A performance audit into the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment’s (DAWE) management of threatened species and ecological communities has found it to be partly effective.
In his Report, Management of Threatened Species and Ecological Communities under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), Auditor-General, Grant Hehir said DAWE was unable to demonstrate whether its management was efficient.
“There is limited evidence that desired outcomes are being achieved, due to the Department’s lack of monitoring, reporting and support for the implementation of conservation advice, recovery plans and threat abatement plans,” Mr Hehir said.
“The Department’s administration of the listing process is partly effective,” he said.
“The Department is unable to demonstrate it is efficient.”
He said the process to determine what should be considered for listing could be improved by establishing a strategy to ensure it identifies the species, ecological communities and key threatening processes that will have the greatest impact on achieving the objectives of the EPBC Act.
Mr Hehir said DAWE was partly effective in developing and supporting the implementation of conservation advice, recovery plans and threat abatement plans.
However, he said procedural guidance for development needed to be updated and was not fully followed, while the arrangements for review and update were not appropriate.
“Measurement, monitoring and reporting arrangements are not sufficient to support the achievement of desired outcomes,” he said.
“The statuses of some threatened species are monitored, but most species are not.”
Mr Hehir made six recommendations to DAWE to:
* Develop a strategy to ensure it identified the processes that would have the greatest impact on achieving the objectives of the EPBC Act;
* Regularly review, update and implement procedural guidance, training and quality assurance arrangements;
* Ensure conservation advice, recovery plans and threat abatement plans were reviewed and updated;
* Obtain assurance over the implementation of conservation advice, recovery plans and threat abatement plans;
* Measure its efficiency, timeliness and use of resources in listing assessments and conservation planning; and
* Establish a framework for measurement, monitoring and reporting on listing assessments, conservation advice, recovery plans and threat abatement plans.
The Auditor-General’s Report can be accessed at this PS News link and a 90-page printable version at this link.
The Audit team was Isaac Gravolin, Sam Khaw, Jacob Opray, Ben Thomson, Michael White and Corinne Horton.
