About this report or communique
Report of the Auditor-General No. 9 of 2024-25: Department of Health’s funding of community service organisations
Community service organisations (CSOs) are a critical part of the Tasmanian health system, receiving roughly $75 million annually from the Department of Health (Health).
We looked at Health’s processes for managing CSO funding arrangements, and 16 individual arrangements from 2022-23.
We concluded that Health’s management of funding arrangements with community service organisations was not effective. Findings related to:
- ineffective funding frameworks, including procurement, contract management, grants, and quality and safety frameworks
- ineffective agreements with lack of link to government policy, risk management, value for money assessment, and accreditation / standards requirements
- ineffective performance monitoring, missing risk-based site visits, mid-term reviews, independent audits, post implementation reviews, and complaints processes.
The audit report has recommendations to improve both Health’s approach to managing CSO funding and, more broadly, its culture in prioritising matters to address known issues with its own processes.
