ENERGY CONCESSION SCHEME

In reply to the Hon. S.G. WADE (1 November 2012).

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation): The Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion has been advised:

1. In respect of any delay in implementing the new system, several factors impeded the smooth development of the system. These included:

(a) additional time required to address unexpected complexities in system design, to enable the system to achieve its full benefits; and

(b) additional time and effort required to convert data from legacy systems successfully due to the inconsistent data quality held in these systems.

The Department for Communities and Social Inclusion (DCSI) has monitored the project carefully throughout its life and at relevant points has considered whether it is appropriate to continue.

Key to the decision to continue with the project is the recommendation of the Auditor-General to reconcile all concession payments to client level.

An assessment of the resources required to undertake manual reconciliation of client payments to satisfy the concerns of the Auditor-General determined that DCSI Concessions and Support Services would need to employ an additional 40 staff to undertake the reconciliations on a quarterly basis. This would result in an ongoing cost of $2.5 million per annum.

2. To 30 November 2012, expenditure on the project was $2,461,042.