NSW Audit Office Report 2023
The audit assessed how effectively FCNSW manages its public native forestry activities to ensure compliance, and how effectively we regulate these activities.
On 22 June 2023, the Audit Office of NSW released its Public Native Forestry Regulation Performance Audit Report.
We welcome the audit findings which reinforce that we are effectively regulating public native forestry and we have accepted the Audit Office’s 3 EPA specific recommendations and one joint recommendation for continual improvement.
In response to the audit we have already:
- committed to the ongoing training of regulatory officers to conduct forestry inspections through our Forestry Skills Development Program
- fully implemented the Memorandum of Understanding, signed during the 2019 Black Summer bushfires, that sets out the approach both agencies will take to developing a cooperative relationship.
By December 2023, we will:
- document our decision-making process for assessing risk ratings for the Western Integrated Forestry Operations Approval areas
- complete an audit to ensure that regulatory staff have the necessary equipment to undertake forestry inspections.