An audit of the arrangements for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of Australia’s Closing the Gap policies managed by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) and the Productivity Commission, has found them to be “partially effective”.
In his performance audit report 27 of 2018-19 Closing the Gap, Auditor-General, Grant Hehir found that reporting on “high-level” targets under the program had been maintained “but little work has been undertaken to monitor and evaluate the contribution of Australian Government programs towards achieving these targets”.
Mr Hehir said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs was a policy area with a high level of interest.
“In particular, there is strong interest in ensuring funding provided through Government programs achieves intended outcomes,” Mr Hehir said.
“The Australian Parliament and the Council of Australian Governments rely on the monitoring and reporting arrangements led by PM&C and the Productivity Commission to understand the level of progress that is being made.”
He said the audit was undertaken to provide assurance that the Closing the Gap framework was appropriately governed.
“Reporting on the high-level Closing the Gap targets has been maintained, but little work has been undertaken to monitor and evaluate the contribution of Australian Government programs towards achieving these targets,” Mr Hehir said.
“The overall effectiveness of the framework has been reduced by a lack of oversight of its implementation and limited stakeholder engagement.”
The Auditor-General’s 78-page report can be accessed at this PS News link and the audit team was Daniel Whyte, Iain Gately, Mary Huang and Deborah Jackson.
