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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

View:  Auditor-General Report 14: 2024-25 - Managing Minjerribah Futures funding
View:  Report summary

In 2016, the Queensland Government launched the North Stradbroke Island Economic Transition Strategy (transition strategy) to assist the North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah) community in its economic transition away from sand mining. The transition strategy identified 23 projects due for completion by the end of 2021. In 2019, the transition strategy was reissued as Minjerribah Futures.

The Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation (QYAC) was the assigned project coordinator for 9 of the original 23 projects. This report outlines the key findings from the QAO’s assessment of how the Department of State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning, and the Department of Innovation, Tourism Industry Development and the Commonwealth Games managed funding agreements with QYAC. As QYAC is not a public sector entity, the QAO did not audit its use of the funds. 

The report found that: 

• reporting on the status of projects could be improved
• the design of the program impacted its timely delivery
• oversight of projects was inconsistent.

Auditor-General recommendations

The Auditor-General makes 7 recommendations to address the above findings.

In summary, the Auditor-General recommended – 

• the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation strengthens its:

 – public reporting on the current status of the Minjerribah Futures program 

 – funding acquittal processes for future projects

• the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation and the Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning use learnings from this program when establishing similar programs by:

 – conducting market analysis for sourcing external funding where it is identified that the program will not be entirely funded by the Queensland Government 

 – assessing the capacity and available skills of entities responsible for delivering multiple concurrent projects varying in nature, size, and complexity. They should also consider providing additional support, where required, through other government agencies that possess the necessary skills and expertise, such as the Department of Housing and Public Works 

 – tailoring the terms and conditions of funding agreements to ensure that reporting and milestone requirements are appropriate and achievable for the receiving entity 

 – updating standard terms and conditions of funding agreements to clarify to funding recipients what type of expenditure is considered appropriate 

 – establishing appropriate governance arrangements that are consistently applied over the life of strategies, particularly where strategies are modified or impacted by machinery of government changes.

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 Committee of the Legislative Assembly referred the report to the committee for consideration on 22 May 2025.

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