Conclusion

Councils do not always follow processes for staff or councillors to declare conflicts of interest, use eligibility criteria to select recipients, document decision-making or evaluate the outcomes of their grant programs. This means that they are not consistently using fraud controls when delivering grants, which undermines the transparency and fairness of their programs. 

Councils’ guidance to staff and councillors who administer grants is insufficient.

The law requires, and communities expect, councils to deliver grant programs with integrity and accountability. 

A person or entity that fraudulently gets an unjust advantage over other applicants undermines the fairness of a grant program. Fraud controls help councils prevent, detect and respond to fraud-related risks.

What we assessed

This audit used the following lines of inquiry and criteria:

BIAs prior to COVID-19

Figure D1 outlines our assessment of departments’ BIAs prior to COVID-19.

FIGURE D1: Our assessment of departments’ BIAs prior to COVID-19

Click the link below to download a PDF copy of Appendix A. Submissions and comments.

Conclusion

Departments responded quickly and flexibly to COVID-19 and continue to do so. Departments’ BCM processes, structures and strategies have helped them quickly set up teams, make decisions and communicate to staff. 

However, departments were not sufficiently prepared for a complex disruption. This meant they had to invest resources into developing documents, streamlining processes, upgrading technology and transitioning to remote working during the early stages of the pandemic. 

Conclusion

The VPS was not adequately prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The VPS had limited central oversight and leadership on business continuity. This meant that it was not able to harness lessons learnt across all departments, and departments did not have a clear understanding of whole of government business continuity priorities in a large-scale disruption. 

The Victorian Government delivers a wide range of services that are important to Victorians’ economic, financial and social wellbeing—from managing state finances to child protection, transport and criminal justice. 

Disruptions to these services can have a significant negative impact on communities, businesses and industries. Effective business continuity strategies ensure that departments can respond quickly to disruptions and continue to deliver prioritised services to the community.