His first report, dated April 8 that year, did not find evidence of corruption or misconduct but did discover that two IT projects – whose combined budgets were almost $750 million – both had approved budgets “greater than what appears to be publicly known”. The “confidential” report stated it had become clear from interviewing Transport for NSW staff that not all of the costs of one of the IT projects – known as ERP – had been apportioned to it, meaning they were “not reported correctly” to an oversight committee. “However, this ‘inaccuracy’ in reporting of the costs does not appear to be isolated to [Transport for NSW] and this specific project,” the investigator wrote. The troubled state of IT at Transport for NSW affects a number of government agencies, including Roads and Maritime Services. Credit:Bloomberg Another report, completed about a year later in March 2017, found there may have been pressure on staff from an individual for a $425 million IT project to meet its budget, “which may have resulted in staff failing to correctly report the financial status of the program”.

While the person left the agency in 2016, the investigator wrote that “this conduct may not have changed”, citing the fact that the project's cost was incorrectly reported to an oversight committee in late 2016 as having an amber rating when it should have have been red. Loading A red rating means a project has overshot its original budget by more than 10 per cent, which triggers regular audits and greater oversight by the Transport Minister’s office. The investigator's findings are similar to the evidence given by agency staff to a recent confidential investigation by the state's Information and Privacy Commission. The Herald recently revealed that the Information Commission was told of a culture inside Transport for NSW of suppressing bad news, meaning that higher levels within the department were not told of potential cost blowouts on projects.

A draft report by external consultants Frazer Walker in September 2016 also warned that the “risk levels” of one of the IT projects – now known as “Making IT Work For You” – were “higher than those that have been reported” to an oversight committee. Loading Despite that report and concerns raised by some staff, others within Transport for NSW appeared to have downplayed the findings by Frazer Walker, the forensic investigator from Klein & Co wrote in his “confidential investigation report” in March 2017. The projects to overhaul IT were supposed to reduce the agency's annual costs by slashing the number of systems and cutting hundreds of jobs. However, the poor state of the projects means the agency still relies on staff from vendors such as Fujitsu and its existing workforce to maintain the systems, resulting in costs rising significantly higher than budgeted.

“It has resulted in tens of millions in taxpayer money wasted, with no end in sight,” an insider said. “This is maladministration of taxpayers' hard-earned money. The blatant lack and intentional disregard of internal controls, governance and transparency leaves much to be desired.” Shortly after the investigator's second report early last year, a “sensitive” briefing document to a Transport for NSW deputy secretary noted that it was “not possible for this investigation to prove definitively whether TfNSW employees deliberately concealed the true status of the program to the steering committee”. “Nonetheless, consideration could be given to reinforcing with senior NGIS [Next Generation Information System] project staff the importance of accurate, frank and honest reporting,” it stated. Transport for NSW said in a statement that the investigations into the reporting of the IT projects identified some discrepancies, and reporting standards were reinforced with senior project staff.