The Auditor-General has released a report on the Education Cluster, the first since the 1 July Machinery of Government (MoG) changes to include the NSW Skills Board and Technical and Further Education Commission.
The Auditor-General, Margaret Crawford said the report focused on key observations and findings from the most recent financial audits of agencies in the Education Cluster.
“Fifty-five internal control deficiencies were identified across the cluster Agencies, including 14 findings that were repeated from the previous year,” Ms Crawford said.
“Control deficiencies were also identified in a sample of the state’s 2,200 schools,” she said.
“Schools did not always apply the guidance in the Department of Education’s Finance in Schools Handbook, resulting in control weaknesses in key areas such as governance, cash management and procurement.”
Ms Crawford said inconsistencies with employee leave data reported from the Department of Education’s payroll system had continued, which impacted the reliability of estimates of the Department’s liability for employee benefits.
“The robustness of the Department’s quality assurance over leave liability data should be improved,” she said.
The Auditor-General said the Department of Education had delayed tabling its financial statements.
“This reduces transparency over the Department’s financial statements as they are tabled more than 10 months after the end of the financial year,” she said.
Ms Crawford recommended that the Department table its financial statements in Parliament earlier, in line with other NSW Government agencies.
The 30-page report can be accessed at this PS News link.
