Managing Minjerribah Futures funding

Tabled Report 14: 2024–25

Tabled date

2025-05-08

Report year

2024-25

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Economic development Tourism and events

Entities audited

Not identified in the published HTML audit scope.

Recommendations

1. QAO's text Addressed to: the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation

   We recommend that the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation strengthens its public reporting on the current status of the Minjerribah Futures program by:

   • reconciling the projects under the Minjerribah Futures program to the original projects under the North Stradbroke Island Economic Transition Strategy
   • clearly identifying the status of all projects under the program, including any action required to complete them
   • reporting on funding provided to date against the total funding approved.

   This reporting could be done either on the department’s website or in its annual report.

2. QAO's text Addressed to: the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation and the Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning use learnings from this program when establishing similar programs by

   conducting market analysis for sourcing external funding where it is identified that the program will not be entirely funded by the Queensland Government

3. QAO's text Addressed to: assessing the capacity and available skills of entities responsible for delivering multiple concurrent projects varying in nature, size, and complexity. They

   assessing the capacity and available skills of entities responsible for delivering multiple concurrent projects varying in nature, size, and complexity. They should also consider providing additional support, where required, through other government agencies that possess the necessary skills and expertise, such as the Department of Housing and Public Works

4. QAO's text Addressed to: assessing the capacity and available skills of entities responsible for delivering multiple concurrent projects varying in nature, size, and complexity. They

   tailoring the terms and conditions of funding agreements to ensure that reporting and milestone requirements are appropriate and achievable for the receiving entity

5. QAO's text Addressed to: assessing the capacity and available skills of entities responsible for delivering multiple concurrent projects varying in nature, size, and complexity. They

   updating standard terms and conditions of funding agreements to clarify to funding recipients what type of expenditure is considered appropriate

6. QAO's text Addressed to: assessing the capacity and available skills of entities responsible for delivering multiple concurrent projects varying in nature, size, and complexity. They

   establishing appropriate governance arrangements that are consistently applied over the life of strategies, particularly where strategies are modified or impacted by machinery of government changes.

7. QAO's text Addressed to: the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation

   We recommend that the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation strengthens its funding acquittal processes for future projects by:

   • reviewing whether its current acquittal processes are fit for purpose to ensure all funding provided is used in accordance with funding agreements
   • ensuring staged funding under future agreements is not paid until any earlier funding has been fully and properly acquitted, unless there are prevailing circumstances that are outlined in the agreements.

   While these recommendations are addressed to the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation and Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, other government departments should also consider these learnings when developing similar programs.

Authoritative report — Queensland Audit Office

Report PDF on QAO