The state's public sector needs to "lift the bar" when preparing their financial statements and key performance indicators, Auditor General Colin Murphy has found in a report handed down today.
The state's public sector needs to "lift the bar" when preparing their financial statements and key performance indicators, Auditor General Colin Murphy has found in a report handed down today.
The full statement is below:
Tabling his Audit Results Report in Parliament today, Auditor General Colin Murphy has found that many WA public sector agencies need to "lift the bar" when preparing their financial statements and key performance indicators (KPIs).
Mr Murphy's report, entitled, Audit Results Report: 2008-09 Assurance Audits found that 21 per cent of agencies audited failed to submit their financial statements and KPIs by the agreed date.
"Although I was pleased to see that the number of better practice agencies increased to 66 this year - up from 51 last year - far too many demonstrated poor preparation for their year-end reporting, resulting in late and/or poor quality reports and supporting working papers," Mr Murphy said.
Of 150 agencies audited, 85 also had moderate or significant control weaknesses brought to their attention, with the number of significant weaknesses increasing by 69 per cent over the previous year.
The Metropolitan Public Hospitals received a qualified opinion, with the Auditor General noting that this agency had used almost $25 million in restricted cash to meet operational needs, showing that it lacked adequate controls to ensure the funds were used for their approved purpose.
Also receiving a qualified opinion was the Western Australian Sports Centre Trust, which had not prepared reconciliations between the general ledger and the asset register during the reporting period, nor monthly bank reconciliations of the bank account for Arena Joondalup from October 2008 to June 2009. The Trust completed these reconciliations after year end.
In three instances, the Auditor General highlighted matters of significance when issuing his unqualified (clear) audit opinion, due to uncertainty over the agencies' financial position: the Construction Industry Long Service Leave Payments Board; the Midland Redevelopment Authority and the Public Transport Authority of WA.
An ongoing issue in the public sector is the lengthy delay in tabling annual Statements of Corporate Intent of 18 agencies.
SCIs contain details of the contractual agreements between agencies and the Government and as such are an important accountability mechanism. Legislation requires that they be tabled before commencement of, or early in the financial year to which they relate. However, as at 30 September 2009, the SCIs of 14 of the 18 agencies had not been tabled by the responsible Minister while 11 were still outstanding from prior years.
This year's report had a special focus on the effects of the Global Financial Crisis on the WA public sector.
The effects reported ranged from declining revenue and investment income to increases in debtor portfolios and more customers making arrangements to pay bills.
"We observed no instances during the course of our audits where the effects of the GFC were not considered by agencies or where the threat was poorly managed," Mr Murphy said.
\
