Risk and audit at a glance

The Public Trustee has an Audit and Risk Management Committee (ARMC) to provide independent assurance to the Public Trustee by overseeing and monitoring the risk and control frameworks, internal audit and external accountability requirements.

The Committee is responsible for approving a rolling three-year Internal Audit Plan that is delivered by the Public Trustee’s (outsourced) internal auditors and is developed with regard to the Public Trustee’s operational and enterprise risk registers.

Fraud detected in the agency

Category/nature of fraudNumber of instances
Suspected cheque tampering of the Public Trustee’s cheques issued to vendors on behalf of customers.3

NB: Fraud reported includes actual and reasonably suspected incidents of fraud.

The Public Trustee is undertaking a number of activities to reduce the ongoing risk of cheque tampering including reducing the number of cheques produced and implementing additional security around cheques that are generated. There was no financial loss as all cheques were stopped prior to them being honoured.

Strategies implemented to control and prevent fraud

The Public Trustee has in place a number of management systems, policies, controls, training and procedures directed at preventing, detecting and minimising the risk of fraud. The Public Trustee assesses the risk of fraud as part of its Risk Assessment Process, with identified risks reviewed at least annually. Fraud risk and control assessments are also conducted as part of the Public Trustee Internal Audit Plan.

During the year a review of compliance against the Fraud and Corruption Control Policy was undertaken. As part of this review the Public Trustee’s internal auditors developed a Fraud and Corruption Control framework for the Public Trustee to use when conducting future compliance assessments.

An extensive review of fraud risks was also conducted in 2017 as part of the Independent Commissioner against Corruption’s Evaluation of the Practices, Policies and Procedures of the Public Trustee. The Public Trustee has continued to implement reform as a result of this review throughout the year, with actions to address seventeen of the nineteen recommendations now complete.

Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/organization/attorney-general-s-dept

Whistle-blowers disclosure

There were no occasions on which public interest information has been disclosed to a responsible officer of the agency under the Whistleblowers Protection Act 1993.

Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/organization/attorney-general-s-dept

Reporting required under any other Act or Regulation >