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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

The purpose of the report is to examine how effective the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation’s and 3 selected South East Queensland councils’ strategies have been in reducing the amount of household organic waste sent to landfill. The report considered the following: 

• Household organic waste sent to landfill can release methane, a harmful greenhouse gas.
• Reducing the amount sent to landfill requires effective strategies and a coordinated approach from state and local governments, industry, and the community.
• The Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (the department) is responsible for designing and overseeing Queensland’s waste reduction strategies. The Queensland Government has set targets for reducing the amount of organic waste sent to landfill.

The report recommended that the department, in collaboration with councils and industry:

1. Assesses whether the objectives, goals, and targets in the Queensland Organics Strategy 2022–2032 are achievable, and uses this information to inform its approach going forward. This should include assessing the value and priority of actions based on progress to date, known risks, and relevant performance information.

2. Provides clarity about how it intends to manage the risk of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in compost. This should include

• clearly communicating with councils, industry, and relevant stakeholders the department’s approach going forward to manage PFAS risk in compost
• continuing to monitor PFAS risks in organic waste.

3. Strengthens its risk management practices. This should include:

• Regularly identifying risks to achieving the objectives of the Queensland Organics Strategy 2022–2032, assessing their likelihood and impact, and clearly stating the department’s risk appetite.
• Implementing effective mitigation controls and continuing to assess the effectiveness of controls where risks do materialise.

4. Improves access to funding for infrastructure and organic waste initiatives. This should include

• reviewing existing grant funding guidelines and processes to identify opportunities to give greater flexibility and improve timely access
• finalising planning activities and decisions to support the expansion of organic waste processing activities in line with key priorities.

5. Improves how it monitors, evaluates, and reports performance against the Queensland Organics Strategy 2022–2032 and the Queensland Organics Action Plan 2022–2032. This should include

• collecting reliable organic waste data that will enable it to measure progress against the objectives
• assessing whether existing targets are appropriate
• monitoring performance against the objectives, performance measures, and targets
• regularly assessing the effectiveness of actions and using this information to inform its approach
• regularly reporting performance information to key decision makers, including the status of actions, key issues, and performance against the strategy’s objectives and targets.

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 Health, Environment and Innovation 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 Health, Environment and Innovation Committee on 28 August 2025.

Committee’s report

The committee report will be published here after it has been tabled.

Related information

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