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COMMITTEE'S CONSIDERATION

In its Report No. 34, 57th Parliament - Annual Report 2021-22, tabled on 17 October 2022, the committee reported on its consideration of a number of Auditor-General's reports referred to it, including Auditor-General Report 10: 2019-20 - Effectiveness of the State Penalties Enforcement Registry ICT reform. The committee did not resolve to hold further inquiries into these audit reports and made no recommendations to the Legislative Assembly.

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 and other insights.

About the Auditor-General Report

The report outlines the results of a performance audit of the information communication technology (ICT) aspect of the State Penalties Enforcement Registry (SPER) Reform Program, which was commenced after the Under Treasurer alerted the Auditor-General to concerns about a series of delays in the delivery of the ICT project. The ICT project was intended to provide new case-management software for SPER, which is responsible for collecting and enforcing unpaid fines issued in Queensland (including infringement notices, court-ordered monetary penalties, and offender recovery orders). The contract for the ICT project was ultimately terminated after three years and two months in May 2019, at which time $52.7 million in project costs had been incurred.

The QAO identified weaknesses in the governance of the procurement process, including in defining the program requirements, assessing the vendor and vendor’s product, defining the contract deliverables, and finalising the terms of the contract. The report also identified weaknesses in the ongoing governance of the ICT project once commenced, including in relation to the composition and operations of the Reform Program steering committee, the identification and management of project risks, the scope of project assurance activities and responses to those activities, contract management (including conflict over contract variations), and the management of the integration of the project with other ICT systems. The QAO also concluded that SPER’s inexperience in large projects of this nature and overly optimistic view of the project’s prospects for success in the face of identified issues was costly to the overall project outcome.

The QAO made 8 recommendations in total to assist in the procurement and management of future ICT projects – five recommendations to the Department of Housing and Public Works (DHPW), and 3 recommendations to Queensland Treasury. Some of the recommendations are also relevant to the interactions of these departments with other departments or agencies.

DHPW stated that it would implement the QAO’s 5 recommendations for DHPW between quarter 4 of 2019-20 and quarter 4 of 2020-21. Queensland Treasury advised it would implement the QAO’s three recommendations to Treasury by quarter 3 of 2019-20.

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’s report to the former committee on 6 February 2020. The Economics and Governance Committee of the 57th Parliament re-commenced consideration of the report on 22 February 2021.

Public briefing

Public briefing - Thursday, 23 April 2020 - program - broadcast - transcript

Continuation of Lapsed Referral

Auditor-General Report 10: 2019-20 was referred to the Economics and Governance Committee of the 56th Parliament (former committee) on 6 February 2020. The former committee’s consideration of the report, which was ongoing when the Parliament was dissolved by proclamation dated 6 October 2020, ultimately lapsed at that time (see lapsed consideration).

The Economics and Governance Committee of the 57th Parliament re-commenced the former committee’s consideration of Report 10: 2019-20—Effectiveness of the State Penalties Enforcement Registry ICT reform.