Integrity Commission referral may throw blanket over Digital Health Record invoices affair

The referral of the handling by the ACT Health Directorate of the Digital Health Records project to the ACT’s anti-corruption body may stymie attempts by the Opposition and media to extract more information from the ACT Government on the matter.

The ACT Integrity Commission announced late on Wednesday (7 August) that it had received a referral regarding the conduct of ACT Health executives involved in the delivery of the Digital Health Records Project and had begun an investigation.

The Commission said no adverse inferences should be drawn about any individual during its investigation.

Interim ACT Health Director-General Dave Peffer made the referral. The matter has already been referred to the Auditor-General.

It was revealed on Wednesday that the ACT Health directorate may have paid for products and services that did not match the terms of its multi-million-dollar contract with an IT consultancy and was unable to confirm whether it got what it paid for.

According to an internal audit, in June 2023, bureaucrats reportedly paid several invoices worth up to $66 million to private company NTT for hosting the Digital Health Record. This online portal enables the public to view their medical records.

“Overall, it was found that ACTHD is unable to provide assurance that the services for which they were invoiced (or for which accruals were made) relating to NTT invoicing for the period of 1 June 2023 to 30 June 2023 were appropriate for payment as the invoices from NTT were not adequately structured to permit acquittal of the invoices in sufficient detail,” the report found.

Opposition health spokesperson Leanne Castley is pressing Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith for more information, including whether there are any further audits relating to the Digital Health Record.

In her 8 August letter to the Minister, Ms Castley also sought the release of any report prepared by the Strategic Finance team, specifically to do with travel and work hour invoices submitted by Exhibition Park in Canberra and credit card expenditure and sign-off in the Digital Solutions Division.

However, in a statement on Friday, Ms Stephen-Smith said she was unsure about what could be released.

“Given that these matters have been referred to both the Auditor-General and Integrity Commission, I am seeking further advice about when and how these reports can be released,” she said.

“I will provide a comprehensive statement to the Legislative Assembly in the next sitting week and will table any relevant documents that can be released at that time.”

Mr Peffer, who returns to Canberra Health Services next week as CEO, had the task of telling staff in an email about the audit findings in an email.

“There’s a significant risk the directorate’s paid for products and services that are inconsistent with our contract,” he wrote.

“At the time of the audit, we didn’t have the ability to accurately confirm we’d received what we were paying for.”

The government released the audit, conducted by an external provider at a cost of $30,000, after Ms Castley asked a series of questions during Estimates Hearings in the Legislative Assembly.

Ms Stephen-Smith said on Wednesday that she expected her directorate to do everything it could to “recoup any payments” that had been inappropriately made to NTT or any other provider.

The Minister also admitted that she was not explicitly briefed on the NTT invoices audit and the concerns that led to it being undertaken.

In answer to a question on notice from Ms Castley during Estimates, Ms Stephen-Smith said the first she had heard of an audit of NTT invoices was in May 2024 as part of material about funding pressures associated with the implementation of the Digital Health Record.

“This material stated that an internal ACTHD audit relating to NTT invoices and contract management had been finalised in April 2024 and that the Directorate was implementing recommendations from this audit,” she said.

Ms Stephen-Smith said it was only on 17 July that Mr Peffer spoke to her about “high-level concerns” related to the handling of NTT’s invoices and payments.

“As of the Hearing date of 25 July, I had not been briefed on the audit report, and it had not been provided to me or my office. I have subsequently been briefed on the audit report and the actions ACTHD has taken and is taking in response.”

In her letter, Ms Castley wants to know what steps the ACT Health Directorate is taking to recover taxpayers’ money from NTT and if all recommendations had been implemented by ACT Health and the Digital Solutions Division team by 30 June 2024.