PUBLIC TRUSTEE — FEES
1016. Hon NICK GOIRAN to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Attorney General:
I
refer to the performance audit undertaken by the Office of the Auditor General
in the Public Trustee's administration of trusts and
deceased estates.
(1) Given that
the Auditor General found that ''Trust fees did not always reflect
actual work effort'', what urgent steps have been taken to address this?
(2) Given the
Public Trustee's underwhelming response—proposing a new
brochure and more frequent financial statements—to the Auditor General's
finding that ''Trust clients are not provided with a clear and easy to
understand explanation of the fees that are more likely to be charged to their
account'', what steps is the Attorney General taking to ensure that
these concerns are properly addressed?
(3) Will the
minister table the most recent briefing note or similar document he has
received about these systemic concerns about the Public Trustee's
administration of trusts and deceased estates?
Hon
MATTHEW SWINBOURN replied:
I thank the member for some notice
of the question.
(1) The
Department of Treasury immediately accepted the Auditor General's
recommendation to review the appropriateness and transparency of the Public
Trustee's fees and self-funding model. This review will aim to provide
government with options to improve equity and value for money for the Public
Trustee's clients, particularly given the vulnerable nature of its
client base. The Attorney General fully supports this action.
(2) The Department
of Treasury review will inform efforts to develop new simplified fee brochures,
tailored to suit the different trust client types, which will be published on
the Public Trustee's website.
(3) This part of
the member's question is unable to be answered in the time provided and
I ask him to place it on notice.