All departments in South Australia’s state government will be facing telecommunications services audits after a startling discovery was recently made in four of its agencies.
A six-month audit of the unnamed departments led to the discovery of a myriad of mistakes and wasteful practices, from unsuitable data plans to billing errors.
In total, it is estimated the blunders cost the government $2 million.
“Because only four agencies were included in the 2011-12 review, there are concerns that the practices could be spread across the government’s 69 other agencies and, potentially, costing many more millions,” states a news report in The Australian.
Those agencies not included in the original audit will be reviewing both fixed voice and mobile services to find efficiencies and correct errors. Technical reviews will be undertaken on data networks.
Some startling statistics from the audit:
– Overcharges totalling $230,000 were uncovered when providers’ service summaries were compared with detailed reports. One agency phone network had an estimated overcharge of $27,000.
– Over 2,300 unused phones were being billed at a cost of $670,000.
– Charges of $70,000 accrued for nearly 400 mobile phones that failed to generate any call or data usage.
– Savings of $1.4 million could be realized by switching broadband plans to better suit actual usage, and by changing technologies and services.
Elected officials were stunned by the findings, and quickly sprang into action to establish a review team to ensure an end to the wasteful spending.
“The government is aware of the issues raised in the auditor general’s report and has established a review team to address those issues,” said Public Sector Minister Michael O’Brien.
Opposition critics were quick to express their outrage, noting most families are struggling with increased taxes and charges. The public would be furious at millions of dollars being wasted, they said.
“It seems incomprehensible that taxpayers would be continuing to pay for more than 2,700 phones that were not being used,” said Opposition Finance Spokesman Rob Lucas.
It’s not the first time the South Australian government has faced such controversy. In 2010, it came to light the state treasurer racked up a $22,000 cell phone bill in a 12 month period. Another elected official accrued a bill of $10,000 in just one month after his son used his taxpayer-funded cell phone to download games.
When was the last time your company reviewed its telecom spending?