Annual Report - 3.5 External Liaison and Scrutiny

Table of contents

Part 3: Management Arrangements

Part 4: Accountability Reporting

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In 2008–09, the Department, through its Audit and Fraud Control Branch, worked with the Australian National Audit Office, and provided responses to proposed audit findings and recommendations prior to the Auditor-General presenting his reports to Parliament.

The Department also liaised with the Commonwealth Ombudsman on complaints relating to aspects of the Department’s administrative activities, and with the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit on matters relating to the Department.

Information on the Auditor-General’s reports, the reports of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit and Commonwealth Ombudsman complaints is set out below.

Australian National Audit Office

In 2008–09, the Australian National Audit Office tabled several reports in Parliament on audits involving the Department. Included were audits specific to the Department, cross-agency audits where the Department was involved and other audits where the Department was not directly involved but where recommendations were targeted at all agencies.
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Audits Specific to the Department

Rural and Remote Health Workforce Capacity – the contribution made by programs administered by the Department of Health and Ageing (Audit Report No.26 of 2008–09, tabled 19 March 2009)

The audit assessed the effectiveness of the Department’s administration of health workforce initiatives in rural and remote Australia. The audit concluded that while the Department had established structural arrangements to administer its program delivery, it had yet to develop a cohesive approach to inform its strategies, and to report on its contribution to health workforce outcomes in rural and remote areas of Australia.

The audit observed that the Department’s ability to set organisational strategies to provide Australians with access to an enhanced health workforce in rural and remote areas of Australia had been hindered by:

limited monitoring of key risks identified by the Department, particularly the insufficient supply of adequately trained personnel to work in the health sector;
the Department’s lack of a performance information strategy to inform Government and Parliament about the quality of the health workforce and its distribution across rural and remote Australia, and the level of access to health services by people in rural and remote areas; and
the use of old and unsuitable census data and geographic classification systems as the basis for providing incentives to health professionals to work in rural and remote areas of Australia.

The audit also noted that over the past year there had been considerable activity in other jurisdictions and within the Department directed at improving health workforce capacity in rural and remote Australia:

in April 2008, the Minister for Health and Ageing announced that there would be a review of all targeted Australian Government programs in rural and remote Australia and that all geographic classification systems would be reviewed;
in July 2008, the Department re-established the Office of Rural Health; and
in November 2008, the Council of Australian Governments agreed to a significant health workforce package of $1.6 billion underwritten by the Commonwealth.

The audit made three recommendations relating to improvements in workforce planning, training and education, workforce data and performance information.

The Department agreed with the recommendations, noting that there was considerable activity already underway that addressed the recommendations and was directed at sustainable improvement in health workforce capacity in rural and remote Australia.

Discussion on activities undertaken by the Department in 2008–09 can be found in the Outcome 6 Rural Health and Outcome 12 Health Workforce Capacity chapters.
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Planning and Allocating Aged Care Places and Capital Grants (Audit Report No.40 of 2008–09, tabled 2 June 2009)

The audit assessed the effectiveness of the Department’s management of the planning and allocation of aged care places and capital grants, in accordance with the Aged Care Act 1997 (the Act). The audit’s overall conclusions were:

the planning and allocation of aged care places was a mature process and, overall, the Department had adopted an appropriate approach to its planning, implementation and reporting against government targets;
the Department had effectively managed the planning and allocation of aged care places and capital grants, in accordance with the the Act; and
the Department had sound administrative processes that:
- take into account the objectives of the Act when providing advice to the Minister for Health and Ageing on the planning ratio target;
- allow staff to follow established legislative and internal guidelines to implement each step of the Aged Care Approvals Round; and
- provide adequate information for the Department to report on outcomes against Government targets.

The audit noted that the Department had achieved the Government’s 2004 and 2007 targets for the provision of aged care places, and was well placed to achieve the current target. It also noted that although the Department had an effective approach to managing and allocating aged care places, there were two high-level processes that could be augmented to improve aged care planning, increase the transparency of the Department’s provision of places to Indigenous Australians and, more generally, improve the equity of access to aged care for older Australians. These processes are:

providing advice to the Minister for Ageing on options for incorporating the Indigenous aged 50 to 69 population numbers into the planning ratio target; and
assessing alternatives to how it applies the Government’s national aged care planning ratio across state and territories, to better take account of state demographic differences.

The audit made two recommendations, one regarding alternatives for the application of the aged care planning ratio and the other regarding arrangements to track the costs of key components of the aged care approvals round.

The Department supported the recommendations, noting that the Government had made a commitment to undertake a review of the aged care planning ratio and it would be appropriate to address the issues raised in the audit as part of that review. Further discussion relating to the review can be found in the Outcome 4 Aged Care and Population Ageing chapter.
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Cross Agency Audits Where the Department was Involved

The Department was involved in three cross agency audits:

The Approval of Small and Medium Sized Business System Projects (Audit Report No.21 of 2008–09) (tabled 10 February 2009);
The Administration of Contracting Arrangements in Relation to Government Advertising to November 2007 (Audit Report No.24 of 2008–09) (tabled 5 March 2009); and
Green Office Procurement and Sustainable Office Management (Audit Report No.25 of 2008–09) (tabled 11 March 2009).

Other Audits Where the Department was Not Directly Involved But Where Recommendations Were Targeted at All Agencies

The Department was involved in the following audits targeted at all government agencies:

The Senate Order for Departmental and Agency Contracts (Calendar Year 2007 Compliance) (Audit Report No.5 of 2008–09) (tabled 25 September 2008);
Government Agencies’ Management of their Websites (Audit Report No.13 of 2008–09) (tabled 16 December 2008);
Online Availability of Government Entities’ Documents Tabled in the Australian Parliament (Audit Report No.37 of 2008–09) (tabled 25 May 2009); and
Security Risk Management (Audit Report No.44 of 2008–09) (tabled 23 June 2009).

The Department’s Audit Committee scrutinised the implementation of relevant recommendations from Australian National Audit Office reports and considered formal reports including details of implementation at least twice yearly. Further discussion relating to the Audit Committee can be found in Part 3.1 Corporate Governance and Part 3.6 Internal Audit Arrangements.

Details of the Auditor-General’s reports, including responses to the recommendations where the Department was involved in the audits, can be found at the Australian National Audit Office website www.anao.gov.au. Other enquiries regarding the reports should be directed to the Assistant Secretary, Audit and Fraud Control Branch, in the Department. Telephone and address details for the Department are listed in Part 6.1 Department of Health and Ageing Contact Details.
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Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit

In 2008–09, the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit tabled two reports on reviews of reports of the Auditor-General where the reports of the Auditor-General had related to matters administered by the Department:

Report 412 – Audit Reports Reviewed During the 41st Parliament (tabled 25 August 2008); and
Report 414 – Review of Auditor-General’s Reports tabled between August 2007 and August 2008 (tabled 22 June 2009).

Report 412 made two recommendations to the Department, both of which were supported by the Department. Report 414 included the review of the Auditor-Generals’ report on the Whole of Government Indigenous Service Delivery Arrangements (Audit Report No.10 of 2007–08). While the audit involved the Department, the recommendations from the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit’s report were all directed at other agencies.

Details of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit’s reports, including responses to the recommendations where the Department was involved in audits reviewed by the committee, can be found at the Parliament of Australia website www.aph.gov.au. Other enquiries regarding the reports should be directed to the Assistant Secretary, Audit and Fraud Control Branch, in the Department.

Judicial Decision and Decision of Administrative Tribunals

The Department was involved in 35 matters before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal; one matter before the Federal Magistrates Court; and three matters before the Federal Court. The Department had one matter before the High Court and no matters before the Full Federal Court during 2008–09.

Other Parliamentary Scrutiny

The Department appeared before the Senate Standing Committee (Senate Estimates) on three occasions during the 2008–09 financial year for a total of seven days:

Supplementary Budget Estimates – 22 and 24 October 2008;
Additional Budget Estimates – 25 and 27 February 2009; and
Budget Estimates – 3, 4 and 5 June 2009.

The Department also gave evidence and/or made submissions to a number of Parliamentary Committee inquiries as follows.

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Table 3.5.1 Evidence and/or Submissions to Parliamentary Committee Inquiries

Parliamentary Committee	Inquiry
Senate Community Affairs Committee Legislation Committee	Compliance Audits on Medicare Benefits Inquiry into the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill 2009 and two related bills Health Workforce Australia Bill 2009 Private Health Insurance Legislation Amendment Bill 2009 Private Health Insurance (National Joint Replacement Register Levy) Bill 2009
Standing Committee	Petrol Sniffing and Substance Abuse in Central Australia Excise Tariff Amendment (2009 Measures No.1) Bill 2009 and Customs Tariff Amendment (2009 Measures No.1) Bill 2009 Aged Care Amendment (2008 Measures No.2) Bill 2008 Draft National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits – Charges) Regulations 2008 National Health Amendment (Pharmaceutical and Other Benefits – Cost Recovery) Bill 2008
References Committee	Gene Patents
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing	Obesity in Australia
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family, Community Housing and Youth	Better Support for Carers
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Climate Change, Water, Environment and the Arts	Inquiry into Climate Change and Environmental Impacts on Coastal Communities
Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration	Medicare Item 16525 in Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table Regulations 2007) Residential and Community Aged Care in Australia
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs	Community Stores in Remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities
Senate Select Committee on Men’s Health
Senate Select Committee Regional and Remote Indigenous Communities
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Petitions	Hearing and round table discussion of 3 December 2008

In addition, the Department had a significant workload of Parliamentary Questions with a combined total of 159 questions received on notice from the House of Representatives and the Senate, and a total of 824 from the three Senate Estimates hearings.

Figure 3.5.1: Parliamentary Questions Completed by the Department: 2004–05 to 2008–09

Source: Department of Health and Ageing Annual Reports, 2004–05 to 2008–09.

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Commonwealth Ombudsman

Anyone with concerns about the Department’s actions or decision-making is entitled to make a complaint with the Commonwealth Ombudsman. The Ombudsman determines whether the Department was wrong, unjust, discriminatory or unfair in any act. Further information on the role of the Commonwealth Ombudsman can be obtained from the website www.ombudsman.gov.au.

During 2008–09, the Commonwealth Ombudsman investigated 63 complaints against the Department’s administrative practices, 15 of which had carried over from 2007–08. Of the 48 new complaints investigations commenced in 2008–09, 30 remained open as at 30 June 2009. The Commonwealth Ombudsman has advised of two findings of administrative deficiency relating to the Department in 2008–09.

Key Fact for 2008–09: How Else Can I Provide Feedback or Make a Complaint?

Some areas of the Department have charters explaining what people can expect in terms of service, and how they can either provide feedback or make a complaint. The following service charters offer various ways in which to do this, for example by telephone, mail, online or fax:

the Office of Hearing Services Service Charter (available at www.health.gov.au/hear). The Complaints Officer can be contacted by telephone on 1800 500 726 (voice) or 1800 500 496 (TTY equipment); fax (02) 6289 5555; or email hearing@health.gov.au;
the Therapeutic Goods Administration Customer Service Charter (available at www.tga.gov.au). The Customer Feedback/Complaints Service numbers are 1800 020 653 (voice); 1800 555 677 (TTY equipment – callers must ask for 1800 020 653); and 1800 555 727 (Speak and listen users must ask for 1800 020 653). The public can also send a fax to (02) 6232 8605, or write to feedback@tga.gov.au;
the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator Service Charter (available at www.ogtr.gov.au). The office can be contacted by telephone on 1800 181 030; fax (02) 6271 4202; and email ogtr@health.gov.au; and
the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme Service Charter (available at <www.nicnas.gov.au>). The scheme can be contacted by telephone on 1800 638 528; fax (02) 8577 8888; and email info@nicnas.gov.au.

The Department also manages the Aged Care Complaints Investigation Scheme, which is available for anyone who has a complaint or concern about an Australian Government subsidised aged care service. Further details are available from www.health.gov.au or 1800 550 552.

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