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Request for audit
Expensive Commonwealth Criminal Cases Fund
Response provided
Responded: Thursday 23 February 2023
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The Acting Auditor-General responded on 23 February 2023 to correspondence from Hon Mark Dreyfus KC, MP dated 3 February 2023, requesting that the Auditor-General undertake a performance audit of the Expensive Commonwealth Criminal Cases Fund.
Acting Auditor-General's response
23 February 2023
The Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP
Attorney-General and Cabinet Secretary
By email: attorney@ag.gov.au
Dear Attorney-General
Expensive Commonwealth Criminal Cases Fund
I am writing in response to your letter dated 3 February 2023 requesting that the Auditor-General consider an audit of the Expensive Commonwealth Criminal Cases Fund (ECCCF).
The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) is currently developing its 2023–2024 Annual Audit Work Program (AAWP). Your request in relation to the ECCCF is under consideration as part of this process.
The AAWP reflects the ANAO’s audit strategy and informs the Parliament, government entities and the public of the planned audit coverage for the Australian Government sector. Consistent with the requirement that the Auditor-General has regard to the audit priorities of the Parliament, a draft 2023–24 AAWP will be provided to the Parliament for consultation through the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit. The draft AAWP will also be provided to accountable authorities of Australian Government entities affected by proposed audit coverage and published on the ANAO website inviting public comment. The 2023–24 AAWP is expected to be published on the ANAO website Annual Audit Work Program | Work program | Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) in early July 2023.
Yours sincerely
Rona Mellor PSM
Acting Auditor-General
Correspondence from the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC, MP
Transcript of letter from the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC, MP
Mr Grant Hehir
Auditor-General for Australia
Australian National Audit Office
GPO Box 707
CANBERRA ACT 2601
By email: External.Relations@anao.gov.au
Review of the Expensive Commonwealth Criminal Cases Fund (ECCCF)
Dear Auditor-General
I am writing to request that you undertake a performance audit of the Expensive Commonwealth Criminal Cases Fund (ECCCF) within my portfolio.
The ECCCF was established in January 2000 to provide funding to state and territory legal aid commissions (LACs) to represent defendants in serious, high-cost Commonwealth criminal prosecutions, including terrorism, drug importation, people trafficking and smuggling, and child sex offence related matters, to prevent stays in court proceedings where defendants cannot afford representation. In 2021-22, the ECCCF was expanded to allow LACs to use funding on representing clients in Commonwealth post-sentence order matters (such as continuing detention orders and extended supervision orders).
The ECCCF's 2022-23 appropriation is $15.121 million, including one-off additional funding for post-sentence order matters. The appropriation will revert to its ongoing profile in 2023-24 with funding of $8.583 million.
In September 2020, Mr Robert Cornall AO was appointed to undertake a review of the effectiveness, appropriateness and efficiency of the ECCCF as, at the time, demand on the ECCCF had been regularly exceeding the available budget appropriation. In his report of November 2020, Mr Cornall identified a number of issues with grant management practices and variances in practices across jurisdictions that impact the quantum of claims on the ECCCF.
This is a source of significant concern to me given the important role that the ECCCF plays in supporting the efficient and effective operation of the Commonwealth criminal justice system and it is critical that the design, management and operation of the ECCCF is achieving value-for-money for the Australian tax payer.
I believe the Australian National Audit Office is ideally placed to examine this issue as a trusted independent office of the Parliament. Accordingly, I would be grateful if you would consider conducting a performance audit of the ECCCF as soon as practicable.
Subject to your views, I envisage that an audit would look at the concerns raised by Mr Cornall and the effectiveness and efficiency of ECCCF program as a whole, covering, for example, expenditure of funds by selected or all LACs which receive ECCCF funds, and administration of the program by the Attorney-General's Department and through the Community Grants Hub in the Department of Social Services.
The Attorney-General's Department would be happy to provide any further information that you may require. The contact officer within the Department is Lace Wang, Assistant Secretary, Legal Assistance Branch (Lace.Wang@ag.gov.au, 02 6141 6390).
Yours sincerely
The Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP
3/2/2023