3.1
The committee has selected the annual reports of the following entities for closer examination:
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission);
National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA); and
Digital Transformation Agency (DTA).
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
3.2
The Commission is a corporate Commonwealth entity and part of the Health portfolio. The functions of the Commission are specified in section 9 of the National Health Reform Act 2011.
Report from the Chair
3.3
Chair of the Commission's Board, Professor Villis Marshall AC in his review of 2019-20 noted that in March 2020 some of the Commission’s teams were redeployed to assist in areas of contact tracing, infection prevention and control, and national and state planning to minimise the impact of the pandemic.
3.4
Professor Marshall also highlighted the launch of the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights, a piece of work to support awareness and understanding of consumer rights. As well as the work developing national standards for digital mental health services, and a My Health Record guide for emergency department clinicians.
Performance reporting
3.5
As stated in the Commission's 2019-23 corporate plan, its purpose is to:
… contribute to better health outcomes and experiences for all patients and consumers, and improved value and sustainability in the health system by leading and coordinating national improvements in the safety and quality of health care.
3.6
In reporting its performance, the Commission provided a clear set of tables which indicate, the performance criteria, the target set for 2019-20 and the result for each target.
3.7
The committee notes that the Commission achieved the majority of its targets. The committee also notes that some results indicated that work was achieved but ongoing, or the work had been deferred due to key stakeholders being involved in Australia's COVID-19 response.
3.8
The committee considers the Commissions performance reporting to be very detailed and clearly set out.
Financial performance
3.9
The Commission is funded jointly by state and territory governments. The commission received approximately $28 million in funding, of this amount approximately $11 million was contributed by the federal government.
3.10
The Commission reported an operating surplus of $203,000 and attributed this to ' the timing of expenditure and delivery of workplan projects'.
3.11
The committee considers that the Commission's annual report to be apparently satisfactory.
National Disability Insurance Agency
3.12
The NDIA is a corporate Commonwealth entity within the Social Services portfolio. NDIA a statutory authority under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (NDIS Act).
Chairman's review
3.13
Chairman Dr Helen Nugent AO in her summary of 2019-20 noted the following work of the NDIA:
improved outcomes for participants, as they exercise more choice and control in their decision-making;
between March and June over 65,000 care calls were made to the most at-risk participants; and
ongoing work to achieve the early implementation of the ‘Participant Service Guarantee’, to continue to simplify and streamline the way participants and those who provide supports to them engage with the NDIA.
Performance reporting
3.14
NDIA’s purpose, as described in the NDIA corporate plan 2019–2023 is:
… to support individuals with a significant and permanent disability (participants) to be more independent, and engage more socially and economically, while delivering a financially sustainable NDIS that builds genuinely connected and engaged communities and stakeholders.
3.15
To support achieving its purpose, the NDIA outlines five aspirations to measure its performance against. The committee notes the following key results against each aspiration:
a quality experience and outcomes for participants—four targets achieved, one target did not report a result due to changes in participant satisfaction survey;
a competitive market with innovative supports—two targets were not met, these related to remote regions access to the scheme and high market concentration with the largest providers;
a connected and engaged stakeholder sector—all three targets were met;
a financially sustainable scheme—one target was not met, the aim was for 5 per cent of program outlay relating to payment errors/anomalies, the reported result was 6 per cent, an estimated financial impact of the error was $181.3 million or 1.2 per cent of total cash payments; and
a high-performing NDIA— the 15 per cent target relating to employment of people with disability was not met, the reported result was 11 per cent.
3.16
The committee notes that the annual performance statements included in the NDIA's annual report were well presented and clearly linked to the corporate plan and the portfolio budget statements.
Financial performance
3.17
In 2019-20, the NDIA received $1.413 billion in government funding, and reported an operating deficit of $1.375 billion. The NDIA commented:
The Scheme experienced strong growth in Scheme costs due to both growing participant numbers and increased spend per participant … approval was received from the Minister for Finance to use retained earnings to fund the deficit.
3.18
Under section 180B of the NDIS Act, the NDIA is required to provide an assessment of the financial sustainability of the Scheme. In this statement the NDIA notes the continued growth in participates requesting a plan. In 2019-20 $24.2 billion was committed in participant plans, 66 per cent higher when compared to the $14.6 billion committed in the 2018–19 reporting period.
3.19
The committee appreciates the detailed financial statements provided and the section titled 'Summary of the Financial Sustainability Report 2019–2020'.
3.20
The committee considers NDIA's annual report to be satisfactory and that it meets the relevant reporting requirements.
Digital Transformation Agency
3.21
DTA is an Executive Agency within the Social Services Portfolio. The responsible Minister is Hon Stuart Robert MP, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and Minister for Government Services.
Chief executive officer's review
3.22
Chief executive officer Mr Randall Brugeaud in his review of 2019-20 highlighted the following work of the agency:
COVID 19 created unprecedented demand for digital information, services and support;
usage of existing platforms like myGov increased significantly—by the end of June 2020, there were 18.7 million myGov user accounts and 1.4 million users of digital identity;
worked to deliver an enhanced myGov Beta site to provide more personalised services;
worked across the Australian Public Service and with states and territories to deliver the Government’s coronavirus information hub, which has had more than 29 million visits;
developed the Government’s WhatsApp channel; and
the Coronavirus Australia information app and the COVIDSafe tracing app had 4 million downloads and 6.5 million users respectively.
Performance reporting
3.23
As outlined in its 2019-23 corporate plan, DTA's purpose is 'we lead digital transformation in government to make services simple, smart and user-focused'.
3.24
The agency lists one outcome to achieve this purpose:
Outcome 1 – Improve the user experience for all Australians accessing government information and services by leading the design, development and continual enhancement of whole-of-government service delivery policies and standards platforms and joined-up services.
3.25
DTA delivers this outcome through four priorities, which the annual report indicates were all achieved.
3.26
DTA's performance reporting is easy to read and provides a short summary of each priority, a description and analysis of DTA's work towards achieving the priority.
3.27
The annual report also provided a performance analysis against the DTA's purpose:
In analysing the factors that contributed to our performance, it is clear that COVID-19 had a major impact ... This pushed government digital transformation forward at a faster pace. While we needed to put some of our planned work on hold while responding to the major increase in demand for digital information and services, we were still able to achieve the targets we set ourselves for the year and contribute to more effective and efficient government service delivery. Therefore, our assessment is that we met our performance measures in 2019–20.
3.28
The committee considers DTA's 'Annual performance statement' section within the report to be clearly presented and assists the reader in understanding the scope of DTA's activities.
Financial performance
3.29
DTA recorded an operating surplus of $9.4 million in 2019–20, accrediting this to the whole-of-Australian-Government ICT Procurement of $9.3 million.
3.30
DTA also noted the impact of managing the ICT Coordinated Procurement Special Account, with $99.6 million of DTA’s $164.5 million of assets and $60 million of DTA’s $116 million in liabilities associated with the special account.
3.31
The committee considers DTA's annual report to be apparently satisfactory.
General comments
Compliance index
3.32
Annual reports are one of the principal accountability mechanisms of the PGPA Act, the committee considers that it is vital that these reports be easily accessible for all readers. The compliance index (or list of requirements) is an important tool in ensuring accessibility.
3.33
The committee notes that in the annual reports of a number of entities, the compliance indexes indicated large page ranges and in some cases whole chapters to locate specific information. For example, Hearing Australia and the Australian Sports Commission referenced whole sections of their reports to locate each mandatory reporting requirement.
3.34
As noted in previous 'Reports on annual reports', the committee recommends all entities provide a more precise page range for each requirement to improve the overall accessibility of annual reports.
Colour and illustrations
3.35
The advice to government agencies regarding the use of colour and illustrations is:
While acknowledging that the cost of colour printing has decreased, author bodies must have regard to limiting the use of colour and illustrations to where it enhances the reader's understanding of the material. An excessive use of colour, illustrations and photography is not fit for the purposes of accountability and reporting to Parliament.
3.36
While some images are helpful to assist in creating a flow to the report, some agencies had whole pages in colour, containing photographs and large texted quotes. For example, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and the National Health and Medical Research Council annual reports included a number of pages printed in colour with a significant portion of the pages also covered in photographs and/or an illustration.
3.37
The committee encourages all agencies to take into consideration the use of colour and photography when preparing annual reports.
Paper
3.38
The committee notes that the advice to government agencies on Printing Standards specifies that the paper used for text and illustrations can be up to 100 gsm coated or uncoated publication paper.
3.39
The committee considers the paper used in the printed version of the DTA's annual report to be greater in weight than 100 gsm. The committee has noted this issue in previous 'Reports on annual reports' and encourages DTA to use a lighter paper in line with the advice for printing any future annual reports.
Apparently satisfactory
3.40
As noted in Chapter 1, the committee finds that all reports of the Health portfolio and Social Services portfolio for 2019–20 to be apparently satisfactory.
Senator Wendy Askew
Chair