A performance audit assessing whether Services Australia has appropriately managed risks involved in operating its current welfare payment system while managing transition to a future system has concluded that it has “largely done so”.
In his report, System Redevelopment — Managing Risks While Planning Transition, Auditor-General Grant Hehir says that Services Australia was redeveloping a major information and communications technology (ICT) system in the Welfare Payment Infrastructure Transformation (WPIT) Program.
Mr Hehir said Services Australia managed payment for 34 Australian Government Agencies and the WPIT Program was being developed to improve the welfare payment system over seven years, from 2015 to 2022.
“Services Australia had largely appropriate arrangements in place to manage risks to operating the welfare payment system during the redevelopment process and to plan transition to the future system,” Mr Hehir said.
“Payment correctness and system availability risks were managed,” he said.
He found however that the cyber security risk framework was not appropriately managed, and operating costs were not monitored.
Mr Hehir said that while transition planning frameworks were established, delays in decommissioning key system elements had put at risk the expected benefits of the WPIT Programme.
“Arrangements to migrate data were not yet established,” he said.
The Auditor-General made three recommendations with one aimed at improving the management of system operating risks and two aimed at improving preparations for transition to the future system.
The Auditor-General’s online report can be accessed at this PS News link and his 51-page printed report at this link.
His audit team was Christopher Swain, Nathan Callaway, Steven Kouparitsas, Barbara Das, Emily Kilpatrick and Peta Martyn.
