Modern slavery can occur in any industry and any sector. The United Nations estimates that there are approximately 40 million victims worldwide.

In March 2019, the Queensland Under Treasurer referred concerns to the Auditor-General about the delivery of the State Penalties Enforcement Registry (SPER) Reform Program.

Culture represents the norms, behaviours and ideas of a group, or an organisation, and is at the heart of how it operates. Culture influences how we behave, what we think and how we act.

In November 2019 we published our latest report on the results of the financial audits in the health sector. We included the Department of Health and 16 hospital and health services (HHSs) in this report.

To round out 2019, below are some areas of focus for our public sector clients. These are drawn from our latest financial audit work and analysis across all entities.

Queensland’s state and local governments make significant investments in the public infrastructure they need to deliver public services.

Entities need more than technical security controls to protect their data from cyber security risks.

The Queensland Audit Office (QAO) has developed a financial reporting preparation maturity model to help our clients improve their processes.

The impacts of cyber attacks, and malicious or inadvertent actions of employees, present a very real risk.

Media reports show an alarming trend of growing cyber security attacks and corporate espionage.