In this presentation, I summarise the September 2014 performance audit report by the Victorian Auditor General’s Office (VAGO), on the effectiveness of catchment management authorities and DEPI, in 5 slides.

1. VAGO Report on CMA Effectiveness…
Over the last five years, Victorian catchment management
authorities have received $486M from the Victorian
Government and another $233M from the Commonwealth.
The Auditor General of Victoria looked at how well four
CMAs were going, and how well DEPI was supporting and
monitoring CMAs.
NOVEMBER 2014

2. WHAT DOES IT SAY.
The auditor found that state-wide catchment
management planning had a ‘fragmented and
short-term’ focus, contrasting nicely with the
‘integrated and long-term’ requirement of the
legislation.
Regional level planning seemed better, but was
hampered by short-term resourcing and poor
‘strategy ownership’ by partner agencies
NOVEMBER 2014

3. WHAT ELSE DOES IT SAY.
Monitoring, evaluation and reporting was weak. This
seems to be an expected finding for auditors looking at
NRM programs though.
Goulburn Broken CMA came out best for MER though,
because they had the longest running MER framework and
routine performance reporting to the board.
Victorian Catchment Management Council also comes out
of the audit looking good.
NOVEMBER 2014

4. WHAT ELSE DOES IT SAY.
CMA governance was being adequately supported by
DEPI, although it sounds like the independence of the
boards is more limited than other jurisdictions (like
NSW).
The auditor found ‘no statewide goals, priorities and
measures for integrated catchment management’.
Wimmera CMA cops a few hits, eg. for its 7 year old
community engagement plan
NOVEMBER 2014

5. WHAT DOES IT MEAN.
• While regional level natural resource
planning is going OK, the lack of integration
at the state-wide level may be contributing to
declining natural resource condition.
• Victoria is not leading the way in MER, or
integrated catchment management.
• Agencies like the VCMC, and the NSW NRC,
are needed to highlight gaps for larger
departments.
The comments on these slides are the views of Tim Kirby, Sydney.
You should always read the report itself before putting your reputation, any money, on the line.
Tim Kirby, Sydney CA, CIA, LA-EMS
au.linkedin.com/in/timkirbysydney
NOVEMBER 2014