Auditor-general says staff paid high prices to unfamiliar suppliers.

 

Victorian government departments “wasted money” and failed to set up strong fraud controls when they spent billions of dollars tackling COVID-19, the state auditor-general has found.

 

The claimed ‘wastefulness’ included spending $172 million on PPE that was not fit for purpose, such as buying 33 million N95 respirators and 14 million surgical face masks, according to Australian Associated Press.

 

Because the state did not have a PPE stockpile before the pandemic, government staff acted quickly but relied on unfamiliar suppliers and often paid high prices, according to the audit tabled in the Victorian parliament late last month.

 

The Department of Justice, for example, bought hand sanitiser bottles for six dollars, but at other times during the pandemic it paid up to $27.

 

"Departments made extraordinary efforts to respond to COVID-19. However, not all departments effectively managed their spending, leading to waste in some instances," the report said.

 

Overall, the Victorian government spent $4.4 billion on pandemic initiatives, including $785 million on its business support fund and $782 million on expanding intensive care.

 

Worldwide cleaning association investigates PPE scams

 

Meantime, the worldwide cleaning association ISSA is taking a close look at fraud and non-delivery of PPE during the global pandemic. 

 

Many companies got their fingers burned in the race to source PPE last year, according to ISSA.

 

“The COVID-19 pandemic caused new and unique circumstances that led to demand for personal protection equipment outpacing supply very rapidly. The pandemic’s massive and urgent needs caused chaos in supply that forced many

US importers to quickly identify new sources for PPE. That urgency combined with restricted travel forced some companies to modify or abandon their normal due diligence processes for vetting new suppliers. And that led to some serious fraudulent activities,” ISSA said.