The Treasurer tabled the 2016–17 Annual Financial Report of the State of Victoria (AFR) in Parliament on 21 September 2017. The AFR includes the financial statements of the State of Victoria (the State) and the general government sector (GGS).

This report provides Parliament with information about matters arising from our financial audit of the 2016–17 AFR. It also provides our assessment of the financial sustainability of the State at 30 June 2017.

Conclusion

We issued a clear audit opinion on the AFR for the financial year ended 30 June 2017.

Ordered to be published

VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT PRINTER November 2017

PP No 345, Session 2014–17

Ordered to be printed

VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT PRINTER August 2017

PP No 256, Session 2014–17

We have consulted with DELWP, VPA, DET, DHHS, Hume City Council, Mitchell Shire Council, Moreland City Council, the Kilmore & District Hospital, and Northern Health, and we considered their views when reaching our audit conclusions. As required by section 16(3) of 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.

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

Responses were received as follows:

Strategic service planning entails predicting future demand and need for services, and developing a range of proposals that would best meet the changing needs of communities. Supply analysis and modelling predicts the likely service system capacity and needs for related infrastructure by considering a range of variables, such as policy objectives, service delivery and network designs, access patterns and the capacity of existing facilities.

Sound strategic service planning across different agencies needs to encompass:

The aim of strategic land use planning is to design future communities that achieve the government’s high-level social, economic and environmental objectives. Effective implementation arrangements support land use plans to create communities that are attractive, inclusive and liveable.

Effective strategic land use planning systems should encompass:

Victoria’s population has grown significantly over recent years, with sustained rapid growth since 2011. Current forecasts indicate the trend will continue. The state’s current population is just over 6.1 million people and is forecast to reach 7.7 million by 2031, with 1.7 million people living in Victoria’s regions and over 6 million in Greater Melbourne.

Victoria’s population has grown rapidly in recent years, with sustained, rapid growth since 2011. The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) forecasts the state’s population to increase from just over 6.1 million to 7.7 million by 2031, with over 6 million people living in Greater Melbourne. To date, population growth has been more concentrated in the seven greenfield growth areas on Melbourne’s fringe. These previously undeveloped areas are projected to share 42 per cent of the state’s future growth.