Appendix C: Audit scope and method
Download a PDF copy of Appendix C: Audit scope and method.
Appendix B: Abbreviations, acronyms and glossary
Download a PDF copy of Appendix B: Abbreviations, acronyms and glossary.
Appendix A: Submissions and comments
Download a PDF copy of Appendix A: Submissions and comments.
5. Assessing savings' impacts
Departments we examined did not actively assess how savings affected either frontline or back-office services.
Departments’ existing performance measures do not track savings' impacts and do not consistently measure all outputs across all business areas.
Without targeted metrics or specific monitoring, departments cannot show if savings affected service delivery.
Covered in this section:
4. Delivering and monitoring savings
All departments told us that they delivered their 2023–24 DER savings targets, but only DEECA tracks implementation at the initiative level.
Other departments monitored progress against their overall budgets, which include a mix of savings and other funding decisions.
This means they could not easily show if they delivered the specific initiatives approved in their DER implementation plans.
Covered in this section:
3. Planning savings
Most departments planned to deliver DER savings without reducing frontline roles.
But DPC and DTF did not give clear guidance to departments on how they should apply the government's commitment to protect frontline roles when departments developed their savings proposals.
Not all departments could show how they applied their frontline worker definitions.
Covered in this section:
2. Our recommendations
We made 3 recommendations to address our findings. The relevant agencies have accepted all recommendations in full.
1. Our key findings
What we examined
Our audit followed 2 lines of inquiry:
1. Were departments' plans to deliver savings and efficiencies consistent with the COVID Debt Repayment Plan?
2. Are departments on track to deliver savings and efficiencies, while maintaining frontline services?
To answer these questions, we examined:
Forensic mental health services
Body
We are interested in examining if mental health services in mainstream prisons and at the specialist Thomas Embling Hospital are meeting demand. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are overrepresented in Victorian prisons and there is an opportunity to examine if agencies are meeting their needs.
Upgrading the fines management system
Body
We are interested in examining how the Department of Justice and Community Safety's project to upgrade the fines management system is progressing, and if it is on track to improve how infringements are enforced.