The Departments of Finance and Treasury, and Infrastructure WA should work together to improve transparency through regular reporting to Parliament and the public on the cost, time and status of major projects.

Joint response:

The Department of Treasury, Department of Finance, and Infrastructure WA support the recommendation in principle. Factors that would need to be taken into account in implementing this recommendation include:

• establishing agreed parameters to identify priority projects for public reporting;
• establishing the appropriate format, function, timing and frequency of reporting that meets the needs of the intended audience;
• ensuring that the report is consistent with and complementary to other reports, with minimal duplication of information. In this regard, enhanced transparency in public reporting must deliver a balance between the public benefit of such reporting and the costs of providing that transparency;
• ensuring that the data and narrative provided in any public reporting is sufficiently clear to minimise (and, preferably, eliminate) the potential for ambiguous interpretation and inference;
• ensuring that appropriate protections are in place to preserve the confidentiality of information, where applicable under relevant legislation and in the public interest. For example, the government has a responsibility to appropriately manage the commercial confidential interests of parties it contracts with, for the benefit of those parties, future suppliers and the broader market; and
• formalising appropriate governance arrangements for report development and approval and consultation with relevant agencies noting in particular the need for Ministerial involvement in any reporting to Parliament.

We suggest the Works Agency Council be consulted on the design of any report. At its most recent meeting, on 14 October, members discussed publication of publicly-available information on the state’s capital works program. There were some diverging views on the nature of the report, and the level of detail required. Overall, while members viewed the Council as having a role in developing the report, it ultimately concluded that projects related to economic and regional stimulus, and achieving Government’s social policy objectives, should have a higher priority at this time.

Implementation timeframe: 30 June 2021