Part 3.5: External Liaison and Scrutiny

We value working in an apolitical, fair, professional and ethical manner.

In 2009-10, 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 in 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 the Commonwealth Ombudsman's complaints, is set out below.

Australian National Audit Office

In 2009-10, 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.

Audits Specific to the Department

Protection of Residential Aged Care Accommodation Bonds (Audit Report No.5 of 2009-10)(tabled 17 September 2009).

The audit assessed the department's administration of prudential arrangements for the protection of residential aged care accommodation bonds.

The audit concluded that while the department had established some of the elements necessary to underpin a sound administrative framework, further attention was required in a number of areas to strengthen regulatory oversight.

The audit report acknowledged that the department already had commenced work on a number of fronts relating to the audit findings.

The audit made seven recommendations relating to improvements in the department's regulatory approach and effectiveness, all of which were agreed by the department.

Cross Agency Audits where the Department was involved

Security Awareness and Training (Audit Report No.25 of 2009-10) (tabled 15 April 2010);
Medicare Australia's Administration of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (Audit Report No.39 of 2009-10) (tabled 24 May 2010);
Application of the Core APS Values and Codes of Conduct to Australian Government Service Providers (Audit Report No.40 of 2009-10) (tabled 26 May 2010);
Effective Cross-Agency Agreements (Audit Report No.41 of 2009-10) (tabled 26 May 2010); and
Fraud Control in Australian Government Agencies (Audit Report No.42 of 2009-10) (tabled 27 May 2010).

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Other Audits where the Department was not directly involved but where recommendations were targeted at all Agencies

The Management and Processing of Annual Leave (Audit Report No.4 of 2009-10) (tabled 15 September 2009);
Confidentiality in Government Contracts – Senate Order for Departmental and Agency Contracts
(Calendar Year 2008 Compliance) (Audit Report No.6 of 2009-10) (tabled 28 September 2009); and
Agencies' Contract Management (Audit Report No.14 of 2009-10) (tabled 25 November 2009).

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 (see Part 6 of this report for contact details of the department).

Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit

In 2009-10, the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit tabled one report on reviews of reports of the Auditor-General where the report had related to matters administered by the department:

Report 417 – Review of Auditor-General's Reports tabled between February 2009 and September 2009 – (tabled 22 June 2010).
Report 417 included the reviews of the Auditor-General's Reports No.40 of 2008-09, Planning and Allocating Aged Care Places and Capital Grants, and No.5 of 2009-10, Protection of Residential Aged Care Accommodation Bonds.

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 Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit website www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jcpaa. Other enquiries regarding the reports should be directed to the Assistant Secretary, Audit & Fraud Control Branch, in the department.

Judicial Decision and Decision of Administrative Tribunals

During 2009-10, the department was involved in:

32 matters before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal;
no matters before the Federal Magistrates Court;
nine matters before the Federal Court;
no matters before the High Court; and
one matter before the Full Federal Court.

Other Parliamentary Scrutiny

The department appeared before the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee (Senate Estimates) on three occasions during the 2009-10 financial year for a total of seven days:

Supplementary Budget Estimates – 21 and 23 October 2009;
Additional Budget Estimates – 10 and 12 February 2010; and
Budget Estimates – 2, 3 and 4 June 2010.

The department also gave evidence and/or made submissions to a number of Parliamentary Committee inquiries as shown in Table 3.5.1.
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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	Food Standards Amendment (Truth in Labelling – Palm Oil) Bill 2009 Food Standards Australia New Zealand Amendment Bill 2010 [Provisions] Health Practitioner Regulation (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2010 [Provisions] Health Insurance Amendment (Pathology Requests) Bill 2010 [Provisions] Healthcare Identifiers Bill 2010 [Provisions] and Healthcare Identifiers (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2010 [Provisions] Health Legislation Amendment (Midwives and Nurse Practitioners) Bill 2009 and two related Bills Therapeutic Goods Amendment (2009 Measures No. 2) Bill 2009 National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for Doctors and Other Health Workers Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill 2009 and two related Bills Health Insurance Amendment (Extended Medicare Safety Net) Bill 2009
Senate Community Affairs Committee References Committee	Consumer Access to Pharmaceutical Benefits Gene Patents Suicide in Australia Hear Us: Inquiry into Hearing Health in Australia
Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities	Community Stores in Remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities
Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit	Role of the Auditor-General in Scrutinising Government Advertising Campaigns JCPAA Report 417
Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration	COAG Reforms Relating to Health and Hospitals
Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport	The Possible Impacts and Consequences for Public Health, Trade and Agriculture of the Government's Decision to Relax Import Restrictions on Beef
Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee	Matters relating to the Torres Strait Region
Standing Committee on Health and Ageing	Roundtable Forum on Burns Prevention
Standing Committee on Petitions	Hearing of 25 November 2009

Figure 3.5.1: Parliamentary Questions Completed by the Department: 2006-07 to 2009-10

Figure 3.5.1: Line chart of Parliamentary Questions Completed by the Department: 2006-07 to 2009-10

In addition, the department had a significant workload of Parliamentary Questions with a combined total of 166 questions received on notice from the House of Representatives and the Senate, and a total of 1,061 from the three Senate Estimates hearings.

Commonwealth Ombudsman

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

During 2009-10, the Commonwealth Ombudsman investigated 61 complaints against the department's administrative practices, 25 of which had carried over from 2008-09. Of the 36 new complaints investigations commenced in 2009-10, 11 remain open as at 30 June 2010. The Commonwealth Ombudsman has advised of two findings of administrative deficiency relating to the department in 2009-10.

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