AUDITOR-GENERAL'S REPORT

In reply to the Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (20 November 2007).

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning):

1. The Department had no known unauthorised payments over the 2006-07 financial year. Monthly monitoring and scrutiny of financial reports by management did not identify any instances of unauthorised payments and this was confirmed by the Auditor General's Department during their audit.

2. From March 2008, PIRSA will be one of the first agencies to transition its accounts payable function into the Shared Services SA environment and as such, this will result in the further strengthening of preventative controls.

In the short-term, the department proposes to further improve the existing control environment by investigating the interim measure proposed by audit in relation to spot checks on payments prior to disbursement. It should also be noted that complimentary controls including separation of duties of officers involved in the purchasing/ordering and payments cycles mitigates risk.

3. As I indicated in my answer to question 2, existing controls will be further strengthened and controls including separation of duties of officers involved in the purchasing/ordering and payment cycles, mitigates this risk. In addition, from early 2008 with the transition to Shared Services SA, this will mean that no employee within PIRSA will be processing payments.