on matters canvassed in seven audit reports, as summarised below.
Report 481: Efficiency and Effectiveness: Inquiry into Auditor-General's Reports 25, 29, 38, 42, 44, 45 and 51 (2018-19)
2.6
The Committee conducted this inquiry based on the following Auditor-General’s reports:
2.7
Similar to predecessor committees, the committee undertook a thematic approach to this inquiry focusing on the efficiency and effectiveness of Commonwealth services.
2.8
Auditor-General’s Report No. 25 of 2018-19 examined the efficiency of the processing of applications for citizenship by conferral by the Department of Home Affairs.
2.9
The Committee agreed with the Auditor-General’s conclusion that the Department of Home Affairs had not processed applications for citizenship by conferrals efficiently.
2.10
The Committee acknowledged a statement in the Audit Report which raised concerns about the Department of Home Affairs’ unpublished Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The Committee acknowledges that the publication of such KPIs would demonstrate to external stakeholders the standard it sets for its citizenship program and assist Home Affairs to identify performance targets.
2.11
The Committee made the following recommendations to the Department of Home Affairs:
Reintroduce externally reported KPIs of the time taken to decide applications for citizenship by conferral;
Expand published processing times to also report the time taken to decide applications for citizenship by conferral per month, including decisions to refuse citizenship; and
Implement an electronic system in which applicants may track the progress of their application for citizenship by conferral remotely, ensuring that this system be updated weekly so that timely advice is provided to applicants on the status of their application.
2.12
Auditor-General’s Report No. 29 of 2018-19 examined the efficiency of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s (ATSB) investigation of transport accidents and safety occurrences.
2.13
The Committee recognised that both during and following the audit process, the ATSB had put several programs and governance structures in place to improve the investigation of transport accidents and safety occurrences. However the results in relation to timeframes, were yet to be realised.
2.14
The efforts of the ATSB in benchmarking and the prioritisation of investigative resourcing were acknowledged and commended by the Committee.
2.15
Auditor-General’s Report No. 38 of 2018-19 examined how the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (Agriculture) and Department of Health effectively apply the Cost Recovery Guidelines across various fee and levy activities.
2.16
The Committee agreed that the Cost Recovery Guidelines need to be reviewed. The revised Cost Recovery Guidelines should provide entities with clear advice on how recovered monies can be used.
2.17
A lack of benchmarking activities across the three entities raised concerns. The Committee agreed with the ANAO that the Department of Finance needed to be proactive in encouraging and supporting entities in this area. The Committee also agreed with the ANAO that a workgroup facilitated by the Department of Finance should consider the building of a culture of shared benchmarking information to create efficiencies.
2.18
The Committee subsequently made two recommendations which require the Department of Finance to:
Review the Cost Recovery Guidelines to provide clear advice to entities on what activities can be funded with cost-recovered monies;
Prescribe that entities update risk ratings within six months of changes to charging guidelines being introduced, or biennially in the absence of changes to cost recovery practice.
Facilitate a working group to encourage and support benchmarking activities by cost recovery entities. The working group should also examine methods to encourage information sharing in respect of benchmarking results for the purposes of cost recovery activities. The findings of the working group should be reported back to the Committee within 6 months.
2.19
Auditor-General’s Report No. 42 of 2018-19 assessed the effectiveness of the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) management of small business tax debt, including debt arising from compliance activities.
2.20
The ATO advised the Committee that it had already undertaken significant work to address many of the findings of the Audit Report and assured the Committee that it is continually striving to update approaches, processes and systems for the collection of tax debt.
2.21
The Committee made two recommendations including, that the ATO:
Consistently apply a clear internal definition of the term small business to improve data analysis;and
develop systems so it can separately report on debt arising from compliance activities, to help assess the effectiveness, efficiency and consistency of its end-to-end debt management processes.
2.22
Auditor-General’s Report No. 44 of 2018-19 examined the effectiveness of Export Finance Australia (Efic) in relation to its operation within its prescribed mandate, managing its financial and service delivery functions and meeting its statutory and prudential responsibilities.
2.23
The Committee acknowledged and welcomed Efic’s consistent use of benchmarking activities to inform lending practices as a result of strong governance, risk management and stakeholder engagement practices.
2.24
The Committee also commended Efic for incorporating the audit recommendation in a timely and fulsome manner.
2.25
Auditor-General’s Report No. 45 of 2018-19 assessed the effectiveness of the Department of Social Services’ role in implementing the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children 2010-2022 (National Plan).
2.26
The Committee acknowledged the complexity of the National Plan which crosses multiple levels of government and coordinates responses to domestic violence and other forms of family or gender-based violence.
2.27
The Committee noted that appropriate judging of the performance of the National Plan could not be undertaken due to insufficient annual reporting. The Committee acknowledged that a fundamental element of transparency and accountability is the provision of clear annual reporting of performance, and progress towards set goals. The Committee was concerned that issues regarding performance indicators, measurements and management, implementation planning and annual reporting practices have impacted the ability to assess the National Plan’s effectiveness.
2.28
As a result, the Committee recommended that the Department of Social Services:
Implement a risk management plan for the final delivery of the Fourth Action Plan of the National Plan, and any successive plans that the department delivers;
Expand its Annual Report and Portfolio Budget Statements to provide information as to how the outcome being reported against was either ‘met’ or ‘not met’ against specific metrics regarding the National Plan; and
Publicly report, in the Annual Progress Reports for the National Plan and any successive plans, on outcomes and achievements. This should include evidence on actions taken by governments and achievements of actions relating to each of the six national outcomes.
2.29
Auditor-General’s Report No. 51 of 2018-19 examined whether the ATO and Agriculture have effectively administered the Farm Management Deposit (FMD) Scheme.
2.30
The Committee observed the need for clear and measurable methods of performance assessment to examine the performance of the FMD. The adoption of clear performance measurements and indicators would assist the two agencies in meeting Audit Report recommendations and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the FMD Scheme.
2.31
The audit found several issues applicable across government program delivery, such as the importance of strategic relationships between portfolios and shared responsibility of programs across a number of agencies.
2.32
In relation to these issues, the Committee made recommendations that:
Agriculture examine whether the FMD Scheme is meeting its policy objective of 'improved self-reliance’ through a range of methods, including its proposed evaluation, and assess alternative options of achieving the objective if the results do not demonstrate that the policy objective is being met;
Agriculture and the ATO implement specific key performance indicators in order to measure the performance of the FMD Scheme, and for the results to be published in the Annual Report; and
The ATO undertake a new risk assessment of the FMD Scheme with input from Agriculture, including matters such as compliance and policy changes, and to issue a new risk rating if required.
Inquiries/Reviews Commenced
2.33
During the period, the Committee commenced three inquiries based on seven Auditor-General reports as summarised below. These inquiries are ongoing and expected to report during 2020-21.
The Administration of Government Grants: Inquiry into Auditor-General’s Reports 5, 12 and 23
2.34
The Committee commenced this inquiry based on the following Auditor-General’s reports:
2.35
The Committee initially adopted an inquiry into Auditor-General’s reports 5 and 12 on 27 November 2019, and on its tabling on 12 February 2020, later included Auditor-General’s Report 23 (2019-20) in this inquiry batch.
2.36
The Committee has received 11 submissions and held three public hearings in reference to this inquiry.
Cyber Resilience: Inquiry into Auditor-General’s Reports 1 and 13 (2019-20)
2.37
The Committee commenced this inquiry based on the following Auditor-General’s reports:
2.38
The Committee adopted the inquiry into Auditor-General’s reports 1 and 13 on 5 February 2020, and has since received eight submissions and held two public hearings.
Inquiry into the 2018-19 Defence Major Projects Report and Future Submarine Project – Transition to Design (Auditor-General’s Reports 19 and 22 (2019-20))
2.39
The Committee commenced this inquiry based on the following Auditor-General’s reports:
2.40
The Committee adopted the inquiry into Auditor-General’s reports 19 and 22 on 5 February 2020, and has since received nine submissions and held three public hearings.
2.41
Ms Lucy Wicks MP
Chair