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AUDITOR-GENERAL SPECIAL REPORT No. 83 Communications

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AUDITOR-GENERAL SPECIAL REPORT No. 83 Communications 2009 No. 34 2009 PARLIAMENT OF TASMANIA AUDITOR-GENERAL SPECIAL REPORT No. 83 Communications by Government and The Tasmanian Brand project October 2009 Presented to both Houses of Parliament in accordance with the provisions of Audit Act 2008 Printed by: Print Applied Technology, Hobart © Crown in Right of the State of Tasmania October 2009 Auditor-General’s reports are available from the Tasmanian Audit Office, HOBART, although in limited supply. This report and the recent titles shown at the back of this report can be accessed via the Office’s home page. For further information please contact: Tasmanian Audit Office GPO Box 851 Hobart TASMANIA 7001 Phone: (03) 6226 0100, Fax (03) 6226 0199 Email: [email protected] Home Page: http://www.audit.tas.gov.au This report is printed on recycled paper. ISBN 978-0-9806227-1-8 29 October 2009 President Legislative Council HOBART Speaker House of Assembly HOBART Dear Madam President Dear Mr Speaker SPECIAL REPORT NO. 83 Communication by Government and The Tasmanian Brand project These reports, aimed at drawing conclusions on whether government expenditure on communications had been used for party political purposes and assessing whether the Tasmanian Brand project complied with Treasurer’s Instructions and whether maximum benefits from expenditure incurred to date were achieved, were prepared consequent to examinations conducted under section 23 of the Audit Act 2008. Yours sincerely H M Blake AUDITOR-GENERAL Contents Foreword ........................................................................................ i List of acronyms and abbreviations ............................................... ii Independent auditor’s conclusions ................................................ 2 Communications by Government ................................................................................ 2 The Tasmanian Brand project ..................................................................................... 4 Executive summary — Communications by Government ................ 8 Detailed audit conclusions ........................................................................................... 8 List of recommendations ............................................................................................. 9 Executive summary — The Tasmanian Brand project................... 11 Detailed audit conclusions ......................................................................................... 11 List of recommendations ........................................................................................... 12 Audit Act 2008 section 30 — Submissions and comments received ......................................................................... 14 Communications by Government .............................................................................. 14 The Tasmanian Brand project ................................................................................... 19 Communications by Government — Introduction ........................ 22 1 Guidelines ......................................................................... 26 1.1 Background .................................................................................................... 26 1.2 Advertising guidelines.................................................................................... 26 1.3 Survey guidelines ........................................................................................... 27 1.4 Websites ......................................................................................................... 27 1.5 State election caretaker conventions .............................................................. 28 1.6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 28 2 Advertising ........................................................................ 30 2.1 Background .................................................................................................... 30 2.2 Data collection................................................................................................ 30 2.3 Findings .......................................................................................................... 31 2.4 Caretaker conventions — compliance problems ............................................ 34 2.5 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 35 3 Websites............................................................................ 38 3.1 Background .................................................................................................... 38 3.2 Data collection................................................................................................ 38 3.3 Findings .......................................................................................................... 38 3.4 Media releases ................................................................................................ 39 3.5 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 40 4 Surveys and market research ............................................ 42 4.1 Background .................................................................................................... 42 4.2 Royal Hobart Hospital — DHHS ................................................................... 42 4.3 Biotechnology Report — DEDT .................................................................... 43 4.4 Tasmanian community surveys — DPAC ..................................................... 43 4.5 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 44 The Tasmanian Brand project — Introduction ............................. 46 Audit objectives ......................................................................................................... 46 Audit scope ................................................................................................................ 46 Audit criteria .............................................................................................................. 46 Audit approach ........................................................................................................... 47 Timing ........................................................................................................................ 47 1 Compliance with TIs .......................................................... 50 1.1 Background .................................................................................................... 50 1.2 Was funding properly approved? ................................................................... 50 1.3 Was expenditure incurred in accordance with delegations? .......................... 51 1.4 Were payments properly certified? ................................................................ 52 1.5 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 52 2 Did Government get maximum benefit? ............................ 54 2.1 Expenditure in 2007–08 (Right Here Right Now) .......................................... 54 2.2 Expenditure in 2008–09 (Tasmanian Brand) ................................................. 55 2.3 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 56 Recent reports ............................................................................. 58 Current projects .......................................................................... 60 List of Tables Table 1: Right Here Right Now expenditure in 2007–08 .......................................... 54 Table 2: Tasmanian Brand expenditure in 2008–09 ................................................. 55 Foreword Taxpayer-funded communications by Government take many forms and are needed for legitimate purposes including advertising products, services and programs. Such communications can be delivered using a variety of media some instantaneous. In any event they should not be used for party political purposes. Judgements about whether communications are for party political purposes can be problematic requiring effective guidelines to ensure compliance at all times particularly during caretaker periods. Our audit of Communications by Governments examined advertising, use of websites and media releases and of surveys and market research. Findings resulted in seven recommendations including the need for improved and more explicit guidelines for avoiding political advertising and that consideration is given to the appointment of an independent officer to investigate complaints of political advertising. This Report also outlines the results of our compliance audit of the Tasmanian Brand project including its forerunner the Right Here Right Now campaign. While we concluded that payments had been correctly certified, we noted that costs were incurred prior to a budget allocation and we could find no written authority for instances of delegations being exceeded. However, work is needed to ensure the realisation of the full benefits of expenditure incurred on a TV commercial and DVD developed. Three recommendations to address these findings were made. H M Blake Auditor-General 29 October 2009 i List of acronyms and abbreviations List of acronyms and abbreviations DEDT Department of Economic Development and Tourism DoE Department of Education
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