The audit would assess the effectiveness of the design and implementation of the National Housing Accord and the Housing Australian Future Fund.

The National Housing Accord is an agreement between all levels of government, institutional investors and the construction sectors. It aims to increase the supply of housing with: ‘an initial, aspirational target of delivering a total of one million new, well-located homes over five years from 2024; and immediate and longer-term actions for all parties to support the delivery of more affordable homes’.

The Housing Australia Future Fund was established in November 2023. It is a $10 billion investment fund managed by the Future Fund Board. The income generated by the fund is expected to provide funding to deliver 20,000 new social and 10,000 affordable homes over five years. Housing Australia is responsible for administering the majority of disbursements from the fund through the Housing Australia Future Fund Facility.

The Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs) require that, in order to draw the market’s early attention to potential opportunities, each entity must maintain on AusTender a current procurement plan containing a short strategic procurement outlook. Entity procurement plans are also to include the subject matter of any significant planned procurement and the estimated publication date of the approach to market. Plans are to be updated regularly throughout the year. As at November 2023, 52% of the 133 reporting entities had not updated their procurement plans in over two years. Of the 3,752 open tenders published on AusTender between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2023, 799 (21.3%) were reported as having been included in an Annual Procurement Plan.

This audit would examine the preparation of entity procurement plans and their effectiveness, including by analysing the extent to which significant procurements conducted had been included in the relevant annual procurement plan.

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 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.

This cross-entity audit would assess the effectiveness of actions by the Department of Health and Aged Care (Health) and National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) to achieve Australian Government targets for reducing the number of younger people entering or remaining in residential aged care, and the Department of Social Services’ (DSS’) oversight and evaluation of actions taken.

In 2019, the Australian Government committed to ensuring no younger person (under the age of 65) lives in residential aged care unless there are exceptional circumstances.

The Younger People in Residential Aged Care Strategy 2020–25, a cross-entity Australian Government strategy, was released in September 2020. The strategy is to support achievement of the following targets, with the exception of those who fell into the category of exceptional circumstances:

• no people under the age of 65 entering residential aged care by 2022;
• no people under the age of 45 living in residential aged care by 2022; and
• no people under the age of 65 living in residential aged care by 2025.

This audit would assess to what extent the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) has effectively managed its procurement contracts for Inland Rail.

Inland Rail is a key government infrastructure project. It involves building and operating a freight train line from Brisbane to Melbourne. Construction started in 2017 and is expected to finish in 2026.

In August 2021, the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee published a report which highlighted concerns with Inland Rail’s 2015 business case (Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee, Commonwealth of Australia, Inland Rail: derailed from the start (2021)). In October 2022, the Australian Government announced an independent review into Inland Rail. This was completed in April 2023 and made 19 recommendations focused around strengthening governance, reviewing risk approaches, assessing the scope and cost of Inland Rail including a revised delivery approach, consideration of further intermodal terminals, and maximising regional opportunities. The government agreed to all 19 recommendations.

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.

The objectives of this information report are to provide transparency of, and insights on, government grants expense and Commonwealth entities’ self-reporting of grants on GrantConnect.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Fraud Fusion Taskforce, to determine how government agencies work together to detect, resolve and prevent fraud and serious organised crime in the NDIS, while maintaining a focus on participant safety and welfare.

The NDIS Fraud Fusion Taskforce commenced in November 2022, co-led by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and Services Australia, with 14 other government agencies including the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. $126.3 million was allocated over four years in the October 2022–23 Federal Budget to establish the taskforce.

The 2024–25 Federal Budget allocated funding of $35.6 million, in addition to the allocation of $48.3 million over two years from 2023–24, to boost fraud detecting information technology systems at the NDIA and $23.5 million over two years for Services Australia to continue fraud investigation and response activities as part of the Fraud Fusion Taskforce.

The objective of this information report is to provide transparency and insights on the governing boards of Commonwealth entities and companies and the membership of these boards.