Committee Details

Overview

Role of the Auditor-General 

The role of the Auditor-General is to provide Parliament with independent assurance of public sector accountability and performance. This is achieved through reporting to Parliament on the results of its financial and performance audits.

About the Auditor-General Report

The report provides a summary of the audit results of entities within Queensland Health, which includes the Department of Health and 16 hospital and health services (HHSs) across Queensland. Annually, Queensland Health accounts for approximately 30 percent of government expenditure related to operational expenses. Therefore, increases in health expenditure have a causal impact on the state’s financial position. 

The report also summarises the audit results for 13 hospital foundations, 4 statutory bodies and 2 other state-controlled entities. 

The report recommended that the Department of Health should update its ‘Asset Management Key Terms paper’ to clearly define key asset maintenance terms. 

The report also recommended that the Department of Health and HHSs report the value of expenditure against the following terms in their respective annual reports: (1) deferred maintenance; (2) postponed capital maintenance; and, where applicable, (3) forecast lifecycle replacement, renewals and refurbishments.

Referral to Committee 

The committee is responsible under section 94 of the Parliament of Queensland Act 2001 for assessing the integrity, economy, efficiency and effectiveness of government financial management by examining government financial documents and considering reports of the Auditor-General.

The Auditor-General’s report was tabled on 15 January 2025 and the committee resolved to consider the report on 22 January 2025.

PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS

The committee held public briefings in Brisbane on Tuesday, 28 January 2025 and Monday, 31 March 2025.  See timeline below for further information.

Timeline