Your Ref: A1307290
Our Ref: D26/08161
7th Floor, Albert Facey House
469 Wellington Street, Perth
Mail to: Perth BC
Mr Peter Rundle MLA
PO Box 8489
Chair
PERTH WA 6849
Community Development and Justice Standing Committee
Tel: 08 6557 7502
Email: info@audit.wa.gov.au
Email: cdjscsubmissions@parliament.wa.gov.au
Dear Chair
INQUIRY INTO GUARDIANSHIP AND ADMINISTRATION IN WA - SUBMISSION
Thank you for your letter dated 8 April 2026 inviting the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) to provide a submission to the Committee’s Inquiry into the Public Trustee’s and Office of the Public Advocate’s delivery of services.
The focus of our submission is the Public Trustee, as it is explicitly subject to the auditing provisions of the Auditor General Act 2006.[1]
The Public Trustee is an entity that attracts consistent audit interest from the OAG given the significant role it plays in the lives of thousands of Western Australia’s most vulnerable residents. Aspects of the Public Trustee’s service delivery, while necessary and indeed essential, often involve a level of intrusion requiring the utmost care, diligence, respect and accountability. According to its most recent Annual Report, the Public Trustee now manages 8,407 trusts and $1.9 billion worth of assets.[2]
Over the last 13 years, in addition to our annual financial audit program, we have examined various parts of the Public Trustee’s systems and operations and published our results in the following reports:
- Transparency Report – Major IT Projects (2025)
- The Public Trustee’s Management Accounting Trust Environment (MATE) system was one of the IT projects included in this audit
- Fraud Risks in the Management of Client Funds by the Public Trustee (2024)
- Public Trustee’s Administration of Trusts and Deceased Estates (2022)
- Management of Feedback from Public Trustee Represented Persons (2016)
- Public Trustee: Administration of the Affairs of Vulnerable People (2013)
Of these reports, our 2022 report on the Public Trustee’s Administration of Trusts and Deceased Estates is the most timely and pertinent to the Committee’s Inquiry, with some of the report’s findings and recommendations relevant to terms of reference 1, 2, and 4.
Term of reference 1: Organisational capability of the Public Trustee
A factor impacting organisational capability is the capacity of staff to manage the demands of their roles. In this respect, our report highlighted caseload management as an area of risk
[1] Per section 48 Public Trustee Act 1941 (WA). No such provision exists within the Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 (WA) for the Office of the Public Advocate, which is instead captured within the OAG’s annual financial audit of the Department of Justice. [2] Public Trustee (WA), Annual Report 2024/25, 5 September 2025, p. 6.
for the Public Trustee. We observed high caseloads in the trusts area where the work is often mentally and emotionally demanding. At the time of our report we noted the most junior trust manager had, on average, 198 clients.[3] While our report highlighted this issue, I refrained from including a recommendation relating to appropriate resourcing requirements, as such questions are for the entity’s accountable authority and the Government to determine.
Notably during our audit, funding for an additional 18 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions – including 12 new trust managers – was confirmed in the 2022-23 Budget. This offered an opportunity to relieve some of the pressure facing incumbent staff so that services could be delivered even more effectively.[4]
Term of reference 2: Organisational culture of the Public Trustee’s office
While our audit team found Public Trustee staff to be dedicated to their roles, persistently high workloads will make it challenging for the best of people to maintain a compassionate approach while acting consistently in the best interest of clients, many of whom have incredibly challenging behaviours and / or difficult circumstances.
Our audit identified structural factors that conspired against acting in a client’s best interest. Most notably, our audit raised concerns with the Public Trustee’s self-funding model, particularly where fee-relief for clients with limited means and very low balances was effectively subsidised by clients with the capacity to pay. We observed instances where trusts with higher asset values had the full scheduled fee charged where the actual work done was minimal or automated.[5]
In my report overview, I argued that:
This model delivers an inherent incentive to maximise fees from clients regarded by the Public Trustee as having the capacity to pay, but who by community standards would not be considered wealthy. This is not appropriate.[6]
The report included a recommendation for the Department of Treasury (now the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF)) to review the appropriateness (and transparency) of the Public Trustee’s fees and self-funding model. It also called on any such review to consider whether additional governance oversight arrangements were necessary, including a governing board, to better align the Public Trustee with other State entities that hold private monies in trust and are subject to close scrutiny of their service standards and performance.[7] The additional layer of accountability offered through such independent oversight mechanisms helps underpin a healthy organisational culture.
Term of reference 4: Accessibility of information (scope for improvement around the Public Trustee’s communication of fees)
Our 2022 audit found that the Public Trustee was not clearly communicating trust fees to its clients. There was no plain English explanation of fees, and the fee structure information that was publicly available was confusingly written. This was particularly problematic for clients with diminished capacity. Moreover, trust clients were not regularly told what fees they had been charged and why. Financial statements of account were only provided on request, when the account was closed, or as required by a State Administrative Tribunal order.[8]
[3] OAG, Public Trustee’s Administration of Trusts and Deceased Estates, Report 3 of 2022-23, 10 August 2022, Auditor General’s Overview and p. 8. [4] ibid., Auditor General’s Overview. [5] ibid., pp. 10-11. Refer to Case Study 1 on p. 10 for two stark examples where considerable charges were imposed (albeit in accordance with the schedule of fees) for minimal or automated work. [6] ibid., p. 5. [7] ibid., pp. 5-6, and 9. Our report cited the Government Employees Superannuation Board, which has an independent governing board and is also subject to oversight by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. [8] ibid., pp. 11-12.
The report recommended the Public Trustee “review and improve its communication of trust fees, to help clients understand potential and actual fees”.[9]
Response to the 2022 OAG report
The Public Trustee and DTF accepted the findings and recommendations relating to the issues raised above.
Based on the Public Trustee’s response to 2024 queries from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)[10], its June 2025 testimony as part of your committee’s Agency Review hearing[11], and its most recent Annual Report[12] it appears that work is continuing towards the implementation of these recommendations.
The Public Trustee advised the PAC that it had appointed independent reviewers on 30 January 2024 to undertake a review of its fees and charges. The Public Trustee also confirmed that the Government had approved “the introduction of an independent governing board established through statute to strengthen oversight”.[13] Prior to establishing this board, an interim Advisory Board would “oversee the development of a revised fee model and fee waiver policy that is simple, transparent and equitable”.[14]
The Public Trustee also confirmed to the PAC that it had undertaken IT system upgrades to automatically generate more detailed annual statements to all clients (unless exempted). It added that it was working towards “new and simplified fee brochures, tailored to suit the different trust client types”.[15] The roll-out of these brochures would be “informed by the independent review of fees and charges” which was then underway.[16]
In terms of its organisational capability, the Public Trustee has continued to advocate for building capacity since the period of our audit. In addition to the approved FTE increase announced in 2022-23 Budget, the Public Trustee, Mr Roche, confirmed to your committee a FTE increase of “about 26” in the four years to June 2025.[17] Following on from this, a recent Government Media Release has confirmed funding for an additional 43 permanent staff.[18]
Significantly, the Government Media Release has also confirmed the approval of a revised fee model to come into effect from 1 July 2027. Over the next 12 months an interim fee relief regime, which has been in place for certain clients while the review into fees and charges was undertaken, will continue.[19]
Without a follow-up audit, which is not currently contemplated, it is difficult to comment definitively on the effectiveness of the actions the Public Trustee and DTF have taken to address the OAG’s recommendations relating to capability, culture and accessibility of information.
However, there does appear to have been a genuine commitment by Government to enhancing the Public Trustee’s organisational capability through increased capacity and an
[9] OAG, Public Trustee’s Administration of Trusts and Deceased Estates, Report 3 of 2022-23, 10 August 2022, p. 17 (Recommendation 2). [10] Public Accounts Committee, Review of Selected Auditor General Reports 2019-2024, Report 13, 28 November 2024, Appendix 5, pp. 65-68. [11] Community Development and Justice Standing Committee, Agency Review Hearings (Public Trustee), 18 June 2025, pp. 4, 10-11. [12] Public Trustee (WA), Annual Report 2024/25, 5 September 2025, pp. 5-6, 21, 62, and 68. [13] Public Accounts Committee, Review of Selected Auditor General Reports 2019-2024, Report 13, 28 November 2024, Appendix 5, p. 65. [14] ibid. [15] ibid., p. 66. [16] ibid. [17] Community Development and Justice Standing Committee, Agency Review Hearings (Public Trustee), 18 June 2025, p. 4. [18] Hon Dr Tony Buti MLA, Attorney General, “Government provides stronger support for Public Trustee clients”, WA Government Media Release, 21 May 2026. [19] ibid.
openness towards independent oversight and simplification of the information surrounding its fee structures.
With the review of fees and charges now complete, the earlier commitments towards simplified fee brochures and the establishment of an independent governing board to oversee service delivery and performance will be important areas of focus.
Regarding governance arrangements, as I noted when tabling the 2022 report:
Other entities in Western Australia delivering essential services on a fee-for-service basis are subject to close scrutiny of their service standards and performance and have an independent governing board.[20]
In the absence of such a board, I retain the view I expressed in 2022 that the Public Trustee’s “governance arrangements do not reflect modern expectations around public accountability”.[21]
With a long-serving Executive in whom a significant amount responsibility is placed, the challenging views and fresh perspectives offered by an independent, suitably qualified governing board should only serve to support management in optimizing the Public Trustee’s operations – ultimately to the benefit of the many vulnerable people whose affairs they manage. Such a board should also be well-placed to consider the initial appropriateness, reasonableness, and transparency of the new fees and charges model.
Notwithstanding the positive developments observed in recent years, the Public Trustee will likely remain a high priority entity for our audit program given the importance of its role, and the frequency with which both we, and the Ombudsman’s Office[22], receive referrals or complaints regarding its operations.
I trust the Committee finds this information helpful for its deliberations. I am available to elaborate on any of these points or assist the Committee with any specific questions that may arise as the Inquiry progresses. Please direct any such queries to Lacey Holtfreter on redacted or to redacted
Yours faithfully
redacted
Caroline Spencer Auditor General for Western Australia 29 May 2026
[20] “Public Trustee’s high fees, inadequate fee communication and timeliness to finalise estates leads to Auditor General call for urgent review”, OAG Media Release, 10 August 2022. [21] OAG, Public Trustee’s Administration of Trusts and Deceased Estates, Report 3 of 2022-23, 10 August 2022, Auditor General’s Overview, p. 6. [22] Up until 2020-21, Public Trustee (and Office of the Public Advocate) complaints data was captured under the Department of Justice’s aggregated figures in the “Complaints by public authority” tables appended in the WA Ombudsman’s Annual Reports. These figures are now listed separately. The total number of complaints per year for the Public Trustee is listed as 44 in 2024-25; 56 in 2023-24; 36 in 2022-23; and 42 in 2021-22. The referrals the OAG receives represent a fraction of this number, although we have seen a slight increase in correspondence over the last 12 months.