In Victoria, government schools are responsible for their own operation and performance. Under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (ETR Act), the objectives of school councils include assisting in the efficient governance of the school and ensuring it complies with policy and legislative requirements. In this audit, we examined whether school councils in government schools are meeting their objectives under the ETR Act.

Councils manage and deliver many essential assets and services for the community. It is vital that councils are sufficiently insured against risks that may affect those assets and services, while also ensuring value for money. This audit will examine whether councils are prudently managing their insurable risks.

In Victoria, a landfill levy system plays an important role in minimising waste impacts on the environment and promoting investment in alternatives to landfill. Funds from the levy are also used to fund agencies responsible for waste planning and management in Victoria. Councils and landfill operators pay the levy, collected through tip fees. This audit determines whether the Municipal and Industrial Landfill Levy distributions are consistent with, and achieving, their legislative purposes.

Each year we ask agencies to attest to their progress in implementing actions that address previous performance audit recommendations that they accepted. Using these attestations―as well as our assessment of the public interest and materiality of audit topics―we selected two audits to follow up: Management of Freshwater Fisheries and Managing Victoria’s Native Forest Timber Resources.

In March 2016 the Department of Premier and Cabinet launched the Victorian Government ICT Dashboard for public sector ICT projects valued at more than $1 million. In this audit we examined whether transparency in government ICT investments has improved since the development of the ICT Dashboard.

Section 7A of the Audit Act 1994 requires the Auditor-General to develop an annual plan and present it to Parliament, following consultation with Parliament’s Public Accounts and Estimates Committee. As such it is a key accountability mechanism for the Auditor-General and his office. It sets out our work program and also gives Parliament, the public sector and the Victorian community the opportunity to assess our goals and understand our audit priorities.

Community health services are an integral part of Victoria’s primary care network. They deliver a diverse range of clinical and non-medical services, including the state-funded Community Health Program (CHP). The CHP is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, and aims to provide disadvantaged Victorians with access to high-quality general counselling, allied health, and nursing services.

The technical and further education (TAFE) sector in Victoria is made up of 12 technical institutes and 16 controlled entities. This report outlines the results of our financial audits of TAFE institutes and our observations for the year ended 31 December 2017.

In Victoria, there are eight public universities, which control a further 50 entities that we are required to audit. This report outlines the results of our financial audits of these entities and our observations for the year ended 31 December 2017.

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is responsible for protecting Victoria’s children and young people from abuse and neglect. DHHS’s child protection practitioners (CPP) receive, assess, and investigate reports of suspected child abuse and neglect—and where necessary, provide protective services to children. This audit examines whether Victoria’s CPPs maintain good mental health and wellbeing.

In this audit, we assess the benefits of the $3.65 billion regional rail link, which opened on 21 June 2015. The project involved construction of additional tracks between Southern Cross Station and West Werribee, two new stations at Wyndham Vale and Tarneit, upgrades to Footscray, West Footscray and Sunshine stations, and signalling upgrades along the whole corridor.

In this audit, we assessed whether Victoria’s private prisons are safe and cost-effective. In Victoria, there are two privately operated full-service prisons in Victoria—Port Phillip Prison and Fulham Correctional Centre—which currently manage approximately 28 per cent of Victoria’s prison population. Corrections Victoria—part of the Department of Justice and Regulation—oversees the private operators and monitors their performance and compliance with the contracts as well as relevant legislation, standards and regulations. We used our follow-the-dollar powers under section 15(2) of the Audit Act 1994.