An audit of Building Queensland’s (BQ’s) evaluation of major infrastructure projects has found that in general it effectively delivers and/or facilitates robust business cases.
However, there were concerns that this quality was not achieved as efficiently as it could be.
In his report 14: 2019-20 Evaluating major infrastructure projects Auditor-General, Brendan Worrall said that while BQ had provided advice to Agencies through the business cases it developed, it had not necessarily fulfilled its legislative role to provide expert advice about infrastructure to Government.
“BQ’s stakeholders expect it to play a greater role in providing expert advice to improve infrastructure planning and delivery in Queensland,” Mr Worrall said.
“BQ is well placed to play a more influential role in addressing Queensland’s infrastructure challenges.”
He said that while BQ had established generally sound frameworks for developing and assuring business cases, it did not always effectively apply them.
“This resulted in some business cases not being as robust as they could be for decision-making. BQ could realise more value from its assurance activities by conducting them after key sections of the business cases are complete,” Mr Worrall said.
The audit found that some stakeholders perceived BQ’s dual role of developing business cases and providing assurance activities on business cases affected its ability to demonstrate adequate independence between the two important roles.
“In our view, BQ’s value to these stakeholders could increase if it was able to focus more on project assurance for entities that have demonstrable experience in business case development, while continuing to support entities that have minimal resourcing and experience,” the Auditor-General said.
Among the audit’s recommendations were that BQ improve the design and application of its frameworks for developing business cases and providing assurance activities on business cases.
The audit also recommended BQ improve how it manages any risks to its independence when it both leads the development of a business case and performs project assurance activities.
The Auditor General’s 58-page report can be accessed at this PS News link.
