Report 5: 2019-20

Fraud Prevention in Local Government

Executive summary

Introduction

Recent high profile investigations into fraud in the public sector by the Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) in Western Australia (WA) have featured a number of local government entities (entities).

There are 148 entities in WA. In 2017-18, the sector spent more than $4 billion, employed around 17,000 staff, and administered $45 billion of assets. Fraud in this sector could result in substantial material and reputational losses, and this level of risk calls for entities to implement strong controls and better practice approaches to reduce the threat of fraud.

This audit reviewed whether entities have taken appropriate steps to prevent fraud, through the following lines of inquiry:

  1. Have entities implemented a coordinated approach to manage fraud risks?
  2. Do entities have adequate controls for preventing and detecting fraud?
  3. Do entities respond appropriately to suspected fraud?

The purpose of this audit was to review the systems that entities had in place. We did not seek to identify any specific instances of fraud.

The audit included a sector wide questionnaire on entity approaches to managing fraud risks (see Appendix 3 for a summary of results). We conducted a more detailed review at the:

  • Shire of East Pilbara
  • Shire of Katanning
  • City of Nedlands
  • Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale
  • City of Vincent.

Our sample focussed on entities that had not been part of recent audits, and included entities of varying size, from both metropolitan and regional areas.

Conclusion

Local government entities can do more to prevent fraud. We found entities do have some controls in place, but would benefit from better understanding their specific fraud risks and taking a coordinated approach to managing them.

Our questionnaire found many entities have not assessed their fraud risks, or created a plan to deal with fraud. The responses highlighted gaps in prevention and detection approaches. Many entities can do more to raise staff awareness of fraud, improve their screening processes, and strengthen protections for informants.

Our detailed review of 5 entities confirmed these results. We found they had core integrity policies in place, but none had assessed all their fraud risks, and implemented a coordinated approach to manage them. All entities could build on their current policies and practices to make workplaces more fraud resistant, and improve their reporting avenues to strengthen their ability to respond to fraud.

Background

Fraud is the act of obtaining a benefit, financial or otherwise, by deception. By its nature it is deceitful and dishonest, and can be very hard to detect particularly if collusion is involved. It is important that public sector entities design and implement strong internal control frameworks to prevent fraud.

Meeting legislated requirements provides entities with some level of fraud control (Appendix 1), particularly around council decision-making processes. Legislation includes requirements for:

  • council and advisors to disclose conflicts of interest
  • disclosure of financial interests for some staff
  • the creation of Codes of Conduct
  • handling of gifts
  • when tendering is required for procurement activities.

This is the second report that we have tabled on public sector fraud controls. The previous report in 2013 reviewed 9 state government entities against elements taken from the Australian Standard AS 8001-2008 Fraud and Corruption Control (the Standard).

The Standard contains better practice guidance for controlling fraud risks. It is informative, flexible, and forms the basis of approaches in state and local government entities across Australia. It recommends entities tailor an approach that suits their needs, based on 4 components:

In developing our expectations for entities, we considered:

  • key principles from the Standard
  • guidance issued to entities by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries
  • reports published by the CCC and the Public Sector Commission (PSC)
  • guidance material issued by audit offices in other jurisdictions
  • the best practice guide for fraud and corruption control published by the Crime and Corruption Commission in Queensland
  • international research.
 
Page last updated: August 15, 2019

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