This audit would assess the effectiveness of the National Disability Insurance Agency’s (NDIA) procurement arrangements. This audit would examine whether the NDIA had a fit for purpose procurement framework and whether procurements have been conducted in accordance with the framework. The NDIA is a corporate Commonwealth entity (CCE) not bound by the Commonwealth Procurement Rules. For the 2022–23 financial year the NDIA published details of contracts to the value of $4.7 billion, of which $2.7 billion was for Partners in the Community contracts, $102,233,103 for legal services and $10,790,211 for consultancy services. The NDIA is expected to undertake procurement for new Partners in the Community contracts ahead of the expiry of current contracts in June 2025.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of the early implementation of the Rewiring the Nation program.

The Australian Government allocated $20 billion to establish the Rewiring the Nation program in the October 2022–23 Federal Budget. The Rewiring the Nation Office in the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is responsible for managing the program, the Australian Energy Market Operator will act as a technical advisor, and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation will act as the financing arm.

The program has supported several transmission projects including VNI West (KerangLink) between Victoria and NSW; Sydney Ring – Hunter Transmission Project; Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zones; HumeLink; and the Marinus Link between Tasmania and Victoria.

This audit would assess whether entities’ procurement activities have been conducted in accordance with relevant Commonwealth Procurement Rules.

The National Intelligence Community (NIC) was officially formed in 2017 and comprises agencies from the Home Affairs, Defence, Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister and Cabinet portfolios. This audit would examine whether selected NIC entities have appropriately managed the procurement of major capabilities. It would include procurements used to develop capabilities of individual NIC agencies, as well as those that are for a shared capability across the sector.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of transitional arrangements developed by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts to consolidate the existing Bridges Renewal Program and Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program into a new, ongoing funding stream under the Safer Local Road and Infrastructure Program.

This audit would assess the effectiveness of the Department of Education’s administration of the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). NCRIS provides funding for national research infrastructure including physical assets (such as the National Computational Infrastructure that supports Australia’s weather and climate modelling capability) and intangible assets (such as the Australian Research Data Commons, a portal that supports researchers to access and reuse existing data). It would examine areas relating to the department’s allocation of funding and ongoing engagement with NCRIS projects.

The Australian Government has committed to provide $4 billion NCRIS funding between 2018 and 2029. The program will receive an estimated $503 million in 2024–25. Funding is allocated on the basis of roadmaps, which provide a pathway to addressing Australia’s future research infrastructure needs. As at April 2024 NCRIS supports 26 funded projects and an international membership. The projects are led by organisations including universities, publicly funded research organisations and private companies. They form a network involving over 400 delivery partnerships, and employ over 1900 technical experts, researchers and facility managers. Users relying on NCRIS range from early career researchers and small businesses, who would otherwise struggle to access world class national research infrastructure, to global research leaders tapping into the unique facilities that NCRIS provides.

This audit would examine the Department of Social Services’ (the department’s) design and implementation of performance measures and evaluation planning for the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032 (National Plan).

The National Plan was launched in October 2022 and sets the national policy agenda for addressing violence against women and children in Australia for the next 10 years. The Australian Government has committed $2.23 billion over six years (2022–23 to 2027–28) to deliver the outcomes of the National Plan and related women’s safety initiatives. Two actions plans, outlining actions for Commonwealth, state and territory governments, have been developed to support the implementation of the National Plan: the First Action Plan 2023–2027; and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan. The National Plan is also supported by the Outcomes Framework 2023–2032 which links actions outlined in the action plans to outcomes. The department has primary responsibility for the National Plan, including policy development and program and service design. The Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission is responsible for ensuring activities and initiatives by governments are appropriately aligned and collaborative, and for providing annual reports to Parliament on progress against the National Plan.

This audit would assess the design and governance underpinning the National Indigenous Australians Agency’s and the Attorney-General’s Department’s joint establishment of an independent National Justice Reinvestment Unit and the effectiveness of the early delivery of up to 30 community-led justice reinvestment initiatives.

Targets 10 and 11 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap relate to reducing adult and youth incarceration rates for First Nations peoples. The Attorney-General’s Department describes justice reinvestment as ‘a long-term, community-led approach that aims to prevent crime, address the drivers of contact with the justice system, and improve justice outcomes for First Nations people in a particular place or community’. Around $100m was announced for investments in community-led justice reinvestment initiatives and First Nations-led legal assistance services in the 2022–23 Federal Budget. This included $81.5 million over four years for justice reinvestment initiatives to be delivered in partnership with First Nations communities, plus $20 million per year from 2026–27. In the 2023–24 Federal Budget, the Australian Government committed an additional $10 million over four years to support place-based justice reinvestment partnerships located in the Central Australia region of the Northern Territory, under the $250 million plan for A Better, Safer Future for Central Australia.

The audit would assess the effectiveness of the design and implementation of the National Housing Accord and the Housing Australian Future Fund.

The National Housing Accord is an agreement between all levels of government, institutional investors and the construction sectors. It aims to increase the supply of housing with: ‘an initial, aspirational target of delivering a total of one million new, well-located homes over five years from 2024; and immediate and longer-term actions for all parties to support the delivery of more affordable homes’.

The Housing Australia Future Fund was established in November 2023. It is a $10 billion investment fund managed by the Future Fund Board. The income generated by the fund is expected to provide funding to deliver 20,000 new social and 10,000 affordable homes over five years. Housing Australia is responsible for administering the majority of disbursements from the fund through the Housing Australia Future Fund Facility.

This audit would examine the effectiveness of the Department of Defence’s (Defence’s) procurement of ICT-related services.

Defence relies on contracted services for the management and delivery of its ICT-related projects. In April 2023, the Defence Strategic Review highlighted this reliance as an important risk. Auditor-General Report No. 1 2021–22 Defence’s Administration of Enabling Services — Enterprise Resource Planning Program: Tranche 1 identified shortcomings in, and made one recommendation to improve, Defence’s management of probity for that program.

This audit would examine the effectiveness of Defence’s procurement and contract management for its ICT-related services to achieve value for money and the successful delivery of intended outcomes. It also provides an opportunity to update the Parliament on Defence’s progress in improving its management of probity risks in ICT procurements.

This audit would assess whether the Department of Education effectively administers higher education funding, including gaining assurance that funding is spent in accordance with legislation, and measuring the impact of funding.

Higher education providers are estimated to receive $10.9 billion in 2023–24 in Australian Government funding for education (not including research funding), largely via grants administered by the Department of Education — the largest of these is the Commonwealth Grant Scheme, which will provide an estimated $7.6 billion in funding for domestic student fees in 2023–24.