Committee Details

REFERRAL TO COMMITEE

The Legislative Assembly referred this Auditor-General report to the former State Development and Regional Industries Committee on 24 August 2023. On 13 February 2024, Legislative Assembly amended Schedule 6 of the Standing Rules and Orders of the Legislative Assembly, establishing the Housing, Big Build and Manufacturing Committee, and transferred this Auditor-General's report to the Housing, Big Build and Manufacturing Committee.

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 purpose of the report was to assess how well Queensland’s local councils are managing their assets, specifically whether they have sufficient and accurate information to enable them to plan how to maintain and replace their assets as they age. 

The report made 5 recommendations directed at local councils. These were that they assess whether their:

• governance structures and cultures ensure a whole-of-council approach to asset management
• asset management plans are current and cover all major asset classes
• data is recorded in a way that can be and is reconciled to their financial asset register
• workforce plans and strategies identify the necessary asset management capabilities and relevant training to be completed

And that:

• all councils provide their assessments and action plans to address the above recommendations to their audit and risk committees.

In addition, the report made 4 recommendations to the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning. These were that the department:

• develops a documented compliance strategy to monitor councils’ asset management approach to meet the asset sustainability ratios
• analyses asset management plans when assessing grant applications for infrastructure projects
• works with councils to enhance their asset management capability through a combination of identifying gaps in key capabilities needed by asset managers, developing relevant training and evaluating the results
• develops better practice guidance for local government on the minimum requirements for key asset management documents.

Referral to Committee 

Standing Order 194B provides that the Committee of the Legislative Assembly shall as soon as practicable after a report of the Auditor-General is tabled in the Assembly refer that report to the relevant portfolio committee(s) for consideration. 

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 Committee of the Legislative Assembly referred this Auditor-General report to the committee on 24 August 2023.