Background
- February 2022 - the NSW Treasury Secretary indicated to the NSW Public Accountability Committee that he would commission an independent assessment (the Assessment) of Treasury’s processes for the preparation of the 2021 State Financial Statements as they relate to the specific matters raised by the Auditor General in Chapter 3 of her Report on State Finances 2021.
- March 2022 - former Commonwealth departmental secretary and Public Service Commissioner, Mr Stephen Sedgwick AO, was appointed to conduct the Assessment. Mr Sedgwick provided his Assessment report to Treasury on 30 June 2022. The report contains 11 recommendations, which Treasury has accepted.
- August 2022 - the Treasury Executive Board endorsed an implementation plan. This plan identified 27 actions required to deliver on the independent assessment’s recommendations.
Actions
The actions required included:
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delivering learning and development programs;
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improving working arrangements with the Audit Office of NSW;
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embedding of knowledge transfer protocols; and
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strengthening arrangements for management of consultants.
Staff across Treasury have worked to deliver these actions, overseen by a cross-Treasury steering committee.
Current Status
- June 2023 - the Treasury Executive Board reviewed the progress made against the implementation plan and agreed that it was substantially complete.
- Recommendations relating to management of consultants have been expanded and the delivery timeframes extended, to respond to the subsequent Audit Office of NSW Performance Audit on the use of consultants.
- Treasury’s Risk, Compliance and Audit team will monitor the delivery of the remaining items in the action plan over the course of financial year 2023-24.
Stephen Sedgwick, Audit Office report, Independent assessment report
