Assuring the integrity of the Victorian Government’s procurement activities

Overview

We plan to determine whether Victorian Government departments manage the risk of fraud and corruption when procuring goods and services.

Why this is important

Fraud and corruption by Victorian public sector employees can:

undermine trust in government
damage the public sector's reputation
waste public resources.

In 2015–16 the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) found weaknesses in the then Department of Education and Training’s fraud controls.

These weaknesses led to allegations that senior officers at the department misappropriated funds from its budget. The officers created false and inflated invoices. They also arranged to be paid for inappropriate expenses, such as excessive hospitality, travel and personal items.

The Victorian Secretaries' Board (VSB) – made up of the secretaries of the 10 Victorian Government departments, the Victorian Public Sector Commissioner, and the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police – responded to the findings. In 2016 it made an action plan to strengthen the public sector's integrity frameworks.

The VSB and the Victorian Public Sector Commission identified initiatives to strengthen processes and address key integrity risks. They identified tendering and procurement as one of the 6 practices at risk of fraud.

To date, there has not been a follow-up review of the VSB's action plan to make sure agencies are meeting their objectives.

In 2018 IBAC reviewed integrity frameworks from a sample of 38 Victorian Government agencies. It asked these agencies:

to self-assess their integrity risks
if they had recorded these risks on their risk register
if they had any controls to manage these risks.

The most common risks were:

improper procurement
conflicts of interest
misusing information or material.

This highlights the key areas of risk that can be further explored in this engagement.

What we plan to examine

This is a reasonable assurance performance audit.

We will assess if departments have suitable controls to prevent fraud and corruption when they procure goods and services.

Who we plan to examine

DE, DEECA, DFFH, DGS, DH, DJCS, DJSIR, DPC, DTF and DTP

Timeframe

2023‒24