Page 1413 - Week 04 - Thursday, 12 April 2018

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Answers to questions

ACT Health—invoices
(Question No 878)

Mrs Dunne asked the Minister for Health and Wellbeing, upon notice, on 16 February 2018:

(1) In relation to the answer to question on notice No 778, dated 14 November 2017, about the reasons for late payments of ACT Health supplier invoices, what was the “change in staffing arrangements” that caused “invoices not being tracked and payment delayed”.

(2) Why were there no backup processes available as an interim measure.

(3) Why did it take nine working days to process and forward the invoice from Everlight Radiology Limited.

(4) What processing of supplier invoices is undertaken by ACT Health.

(5) What is the average time taken to process supplier invoices and send them to Shared Services for further processing.

Ms Fitzharris: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:

1. The change in staffing arrangements refers to a circumstance where the team had a number of administrative vacancies.

2. As there were a number of administrative vacancies, there were limited resources available to provide additional support. ACT Health can confirm that back up processes are now in place within the business unit to which this issue relates.

3. It took nine business days to process and forward this invoice in part because the invoice was overlooked for a short period of time by the service area. Once the oversight was found, the invoice was checked and cleared at appropriate levels before being forwarded to Shared Services for payment.

4. Since September 2017, invoices are processed through the Accounts Payable Invoice Automation Solution using its embedded electronic workflows and approvals.

5. The total average time taken to process and send supplier invoices to Shared Services for final processing is 21 days. The implementation of the APIAS system will assist in improving processing timeframes.

ACT Health—conferences and seminars
(Question No 881)