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A raft of Auditor-General reports on the Morrison government’s COVID-19 policy efforts have triggered a parliamentary inquiry, which will probe their efficiency in the face of the pandemic.
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Inquiry launched into Commonwealth COVID-19 policy expenditure
07 September 2021
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6 minute read
The joint committee of public accounts and audit on Monday announced that it has commenced an inquiry into key policymaking processes related to the Management of the Australian Public Service’s Workforce Response to COVID-19, and Planning and Governance of COVID-19 Procurements to Increase the National Medical Stockpile.
It will also examine the government’s Services Australia COVID-19 Measures and Enterprise Risk Management; the ATO’s Management of Risks Related to the Rapid Implementation of COVID-19 Economic Response Measures, and COVID-19 Procurements and Deployments of the National Medical Stockpile.
The committee will be accepting submissions on the inquiry until 8 October, before it moves to public hearings in October and November.
The inquiry comes off the back of audits conducted by the Auditor-General (AG) in each policy area, which to some degree found that each of the programs was effective but could be improved.
The A-G’s reports looked at the use of Commonwealth funds to achieve each of the policies’ objectives, and whether the expenditure was effective in reaching them in the midst of “the COVID emergency”.
Committee chair Lucy Wicks welcomed the opportunity to review the Morrison government’s expenditure infrastructure.
“The examination of the Government’s COVID response [is] an important opportunity for Parliament to review the success of the Commonwealth’s administrative arrangements in the face of the COVID emergency,” Ms Wicks said.
The committee said its inquiries into Commonwealth investments will examine a broad range of issues and identify key lessons for future funding programs and initiatives.
In the case of the A-G’s report on the Management of the Australian Public Service’s Workforce Response to COVID-19, it was found that management of the workforce was effective in implementing the government’s COVID-19 priorities.
Meanwhile, the A-G’s report on the Planning and Governance of COVID-19 Procurements to Increase the National Medical Stockpile found that while the procurement requirement for PPE and medical equipment was met or exceeded, health’s procurement planning could have been improved.
An audit of Services Australia COVID-19 Measures and Enterprise Risk Management found the department, too, was largely effective in managing risks related to the rapid preparation for and delivery of the government’s COVID-19 economic response measures.
Services Australia was found to have considered “new risks and how to mitigate them”, though didn’t fully consider the impacts of changes to its IT system access controls, which have since seen the department move to remediate fraud risks that emerged as a result.
Reviewing the ATO’s Management of Risks Related to the Rapid Implementation of COVID-19 Economic Response Measures, the A-G found the Tax Office has so far been effective in managing risk and support roll-outs.
The A-G’s audit of the ATO found that it took appropriate planning to support the “rapid implementation” of six economic response measures that it rolled out via pre-existing systems and infrastructure. It was also found to have managed fraud and other integrity risks on a “progressive basis”.
The final report subject to the committee’s inquiry found the COVID-19 Procurements and Deployments of the National Medical Stockpile had established procurement processes that were largely consistent with the “proper use and management of public resources.”
However, the program was let down by inconsistent due diligence checks of suppliers impacted on procurement effectiveness, and its record-keeping could be improved, the A-G said.
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