Tasmanian government departments are still failing to properly manage gifts, benefits and hospitality, despite more than a decade of reviews, a new auditor-general’s report has found.
The report, released today, found senior managers in particular had a “tendency” to accept gifts they should not have.
Auditor-General Martin Thompson reviewed how eight departments handled gifts during the 2024-25 financial year.
“Despite more than a decade of reviews and policy changes relating to the management of GB&H, the audited agencies were, overall, still not meeting expectations,” Thompson said.
The audit found the frequency and high value of some gifts clashed with the core principle of the 2016 policy that, in most situations, “‘thanks’ is enough”.
Auditors searched roughly 17,700 emails to find undeclared gifts.
They uncovered items accepted without declaration forms, as well as gifts recorded internally but missing from public registers.
In one department, 37 gifts worth $100 or more appeared on the internal register, but only 21 made it onto the public one.
One example was a 2021 sponsorship deal with a professional sports team.
It gave the government 20 tickets to every home game, hospitality for up to 10 guests and up to $5,000 in free merchandise.
The report also described heads of agency accepting high-value invitations to networking and sporting events, often justified as “networking” or “maintaining stakeholder relationships”.
In another case, a supplier invited a project team to dinner and offered to pay for their meals and drinks.
Declaration forms were often incomplete but still approved. In two departments, more than half the forms were missing key details.
Thompson credited the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPAC) for its new January 2026 policy but said it had been too slow to act, leaving agencies without proper guidance for more than two years.
DPAC secretary Kathrine Morgan-Wicks disputed that finding.
She said the delay reflected a uniquely busy period, including two state elections and a Commission of Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
“I note that your report further comments that DPAC was slow to act,” Morgan-Wicks told the auditor-general.
“Whilst you acknowledge the reason for this as “competing priorities”, in my view this comment does not adequately capture the reasoning for the length of time taken to update the policy.”
Thompson made five recommendations, four to agencies and one to the head of the state service.
Most were accepted, though the Department of Health and the Department for Education, Children and Young People had not responded to the auditor-general when the report was published.
