Legislative and Administrative Compliance Program (LACP)

The Compliance Unit (CU) assists the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) to operate in accordance with all applicable legislative and administrative instruments to meet its compliance obligations.

The Legislative and Administrative Compliance Program (LACP) supports the Secretary’s compliance with Section 3.6 of the Government Sector Finance Act 2018 (GSF Act) and the attestation under Treasury Policy Paper (TPP) 20-08 Internal Audit and Risk Management Policy for the General Government Sector.

Employees (at all levels) are responsible for ensuring compliance with our external legislative and administrative requirements.

The LACP program applies to:

·         DCJ (all divisions)

·         Advocate for Children and Young People (ACYP)

·         Ageing and Disability Commission (ADC)

·         Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW)

The LACP key components:

• Synopsis comprises 2 Parts: A) NSW legislative instruments and Commonwealth (Cth) legislative instruments and Part B) Administrative instruments
• The Synopsis is used to identify and confirm instruments and accountabilities and is an active work in progress, with information continuously updated and refined.
• Reporting Register is used to record and report on compliance against each instrument by policy owners
• Breach Register is used to record and report on non-compliance and mitigation strategies
• Certification is used to confirm that the advice provided in the Reporting and Breach (where applicable) Register/s are correct and that there are adequate controls in place to mitigate non-compliance/breaches.

Program Objectives

Business areas across DCJ and supported entities are required to self-assess and report on compliance against applicable NSW and Commonwealth legislative (Acts & Regulations) and administrative (government issued Circulars, Policy Papers and Memorandums) instruments.

Each instrument is assigned to the relevant Policy Owner/s.

Please note: Policy Owners ARE NOT held responsible for breaches across the department.

The LACP is not about naming and shaming. Where non-compliance is identified, CU will work closely with policy owners to assist with developing mitigation strategies to prevent and reduce the risk of future breaches.

The CU provides quarterly reports to both the DCJ Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) on compliance and on the progress by business areas regarding any mitigation strategies they are required to implement to prevent and/or mitigate future non-compliance.

The LACP supports:

The Secretary by:

• providing assurance that there is an effective process in place to identify and manage legislative and administrative compliance;
• providing assurance for the Management Representation Letter sign-off to the NSW Auditor General as part of the financial year-end procedures; and
• contributing to the annual attestation of compliance with the core requirements of the NSW Treasury Policy Paper Internal Audit & Risk Management Policy for the General Government Sector (TPP 20-08).

Management by:

• providing information to senior management, and the ARC that appropriate compliance controls are in place as required by the Government Sector Finance Act 2018 and TPP 20-08;
• forming part of the compliance framework together with the internal audit and risk management activities;
• raising awareness amongst management of compliance requirements and responsibilities; and
• supporting senior management by providing oversight of compliance matters within their division.

Employees by:

• providing information to increase awareness of the instruments and accountabilities for each instrument that they need to comply with.

Strategic oversight for the  ELT and ARC that business areas:

• are aware of their external obligations (legislative and administrative) associated with their core business activities and functions;
• have in place, or are in the process of developing controls to effectively comply with their obligations;
• comply with and report on their obligations;
• have in place, or are in the process of developing controls to monitor compliance; and
• adopt a continuous quality improvement approach, to identify emerging control issues and gaps.

Program Process includes three Phases:

Phase 1: Annual program rollout (based on previous financial period):

The LACP Synopsis and Reporting Register are provided to each division to complete their annual self-assessment for the previous financial period against each relevant instrument and/or accountability. This is also an opportunity for business areas to identify any instruments that may need to be included, updated, etc.

The head of the division/entity (e.g. Deputy Secretaries, Chief Executive, etc) is required to certify that:

• compliance as reported in their LACP Reporting and Breach (where applicable) Registers are true and accurate; and
• appropriate controls are in place to ensure compliance (including monitoring) with their divisional instruments/accountabilities.

Phase 2: Reporting of results (based on previous financial period):

The CU analyses and reports the compliance results to the:

• ELT
• ARC
• NSW Audit Office

Phase 3: Oversight and Monitoring of the Breach Register (where applicable)

• The CU will monitor and report quarterly to both the ELT and the ARC on the progress of implementation of prevention/mitigation strategies to resolution.

Relevant documents

Legislative and Administrative Compliance Program (LACP) Policy and Procedure (PDF, 334.2 KB)

Contact and support

Advice and support is available from the Compliance Unit (CU) via the LACP@dcj.nsw.gov.au mailbox.