Page 3992 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 23 November 1993
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The committee recommends that that become a regular feature of future Estimates Committee processes. This is a good idea. It enables the Estimates Committee to oversee the full range of government activity. We are likely to request to see Natex next year. It is one non-budget-dependent authority that we have not seen yet.
We have recommended that future annual reports of agencies and authorities should include in the financial resources section an up-to-date response to the recommendations of the previous year's Estimates Committee. Again we believe that this should become a regular feature of the estimates process in years to come. We have requested that the Government seek the earlier provision of annual reports from Commonwealth agencies which are contracted to provide services to the ACT or, failing the achievement of this objective, we recommend that Commonwealth agencies which are contracted to provide services to the ACT arrange the provision of more detailed information about their ACT operations to the Estimates Committee prior to the hearings.
This is important, Madam Speaker, as in some areas of government activity - particularly the Australian Federal Police, the Ombudsman's Office and the Human Rights Office - we felt that we had limited information at our disposal to ask appropriate questions. Madam Speaker, we have recommended that in future years where expenditure reductions are foreshadowed Ministers provide the committee with full details of where and how the reductions will be achieved. This is of particular concern to both the health portfolio and the education portfolio, which indicated to the committee that the Government has not thought through the results of its budget processes.
We have recommended that the Select Committee on the Establishment of an ACT Public Service review the commitment to Comcare and that the outcomes of the initiatives currently being developed by the Chief Minister's Department in relation to Comcare be reviewed by the Select Committee on the Establishment of an ACT Public Service. If this recommendation is adopted, Madam Speaker, it will form an important part of that committee's work. It is acknowledged that current government expenditure on Comcare is too much for too little information provided back from Comcare as to where our money is spent.
We have recommended that the total value of remuneration packages, cash and non-cash, be included in the lists of consultants and contractors incorporated in annual reports. This is another recommendation of this committee that indicates that the whole picture is important and is what we are looking at. We have recommended that the copyright position with respect to government reports and other budget related documents be similar to that outlined in the annual report of ACT Health. This is a useful recommendation to be adopted and is an example of how a relatively small issue explored by the Estimates Committee can be constructively addressed and appropriate action then taken as a result.
Madam Speaker, we have recommended that the Social Policy Committee of the Assembly consider a reference to review the allocation and distribution of grants to community groups. This is an important recommendation, and I am sure that it will take the Social Policy Committee some time to consider the issue, at least initially. We have recommended that consideration be given to the centralisation of the settlement of legal claims against the ACT Government where an amount above a particular dollar limit is in issue. Not a lot of time was spent by the committee in arriving at this particular conclusion.
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