This audit would examine the effectiveness of Defence’s establishment and management of the Major Service Provider (MSP) Panel.

The MSP Agreement 2018–2026 was established to facilitate the engagement and management of large, long-term, multi-discipline and integrated work packages across the air, land and maritime capability domains. Defence selected four consortia (comprising 13 companies) as MSPs under the panel arrangements, which commenced in February 2018. AusTender data as at December 2023 indicated that the four MSPs had been awarded 351 contracts with a reported total value of $4.47 billion since the commencement of the panel in February 2018.

The audit would assess the administration of procurement on the construction and development of the National Security Office precinct.

The Department of Finance is leading the development of a National Security Office Precinct (Precinct) at the York Park in Barton, ACT. The Precinct will provide a permanent solution to the critical accommodation and capability requirements of several national security and other Commonwealth agencies. The Precinct is expected to accommodate up to 5,000 workers.

This audit would examine the effectiveness of the allocation of funding for assistive technology supports under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), including how the NDIA assesses these supports as reasonable and necessary for each participant and manages associated fraud risks.

Assistive technology is a support category for devices, mobility aides, software, equipment, vehicle modifications or animals that assist people with disability to do things more easily, safely or independently. Funding for assistive technology under the NDIS must meet ‘reasonable and necessary’ decision criteria. In the twelve months to 30 September 2023, assistive technology accounted for 3 per cent ($1.4 billion) of annualised committed supports in current participant plans.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of Services Australia’s management of automated decision making. Automation can support timely, efficient and consistent decision making. The Commonwealth Ombudsman’s 2019 Better Practice Guide on Automated Decision-Making and the Australian Government’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Ethics Principles provide entities with guidance on key principles for the design, implementation and monitoring of automated decision-making processes.

The Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme report of 7 July 2023 highlighted risks relating to automation, particularly where the automated processes remove any element of human decision-making and limit citizen’s ability to challenge the decision. The Australian Government accepted the Royal Commission’s recommendation relating to introducing a consistent legal framework for automated decision-making. In the response to the Privacy Act Review Report released on 28 September 2023, the Australian Government agreed to increase the transparency and integrity of decisions made using automated decision-making that uses personal information.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s management of biosecurity risks for goods.

The Biosecurity Act 2015 provides the department with powers that may be exercised to assess the level of biosecurity risk for goods subject to biosecurity control, and measures that may be taken if the level of risk is deemed to be unacceptable.

This audit would examine the Department of Social Services’ (the department’s) management of its Data Exchange (DEX) performance reporting portal.

DEX is a web portal that allows providers receiving government funding to report on program outputs (such as the number of clients assisted) and outcomes (such as improvements in clients’ health and wellbeing). It is underpinned by three principles: providers should spend less time collecting and reporting administrative data and more time helping clients; data collection should focus on client outcomes; and client personal information and privacy is protected. The department uses DEX as the data source for three corporate plan performance measures under its Families and Communities and Disability and Carers programs. DEX has also been extended to other Commonwealth and state government programs, including grant programs delivered through DSS’s Community Grants Hub. While the department is responsible for managing DEX, Services Australia has operated the portal since 2021 as part of its delivery of shared ICT services for the department.

The audit will assess the effectiveness of the Department of Health and Aged Care’s (Health’s) approach to health provider compliance, including its response to the 2023 Independent Review of Medicare Integrity and Compliance. The audit will also examine the Professional Services Review Scheme, which investigates Medicare-referred cases of possible inappropriate practice in relation to Medicare, Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS) and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

Health has policy responsibility for Medicare, the CDBS and the PBS. Through its Health Benefit Compliance Program, the department aims to support the integrity of health benefit claims through prevention, early identification and treatment of incorrect claiming, inappropriate practice and fraud. Auditor-General Report No. 17 2020–21 Managing Health Provider Compliance found that the department’s approach to health provider compliance was partially effective, due in part to a lack of risk-based compliance planning and monitoring of compliance outcomes. The Independent Review of Medicare Integrity and Compliance (the Philip Review), completed in March 2023, made a number of recommendations to strengthen the integrity of the Medicare system and its health provider compliance mechanisms. In the 2023–24 Federal Budget Health received $29.8 million to establish a taskforce to respond to the review’s recommendations. In the 2024–25 Budget, Health received $18.1 million over four years to extend and expand the government’s response to the Philip Review.

This audit would assess how the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) monitors and assesses outcomes for National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants and uses that data to assess the effectiveness of NDIS funded supports, supports the maintenance of the National Disability Data Asset (NDDA) and informs continuous improvement of NDIA processes.

The 2024–25 Federal Budget provided $45.5 million over four years (and $13.3 million per year ongoing) to establish a NDIS Evidence Advisory Committee to provide advice to government on the efficacy and cost-benefits of types of supports funded by the NDIS, aimed at improving outcomes and ensuring better value for participants.

This audit would examine the stand up and early implementation of the Urgent Care Clinics (UCCs), including the selection of locations and providers for UCCs, and the establishment of performance measures and monitoring arrangements to enable the Department of Health and Aged Care to ensure UCCs are achieving their intended outcomes.

In the 2023–24 Federal Budget, the Australian Government announced $358.5 million over five years from 2022–23 to establish 58 UCCs. The UCCs aimed to reduce pressure on hospital emergency departments and make it easier for Australian families to see a doctor or a nurse when they require urgent but not life-threatening care. All UCCs were to be open during extended business hours, with no appointments required, and no out-of-pocket costs for patients. In the 2024–25 Federal Budget, the government announced $227.0 million over three years from 2023–24 to boost the capacity of UCCs (including a further 29 to be established for a total of 87) and provide additional support to clinics in regional and rural Australia.

This audit would assess whether the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA’s) procurement of counselling service providers for the Open Arms program has been conducted in accordance with the Commonwealth Procurement Rules.

Open Arms is a counselling service for Australian veterans and their families, provided through DVA. Open Arms counselling is delivered by a national network of mental health professionals, both in Open Arms centres across the country and by partnerships with private psychologists and social workers, called Outreach Program Counsellors (OPCs). In 2022–23, 323,874 Open Arms services were provided to 43,134 veterans and their families with the program costing $115.6 million. In February 2024, DVA commenced a procurement process to develop a panel of OPCs. The establishment of the panel is expected to be completed by 30 June 2024.