Matters referred to the Auditor-General

In June 2020, the Auditor-General received a referral that included allegations that:

• grant funds were used for partisan political campaigning
• centre staff were improperly directed to campaign at state and federal elections in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Two media articles also reported the allegations during June 2020.

We have consulted with DPC, MWC Inc and VTHC, and we considered their views when reaching our review conclusions. As required by the Audit Act 1994, we gave a draft copy of this report, or relevant extracts, to those entities and asked for their submissions and comments. 

Responsibility for the accuracy, fairness and balance of those comments rests solely with the entity head.

We consulted with the reviewed entities and considered their views when reaching our conclusions. The entities’ full responses are in Appendix A. 

Responses to the allegations

VTHC

We asked VTHC about the allegations that:

• grant funds were used for political campaigning activities
• centre staff were directed to campaign at state and federal elections.

VTHC advised us that:

The 2017–18 Victorian Budget included funding of $2 million over two years to establish a new Migrant Workers Centre in Melbourne to advocate for exploited workers. 

In June 2017, the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) engaged a consultant to recommend arrangements for establishing the centre to the then Minister for Multicultural Affairs. The consultant’s report recommended that the centre:

FIGURE C1: Audit opinions issued for material entities

We have consulted with named agencies, and we considered their views when reaching our audit conclusions. As required by the Audit Act 1994, we gave a draft copy of this report, or relevant extracts, to those agencies and asked for their submissions and comments. We also provided a copy of the report to DPC.

Responsibility for the accuracy, fairness and balance of those comments rests solely with the agency head. 

Conclusion

Overall, DTF implemented effective internal controls to support the preparation of a complete and accurate AFR.

Except for VicTrack and DJCS, the internal control frameworks at the other 24 material entities were adequate to support their preparation of complete and accurate financial reports. However, some entities need to strengthen some important internal controls, particularly information system security controls.