We looked at 6 agencies in detail to see how they record and report their payment timeliness data. We found that agencies apply and interpret the Policy differently. This makes it difficult to compare agencies’ performance.
Covered in this section:
In 2021, the state amended the Policy. It requires agencies to pay invoices with a contract value up to $3 million in 10 business days.
In 2024–25, agencies reported collectively that they paid 81.5 per cent of invoices on time. On average, it took 10.8 calendar days to pay invoices.
But payment timeliness data collected by DJSIR and published by the VSBC is not checked. We found gaps in the collected data. Agencies also told us, on review, that some of the collected and published data is incorrect.
Covered in this section:
We made 9 recommendations to address our findings. The relevant agencies have accepted 7 recommendations and 2 recommendations in principle.
Our review followed 2 lines of inquiry:
1. Does the government pay its private sector suppliers according to contracted or otherwise agreed payment terms?
2. Is the data agencies provide to the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions (DJSIR), and published by the Victorian Small Business Commission (VSBC) about their invoices, timeframes and compliance rates reliable and do entities fairly present performance publicly?
Download a PDF copy of Appendix D: Ravenhall rehabilitation and reintegration KPIs.
Download a PDF copy of Appendix C: Audit scope and method.
Download a PDF copy of Appendix B: Abbreviations, acronyms and glossary.
Download a PDF copy of Appendix A: Submissions and comments.
DJCS’s KPIs do not allow it to monitor overall service delivery at the Bridge Centre. This is because DJCS’s reintegration monitoring only measures a small number of participants and only for 2-month post-release performance targets.
The limited available data shows that the Bridge Centre’s results often fall short of performance targets. However, prisoners released from Ravenhall do access the Bridge Centre's reintegration services, particularly to find housing.
GEO designs and offers rehabilitation programs relevant to Ravenhall prisoners' needs, such as addressing AOD and offending behaviour issues.
More than 85 per cent of enrolled prisoners go on to complete their programs in line with DJCS's contractual target. This means that program dropout rates are low. However, long waitlists to start programs and limited vocational training options suggest that Ravenhall is not fully meeting prisoners’ needs or maximising rehabilitation opportunities.