Chapter 2Annual reports of Commonwealth departments

2.1The 2023­–24 annual reports of the following Commonwealth departments were referred to the committee for examination and report:

Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC);

Department of Social Services (DSS); and

Services Australia.

2.2The committee considers that the annual reports of these departments are of an apparently satisfactory standard.

Department of Health and Aged Care

Secretary’s review

2.3The Secretary, Mr Blair Comley PSM reported on DoHAC’s key areas of work for 2023–24, which included:

supporting the government to provide continued support for Australians managing chronic conditions and implementing 60-day prescriptions;

introducing the triple bulk billing incentive under the Medicare Benefit Scheme to support longer telehealth consultations for children under 16, pensioners and concession card holders;

delivering 47 additional Urgent Care Clinics to take the pressure of hospital emergency departments;

consolidating and strengthening tobacco control with new measures to reduce the appeal of tobacco and regulate e-cigarettes;

launching the Australian Cancer Plan to enhance cancer prevention, screening, treatment and care;

the Tackling Indigenous Smoking program adjusted boundaries to ensure nationwide coverage and enhance culturally appropriate vaping prevention activities, while continuing efforts to reduce smoking among First Nations people;

advancing the development of the new Aged Care Act; and

working with the mental health sector to respond to the evaluation of the Better Access to Psychiatrists, Psychologists and General Practitioners through the Medicare Benefits Schedule initiative (Better Access).[1]

Chief Medical Officer’s report

2.4The Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly, reported on DoHAC’s clinical priorities, including:

the commencement of the Interim Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and working towards establishing a standalone Australian CDC in a phased approach;

the establishment of the One Health Unit to improve surveillance and response to zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance and vector-borne disease;

the establishment of the National Occupational Respiratory Disease Registry to monitor and address the emergence of silicosis among those working with engineered stone;

the establishment of the Health Security Unit to expand surveillance, improve national health threat assessments and access to information through partnerships with the Australian intelligence community;

improving data and reporting mechanisms, including responses to public health and preparedness leadership;

publishing the first version of the Australian National Surveillance Plan for COVID-19, Influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, and the first issue of the Australian Respiratory Surveillance Report to inform public health decision making and national policy responses to viral respiratory infections; and

launching Australia’s first National health and Climate Strategy to address the health and wellbeing impacts of climate change.[2]

Performance reporting

2.5As outlined in its recent corporate plan, DoHAC’s purpose is as follows:

With our partners, support the Government to lead and shape Australia’s health and aged care system and sporting outcomes through evidence-based policy, well targeted programs, and best practice regulation.[3]

2.6Similar to its previous annual report, DoHAC sought to ‘improve the clarity, reliability, and objectivity’ of their performance reporting by:

commencing a review of its key activities and corresponding performance measures to reduce the number of key activities to those of a material nature to the purpose of the department;

streamlining and aligning performance information across the Portfolio Budget Statements, corporate plan, and annual performance statements;

analysing performance measures to provide a mix of quantitative and qualitative measures of outputs, efficiency, and effectiveness; and

seeking independent external assurance of performance information to ensure an unbiased review of performance measures and the associated planned performance for adherence to the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act and Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule.[4]

2.7Under its four outcomes, DoHAC stated that a total of 20 planned performance targets were either achieved or substantially achieved in 2023–24. A summary of these results is as follows:

Source: DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 25.

2.8The committee appreciates that where results were not met or where data is not available for certain performance measures, DoHAC provides a detailed breakdown of the data and its implications.

Financial performance

2.9During 2023–24, revenue from government increased by 24.2 per cent to $1.325 million compared to $1.066 million in 2022–23.[5] DoHAC recorded a consolidated operating loss of $110.8 million which, after adjusting for unfunded depreciation, is a net cash operating loss of $60.3 million.[6]

2.10DoHAC administered expenses on behalf of the Commonwealth of $104.5 billion, which is an increase of 11.6 per cent compared to expenses in 2022–23 of $93.6 billion.[7] Major items include:

personal benefits expenses, which primarily related to the Medicare Benefits Scheme and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, private health insurance rebates, and home care packages for senior Australians ($64.3 billion);

subsidies expenses, which primarily related to residential aged care places for senior Australians ($21.2 billion);

grants expenses attributable to increased investments in Health Research, Mental Health, First Nation Health, Health Protection, Aged Care Services, Aged Care Quality, and Sport and Physical Activity programs ($13.2 billion); and

supplier expenses, which primarily related to inventory consumption (deployments from the National Medical Stockpile) ($2.8 billion).[8]

2.11In 2023–24, total administered revenue was $55.5 billion, compared to $53.7 billion in 2022–23, with major items including:

special accounts revenue, which primarily comprises revenue appropriated via special account to facilitate payments in relation to the Medicare Guarantee Fund ($47.5 billion) and the Medical Research Future Fund ($0.6 billion); and

recoveries, including $5.3 billion recovered under cost sharing arrangements with pharmaceutical companies and $0.77 billion recovered from aged care activities.[9]

2.12DoHAC’s operating expenses increased by 23.7 per cent to $1.677 million compared to $1.455 million in 2022–23.[10] Employee Average Staffing Levels grew by 773 this year as DoHAC continued to invest in aged care and mental health reform, Therapeutic Goods Administration Public Good Activities, Vaping Reform and strengthening Medicare.[11]

2.13DoHAC’s total assets increased by $147.4 million to $1.364 million compared to $1.216 million in 2022–23.[12] Trade and other receivables increased by $119.3 million to $306.7 million ($187.4 million in 2022–23), with all receivable balances expected to be settled within 12 months of the reporting date.[13] Computer software increased by $36.9 million to $307.8 million, which was driven by the additions of new internally developed software.[14] Contrastingly, DoHAC’s total liabilities also increased by $16.3 million to $975.6 million due to increases in supplier payables and employee provisions offset by a decrease in lease liabilities.[15]

Consultants and exempt contracts

2.14During 2023–24, 396 new reportable consultancy contracts were awarded, involving expenditure of $70 million.[16] Additionally, 233 ongoing reportable consultancy contracts were active during the period, amounting to $55.1 million in total expenditure.[17]

2.151962 new reportable non-consultancy contracts were entered into, costing a total of $1.3 billion.[18] Further, 1 759 ongoing reportable ongoing non-consultancy contracts were active during the period, involving total expenditure of $1.3 billion.[19]

2.16DoHAC stated that 67 contracts were exempt from reporting on AusTender on the basis that publishing the contract would disclose exempt matters under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.[20]

External scrutiny

2.17The committee notes that the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) tabled four performance audits pertaining to DoHAC in 2023–24. These reports are titled as follows:

Management of Non-Compliance with the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 for Unapproved Therapeutic Goods – published 28 August 2023;

Design and Early Implementation of Residential Aged Care Reforms – published 11 December 2023;

Effectiveness of the Department of Health and Aged Care’s Performance Management of Primary Health Networks – published 27 February 2024; and

Evaluation of Australian Government Pilot Programs – published 17 June 2024.[21]

2.18DoHAC explained that it agreed to all recommendations from the above audits, and implementation activities have commenced or are complete.[22]

Final comments

2.19The committee commends DoHAC on its detailed annual report for 2023–24 and considers it to be apparently satisfactory.

Department of Social Services

Secretary’s review

2.20The Secretary, Mr Ray Griggs AO CSC reported on DSS’ key areas of work for 2023–24, which included:

implementing a new specialist disability employment program to commence from 1 July 2025;

delivering the new National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness, with support from the Commonwealth and all state and territory governments;

continuing to deliver the Safe Places Emergency Accommodation Program, with an additional 11 projects, and 248 safe places, becoming operational across Australia in 2023–24 to support women and children experiencing family and domestic violence;

facilitating the Commonwealth’s rapid review of evidence-based approaches to preventing gender-based violence, which builds on the work already underway under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032 (National Plan);

the launch of the First Action Plan Activities Addendum, which includes stewarding a whole-of-government Interdepartmental Committee on Women’s Safety to enable a collaborative approach to ending gender-based violence in a generation;

the establishment of the First Nations National Plan Steering Committee to partner with the government to centre the voices of victim-survivors of family, domestic and sexual violence throughout the process of developing the First Nations National Plan;

the inception of the Early Years Strategy 2024–2034, which sets out the government’s vision to support children and their families in the early years;

the new Disability Employment Services (DES) Quality Framework to ensure DES providers deliver quality services to people with disability, injury or health condition to assist them to achieve sustainable employment outcomes;

implementing the expansion of the Paid Parental Leave scheme to 6 months by 1 July 2026, including the expansion of the scheme to 22 weeks from 1 July 2024;

the Disability Royal Commission delivering its final report to Parliament, which examines matters affecting the lives and experiences of Australians with disability;

working towards finalising the Commonwealth National Autism Strategy to achieve a safe and inclusive society, where all Autistic people in Australian can effectively and fully participate in all aspects of life, in line with international human rights;

commencing public consultations to inform the National Carer Strategy, guided by the National Carer Strategy Advisory Committee;

the Prime Minister and state and territory governments agreeing to an initial response to the final report of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Review, including legislative changes to the NDIS Act 2013; and

increasing the maximum rates of Commonwealth Rent Assistance by 10 per cent and expanded eligibility for the higher rate of JobSeeker Payment to single recipients with a partial capacity to work of less than 15 hours per week.[23]

Performance reporting

2.21As outlined in its recent corporate plan, DSS’ purpose is to:

Work in partnership with government, non-government organisations and communities to ensure the effective development, management and delivery of payments, evidence-based policies, programs, and services to support individuals and families.[24]

2.22The committee notes that DSS has since expanded on its purpose compared to its previous 2022–23 corporate plan, which stated that its purpose was to ‘continue to support the economic and social wellbeing of individuals and families’.[25]

2.23Since the publication of its 2023–24 corporate plan, DSS outlined that there have been some further changes to its performance measures, which are illustrated in the table below:

Source: DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, pp. 22–23.

2.24The committee notes that in its 2021–22 annual report, DSS undertook a review of the extent to which its performance measures aligned with key activities and outcomes as part of their performance maturation objectives.[26] DSS used feedback from the Performance Statement Pilot Program led by the ANAO to improve governance and assurance for current and future reporting years, and worked with third-party data holders to improve the department’s understanding of data quality and limitations.[27]

2.25In its Report on Annual Reports No. 1 of 2024, the committee highlighted that it was unclear whether DSS provided an update on the application of the 2021–22 performance maturation objectives in their 2022–23 annual report. However, the committee is aware that DSS has provided an assurance in its recent 2023–24 annual report which provides an overview their data collection methods:

The department’s key activities are delivered in partnership with a range of third parties including portfolio agencies, for profit and not for profit organisations. We source data from our delivery partners to measure and report in our Annual Performance Statements. The department endeavours to ensure performance data collected is reliable, verifiable, and supported by proportionate assurance processes. The data collected is aligned with privacy principles and better practice data governance. In the interest of transparency, we disclose limitations associated with the data and methodology used to assess our performance.[28]

2.26The committee appreciates DSS providing this context and for incorporating an additional section titled ‘categorising data sources’, which explains in detail how DSS has aligned their data collection methods to section 16EA(b) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2024, which states that ‘performance measures should use sources of information and methodologies that are reliable and verifiable’.[29]

2.27DSS stated that ‘reliable and verifiable data is key to supporting advice to better inform government decisions which the department is working towards’.[30]

2.28For 2023–24, DSS stated that out of the total 33 performance targets it met 20, partially met one and did not meet 10.[31] The remaining two performance targets are ongoing.[32] DSS used four outcomes to measure its performance, and a summary of these results is as follows:

Source: DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 20.

2.29The committee continues to commend DSS for its thorough examination contained in its summary and key achievements section for each outcome. The committee particularly wishes to underline the additional sections that DSS incorporated within its analysis of each outcome, specifically:

a program analysis section which provides a breakdown of the results;

a disclosure section;

a rationale section;

a methodology section; and

a data categorisation section showing the type of source used to corroborate their data (i.e., primary, secondary or tertiary), including data assurance tiers (which denotes whether DSS has assurance over the data, whether the data sourced is from a third party but DSS has some controls in place which assure the data, and whether the data is sourced from a third party, such as a contracted business or service provider).[33]

2.30The committee is encouraged by the additional sections added by DSS in its 2023–24 annual report and emphasises that this years’ report has shown overall improvements to its data collection methods, transparency and readability.

National Redress Scheme

2.31In its sixth year of operation, DSS stated that the National Redress Scheme (the Scheme) has continued to deliver on key recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.[34]

2.32Key statistics during the period 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 included:

16 324 people applied to the Scheme for redress;

5 170 determinations were made, and of these:

3 913 were eligible for redress;

1 257 were deemed ineligible;

3 569 people accepted an offer of redress;

73 people declined an offer of redress;

1 975 institutions were found responsible for abuse;

4 044 applications were finalised, including 3 654 redress payments ranging from less than $10 000 to $150 000, with an average payment of $91 137 the total value of redress monetary payments was $333 015 477;

2 717 people accepted the offer of counselling and psychological care services as part of their redress outcome:

299 people accessed a total of 5 477.83 hours of counselling and psychological care services nationally, with an average of around 12 hours provided per person;

2 078 people accepted the offer of a Direct Personal Response (DPR) from an institution:

170 people completed their DPR with or in respect of 227 institutions;

204 people made contact with 290 institutions to begin the process to receive their DPR; and

51 per cent of applications named more than one institution in their application and 7 per cent of applications named 4 or more institutions.[35]

2.33The National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Amendment Act 2024 (the Amending Act) was passed by the Parliament on 20 March 2024 and received Royal Assent on 28 March 2024.[36]

2.34DSS stated that, with the exception of the reassessments measure, all other measures in the Amending Act commenced on 4 April 2024 which:

removed the restriction on people applying from gaol;

refined the special assessment process for serious criminal convictions;

allowed applicants to provide additional information with a request for review of their redress offer; and

included additional authorisations for sharing protected information, including for the purposes of sharing information about non-participating institutions with applicants.[37]

2.35Further improvements through changes to other parts of the Scheme’s legislative framework include:

combining the impact of sexual abuse payment with the recognition for sexual abuse payment through amendments to the Assessment Framework; and

enabling certain former child migrants who are not Australian citizens or permanent residents to apply. The National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Amendment (Eligibility for Redress of Former Child Migrants) Rules 2018 commenced on 29 November 2023 to enact this change.[38]

Financial performance

2.36In 2023–24, DSS reported a departmental surplus of $11.2 million and administered $172.3 billion of expenses on behalf of the government.[39] Additionally, personal benefits expenses increased from 2022–23 by $11.2 billion to $137 billion, predominantly due to a rise in payments resulting from an increase in indexation rate to match inflation.[40] Payments to the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) increased to $32.3 billion from $25.1 billion in 2022–23, which relates to an increase in participant plan payments.[41]

2.37With regard to DSS’ administered major budget variances for 2024, the department explained that the total administered expenses were $1.011 billion higher than the Budget as a result of the following:

higher than budgeted payments to the NDIA of $2.454 billion relating to higher National Disability Insurance Scheme participants and average package costs than budgeted, offset by:

personal benefit expenses were $1.285 billion lower than Budget reflecting economic activity and the labour market remaining being more resilient than budgeted for most payments. Family Tax Benefit demand has been subdued as family incomes continue to grow. This was partially offset by Jobseeker Income Support payments being higher than originally budgeted;

grants expenses were lower than Budget by $0.225 billion primarily due to demand for Disability Employment Services being lower than budgeted and some expenditure expected to be deferred to the subsequent year;

administered income was $0.104 billion lower than the Budget mainly as a result of the following:

fewer than anticipated National Redress Scheme applications finalised, offset by:

• increased interest charged on personal benefit debts due to the lifting of debt pauses where recovery is now required;

administered assets were $0.638 billion higher than Budget as a result of the following:

an increase in the fair value of the net assets in the NDIA, offset by:

• a decrease in the value of personal benefits receivable reflecting debt recoveries being processed faster than originally budgeted; and

administered liabilities were $0.151 billion higher than the Budget as a result of:

personal benefits payables and provisions being higher than budgeted as the timing of the related payments were lower than budgeted.[42]

Consultants and exempt contracts

2.38During 2023–24, 59 new reportable consultancy contracts were awarded, involving expenditure of $8.3 million.[43] Additionally, 54 reportable ongoing contracts were active during the period, amounting to $13.5 million in total expenditure.[44]

2.39355 new reportable non-consultancy contracts were entered into, costing a total of $4.2 million (GST inclusive).[45] Further, 325 reportable ongoing non-consultancy contracts were active during the period, involving total expenditure of 186.4 million (GST inclusive).[46]

External scrutiny

2.40The committee notes that the ANAO tabled six performance audit reports pertaining to DSS in 2023–24. These reports are titled as follows:

Transitional Arrangements for the Cashless Debit Card – published 26 June 2024;

Management of Cyber Security Incidents – published 14 June 2024;

Compliance with Corporate Credit Card Requirements in the National Disability Insurance Agency – published 30 May 2024;

Management of Complaints by the National Disability Insurance Agency – published 22 April 2024;

Timeliness of Welfare Payments – published 31 August 2023; and

Effectiveness of the National Disability Insurance Agency’s Management of Assistance with Daily Life Supports – published 28 June 2023.[47]

2.41Of the six performance audit reports tabled, five were deemed partly effective. Whilst DSS, Services Australia and the NDIA agreed to all, and in some cases most of the ANAO’s recommendations contained in each report, the committee reiterates its suggestion made in the previous Report on Annual Reports No. 1 of 2024 for DSS to provide a summary of the Auditor-General’s recommendations and provide a comment on the status of its implementation in their future annual reports.

Final comments

2.42The committee commends DSS on its detailed annual report for 2022–23 and considers it to be apparently satisfactory.

Services Australia

2.43The Chief Executive Officer, Mr David Hazlehurst reported on Services Australia’s key areas of work for 2023–24, which included:

processing 468.5 million claims, including 464.7 million Medicare services, 3.7 million Centrelink claims, 55 800 new registrations for Child Support and 135 000 emergency claims;

improved call wait times, with staff answering Centrelink calls around 6 minutes faster and Medicare customer calls 9 minutes faster than in January, and congestion messaging being used less – down by more than half since the beginning of 2024;

continuing to transform face to face services with 131 out of 318 services centres now upgraded;

continuing to apply technology to improve the quality and accessibility of services;

introducing a new functionality for people to execute Commonwealth statutory declarations through myGov and laid the foundations for the introduction of passkeys in 2024–25 to better secure customers’ accounts;

strengthening the agency’s cyber security posture against the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s ‘Essential Eight’ mitigation strategies, and blocking 15 to 20 million malicious connection attempts and disrupting approximately 350 fake myGov sites;

completing extensive programming changes to implement cheaper childcare and to extend the Parenting Payment, as well as increases across working age and student payments, rent assistance, and enhanced Income Management for new and existing customers;

improving Medicare claims tracking and making enhancements to the Healthcare Identifiers Service and to Health Professional Online Services used by pharmacies and health providers;

leading the implementation of the recommendations made by the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme; and

continuing to strengthen the security and safety measures for staff and customers through the initiatives led by the Security Rist Management Review conducted by former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Graham Ashton AM APM.[48]

Performance reporting

2.44As outlined in Services Australia’s 2023–24 corporate plan, the agency’s purpose is to ‘support Australians by efficiently delivering high-quality, accessible services and payments on behalf of the government’, delivering:

… payments and services on behalf of government including social security and welfare, child support, emergency and health programs, in collaboration with other Australian Government agencies.[49]

2.45Services Australia’s key activities and strategic performance measures remain relatively unchanged since its previous 2022–23 annual report, which is illustrated in the below table:

Source: Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 19.

2.46Services Australia stated that the agency has assessed and improved overall performance measurements, building on the findings from the first audit of their Annual Performance Statements by the ANAO in 2022–23.[50] Since the audit, Services Australia reviewed its performance measures to assess the appropriateness and completeness of the measures, and to identify improvements to strengthen processes.[51] As such, the agency has made a change to one of its SPM from what was reported in their corporate plan 2023–24:

Source: Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 20.

2.47Regarding future performance reporting in 2024–25 and 2025–26, Services Australia noted that the agency has considered options for how it could measure and report on its overall efficiency, noting the current proxy measure of efficiency being SPM 7 – ‘tasks managed by customers in digital channels’.[52] In 2024–25, Services Australia mentioned that it will continue to develop and test methodologies to inform the future development of an efficiency measure, and aspires to commence reporting on measures of efficiency in the 2025–26 reporting period.[53]

2.48Services Australia also spoke about its ambitions in 2024–25 to expand the ‘customer satisfaction’ and ‘customer trust’ SPM to incorporate regulatory performance reporting to include customer satisfaction and trust survey results for the following:

debt recovery line;

child support online and mobile apps; and

complaints line which takes calls from Centrelink, health and child support customers.[54]

2.49The agency has also expressed that it is expecting to continue to reduce claim backlogs and improve on claim processing times and call wait times for customers in 2024–25.

2.50Services Australia continued to measure its performance across seven strategic performance measures (SPM) which reflect the agency’s three major programs:

(a)social security and welfare;

(b)health; and

(c)child support.[55]

2.51Developed and implemented since its 2021–22 annual report, Services Australia has continued to measure performance achievements through its four ‘tolerance levels’, the purpose of which is to assess the agency’s performance outcomes for 2023–24:

Achieved: 100 per cent of the performance target has been achieved;

Substantially achieved: 90–99.9 per cent of the performance target has been achieved;

Partially achieved: 75–89.9 per cent of the performance target has been achieved; and

Not achieved: <75 per cent of the performance target has been achieved.[56]

2.52A summary if this year’s results is as follows:

Source: Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 22.

2.53The committee is encouraged by the analysis undertaken by Services Australia to explain their performance results, in particular its continuation of including a limitations and exclusions section and explanatory notes and definitions sections following each SPM.

Financial performance

2.54In 2023–24, Services Australia made Social Services and Welfare, and Health payments totalling $239.1 billion.[57] The government supplemented Services Australia’s budget, amounting to $5.1 billion in operating and capital funding costs to ensure the agency could make these payments and provide other customer services.[58] Services Australia also stated that it received around $0.4 billion in own-source revenue for the provision of shared services and delivery of information and communications technology projects.[59]

2.55Services Australia’s total funding of $5.2 billion was distributed across the following priority areas:

Source: Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 156.

2.56Services Australia reported an operating surplus of $300.5 million, which includes principal lease payments under the Australian Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standard 16 and excludes non-cash items in relation to depreciation and amortisation.[60]

2.57Services Australia also provided explanations for three major budget variances between its original budget estimates, as published in the 2023–24 Portfolio Budget Statements, and the actual financial performance and position for the year ended 30 June 2024:[61]

Source: Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 170.

2.58The committee appreciates Services Australia’s explanations for its major budget variances and detailed financial overviews and assessments.

Consultants and exempt contracts

2.59During 2023–24, six new reportable consultancy contracts were awarded, involving total expenditure of $4.68 million (GST inclusive).[62] Additionally, three reportable ongoing contracts were active during the period, amounting to $1.4 million (GST inclusive) in total expenditure.[63]

2.601 789 new reportable non-consultancy contracts were entered into, costing a total of $563.7 million (GST inclusive).[64] Further, 1 288 reportable ongoing non-consultancy contracts were active during the period, involving total expenditure of $1.772 billion (GST inclusive).[65]

External scrutiny

2.61The committee noted that the ANAO tabled three audit reports pertaining to Services Australia in 2023–24. These reports are titled as follows:

Accuracy and Timeliness of Welfare Payments – published 31 August 2023;

Management of Cyber Security Incidents – published 14 June 2024; and

Transitional Arrangements for the Cashless Debit Card – published 26 June 2024.[66]

2.62Services Australia also supported one ANAO performance audit undertaken with other agencies, namely:

Compliance with corporate credit card requirements in the NDIA – published 30 May 2024.[67]

2.63Of the three performance audit reports tabled, two were deemed partly effective and one was deemed largely effective.

2.64Whilst Services Australia agreed to a majority of the ANAO’s recommendations contained in each report, the committee would appreciate if the agency could provide a summary of the Auditor-General’s recommendations and provide a comment on the status of its implementation in their future annual reports.

Final comments

2.65The committee commends Services Australia on its detailed annual report for 2023–24 and considers it to be apparently satisfactory.

Footnotes

[1]Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC), Annual Report 2023–24, pp. 5–6.

[2]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, pp. 8–11.

[3]DoHAC, Corporate Plan 2024–25, p. 4.

[4]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 100.

[5]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 222.

[6]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 222.

[7]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 224.

[8]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 224.

[9]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 223.

[10]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 222.

[11]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 222.

[12]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 222.

[13]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 222.

[14]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 222.

[15]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 222.

[16]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 124.

[17]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 124.

[18]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 125.

[19]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 125.

[20]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 126.

[21]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, pp. 136–139.

[22]DoHAC, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 136

[23]Department of Social Services (DSS), Annual Report 2023–24, pp. 1–5.

[24]DSS, Corporate Plan 2023–24, p. 6.

[25]DSS, Corporate Plan 2022–23, p. 6.

[26]DSS, Annual Report 2021–22, p. 18.

[27]DSS, Annual Report 2021–22, p. 18.

[28]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 17.

[29]Department of Finance, Reliable and Verifiable, https://www.finance.gov.au/government/managing-commonwealth-resources/developing-performance-measures-rmg-131/reliable-verifiable(accessed 2 December 2024).

[30]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 21.

[31]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 19.

[32]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 19.

[33]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 21.

[34]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 142.

[35]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 142.

[36]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 145.

[37]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 145.

[38]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 145.

[39]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 183.

[40]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 183.

[41]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 183.

[42]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 271.

[43]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 185.

[44]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 185.

[45]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 187.

[46]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 187.

[47]DSS, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 164.

[48]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, pp. x–xii.

[49]Services Australia, Corporate Plan 2023–24, p. 3.

[50]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 19.

[51]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 19.

[52]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 21.

[53]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 21.

[54]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 21.

[55]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 23.

[56]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 22.

[57]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 156.

[58]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 156.

[59]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 156.

[60]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 156.

[61]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 156.

[62]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 212.

[63]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 212.

[64]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 213.

[65]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 213.

[66]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 130.

[67]Services Australia, Annual Report 2023–24, p. 130.