The Public Trustee’s purpose is to provide financial and administrative services to eligible South Australians, to help those that cannot manage their own affairs and those who have trusted the organisation to assist them.

During 2018-19 the Public Trustee updated its Strategic Plan for 2019-2021. The core objectives of the organisation are to provide a positive customer experience, improve the way services are delivered, ensure appropriate governance and financial sustainability and support the people delivering that service. The continued focus has and will be on cultural change, wellbeing, workforce planning, training, recognition and improving the customer experience.

During 2018-19 the Public Trustee continued to address recommendations of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption’s (ICAC) Evaluation of the Practices, Policies and Procedures. This has included streamlining policies and procedures, increased training of staff, improving staff communication as well as ensuring robust procurement processes. We have continued to report to the Commissioner on progress against his recommendations.

There have been a number of changes announced to the Public Trustee services which will be implemented over 2019-20 and 2020-21. These include changes to eligibility for Will and Enduring Power of Attorney making services and ceasing to provide an investment service for private investors under Section 29 (1) (b) of the Public Trustee Act 1995. The implementation of these reforms is aimed at returning the Public Trustee back to its core business as a trustee, executor and administrator. Over 84,000 letters were sent to existing Will and Enduring Power of Attorney holders during the year advising them of the changes.

The operations of the Public Trustee have been improved in 2018-19 by:

• Taking an incremental approach to modernising the existing electronic systems. As part of this approach, the Public Trustee implemented telephone call and management recording in January 2019. The technology was used to establish dedicated phone lines and queues to support the changes to Will making and Section 29 (1) (b) investors. The system will continue to be enhanced over time and will form part of staff coaching and training.
• Strengthening investment governance with the appointment of an external Independent Investment Chair.
• The development of a series of dashboards that monitor performance against service standards and key areas of service provision to improve the customer experience.
• Strengthening our staff training regime, improved staff consultation and organisational changes to improve workforce capacity and capability.
• An annual staff recognition event has also been implemented.

As part of the 2018-19 State Budget, a Community Service Obligation framework was approved and implemented to fund the Public Trustee’s non-commercial services.

The Public Trustee’s profit for 2018-19 was $4.938m.

All investment options finished with positive returns, despite a volatile start to the financial year. Growth oriented strategies with a higher weighting to shares, property and infrastructure were the best performers.

In terms of market performance the Public Trustee’s more conservative investment style with a focus on value and quality led to some underperformance from benchmark over the last 12 months, due to a rally in high growth/speculative stocks within the market. The Public Trustee’s investment returns ranged from 1.92% for cash to 4.54% for growth, net of fees.

The State Government has also announced its intention to merge the Public Trustee and the Office of the Public Advocate, under reforms aimed at improving services to vulnerable South Australians. The proposed merger would see customers and clients who currently use the services of both the Public Trustee and Office of the Public Advocate dealing with one agency that addresses all of their needs, providing a more consistent and coordinated service.

Nicolle Rantanen
Public Trustee (Acting)