Legislative and Administrative Compliance Program (LACP)

The LACP 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 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 key components:

• Synopsis comprises 3 Parts: A) NSW legislative instruments, B) Commonwealth (Cth) legislative instruments and C) Administrative instruments
• The Synopsis is used to identify and confirm instruments and accountabilities (and is a work in progress)
• 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 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 accountability should be 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, the Business Ethics and Compliance Unit (BECU) will work closely with policy owners to assist with developing mitigation strategies to prevent and reduce the risk of future breaches.

The BECU provides quarterly reports to both the DCJ Executive and the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) 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 across the Department;
• 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 his 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 & TPP 20-08;
• forming part of the DCJ assurance 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.

Staff by:

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

Strategic oversight for the DCJ Executive and the 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.

The head of the division (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 BECU analyses and reports the compliance results to the:

• DCJ Executive
• DCJ ARC
• NSW Audit Office 

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

• monitor and report quarterly to both the Executive 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)

Support and Assistance

Advice and support is available from the Business Ethics and Compliance unit (BECU) via the LACP@dcj.nsw.gov.au mailbox.