Auditor-General of Queensland Queensland of Auditor-General Report to Parliament No. 11 for 2011 11 for No. Parliament to Report Financial and Assurance audit Report to Parliament No. 11 for 2011 Results of audits at 31 October 2011 Additional: Auditor-General retrospective 2004-11 ISSN 1834-1128 Enhancing public sector accountability Cover.indd 1 9/11/2011 11:29:10 AM Auditor-General of Queensland Financial and Assurance audit Report to Parliament No. 11 for 2011 Results of audits at 31 October 2011 Additional: Auditor-General retrospective 2004-11 © The State of Queensland. Queensland Audit Office (2011) Copyright protects this publication except for purposes permitted by the Copyright Act. Reproduction by whatever means is prohibited without the prior written permission of the Auditor-General of Queensland. Reference to this document is permitted only with appropriate acknowledgement. Queensland Audit Office Level 14, 53 Albert Street, Brisbane Qld 4000 GPO Box 15396, City East Qld 4002 Phone 07 3149 6000 Fax 07 3149 6011 Email [email protected] Web www.qao.qld.gov.au This report has been produced using paper stock manufactured to ISO 14001 environmental standards. Hanno Art Silk is totally chlorine free, acid free, has pulp sourced from sustainably managed forests and meets ISO 9706 archival standards. It was proudly printed in Queensland by Goprint meeting ISO 14001 environmental and ISO 9001 quality standards. ISSN 1834-1136 Publications are available at www.qao.qld.gov.au or by phone on 07 3149 6000. Auditor-General of Queensland November 2011 The Honourable R J Mickel MP Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Parliament House BRISBANE QLD 4000 Dear Mr Speaker This report is prepared under Part 3 Division 3 of the Auditor-General Act 2009, and is titled Results of audits at 31 October 2011. It is number 11 in the series of Auditor-General Reports to Parliament for 2011. In accordance with s.67 of the Act, would you please arrange for the report to be tabled in the Legislative Assembly. Yours sincerely Glenn Poole Auditor-General Contents Executive summary .............................................................................................1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 Auditor-General retrospective 2004-11 .......................................................................................... 1 Summary of audit results and related issues ................................................................................. 2 Cross cluster issues ....................................................................................................................... 3 Results of Financial and Assurance audits by policy cluster .......................................................... 6 Stakeholders’ response ................................................................................................................. 9 Retrospective 2004-11 .......................................................................................17 1 | Summary of audit results and related issues ................................................. 29 1.1 Audit approach ................................................................................................................. 30 1.2 Auditors’ opinions issued .................................................................................................. 31 1.3 Internal control issues ....................................................................................................... 39 1.4 Financial reporting issues ................................................................................................. 43 1.5 Public sector losses .......................................................................................................... 45 2 | Cross cluster issues ......................................................................................47 2.1 Sale of Queensland Government infrastructure assets .................................................... 48 2.2 Follow up of Auditor-General Reports to Parliament on infrastructure .............................. 55 2.3 Status of the Nation Building – Economic Stimulus Plan at 30 June 2011 ....................... 57 2.4 Shared services ................................................................................................................ 61 2.5 Management of public sector employee housing – implementation of 2008 recommendations ............................................................................................................. 65 3 | Results of audits – Policy and Fiscal Coordination cluster ............................. 69 3.1 Ministerial responsibilities ................................................................................................. 70 3.2 Audits included in the policy cluster .................................................................................. 70 4 | Results of audits – Social Development cluster ............................................. 75 4.1 Ministerial responsibilities ................................................................................................. 76 4.2 Key issues ........................................................................................................................ 76 4.3 Audits included in the policy cluster .................................................................................. 80 5 | Results of audits – Environment and Sustainable Resource Management cluster .....................................................................................83 5.1 Ministerial responsibilities ................................................................................................. 84 5.2 Audits included in the policy cluster .................................................................................. 84 6 | Results of audits – Employment and Economic Development cluster ........... 89 6.1 Ministerial responsibilities ................................................................................................. 90 6.2 Key issues ........................................................................................................................ 90 6.3 Audits included in the policy cluster .................................................................................. 99 7 | Results of audits – Law, Justice and Safety cluster ..................................... 109 7.1 Ministerial responsibilities ............................................................................................... 110 7.2 Audits included in the policy cluster ................................................................................ 110 8 | Results of audits – Government Services cluster ........................................ 113 8.1 Ministerial responsibilities ............................................................................................... 114 8.2 Key issues ...................................................................................................................... 114 8.3 Audits included in the policy cluster ................................................................................ 114 9 | Appendices ................................................................................................115 9.1 Financial and Assurance audit process .......................................................................... 115 9.2 Types of opinions............................................................................................................ 116 9.3 Queensland Government – clusters, departments and responsible Ministers ................ 118 9.4 Acronyms ........................................................................................................................ 119 9.5 Glossary ......................................................................................................................... 119 9.6 References ..................................................................................................................... 121 10 | Auditor-General Reports to Parliament ...................................................... 123 10.1 Tabled in 2011 ................................................................................................................ 123 TOP Executive summary Introduction Each financial year, a number of reports are presented to Parliament containing the results of Financial and Assurance audits completed during the year. This report is the first containing the results of Financial and Assurance audits of the Consolidated Whole of Government Financial Statements, Consolidated Fund Financial Report and public sector entities with a 30 June 2011 balance date. The report includes the results of audits of departments, statutory bodies, government owned corporations, local governments and their controlled entities, completed as at 31 October 2011. In March 2009, machinery of government changes created 13 departments responsible to 18 Ministers grouped under six policy clusters: 1. Policy and Fiscal Coordination. 2. Social Development. 3. Environment and Sustainable Resource Management. 4. Employment and Economic Development. 5. Law, Justice and Safety. 6. Government Services. Some Ministers have responsibilities spanning policy clusters. This report has been structured with audits listed by cluster to enable easier identification of policy responsibility. Policy cluster responsibilities are shown in Section 9.3.