An Auditor‑General’s report tabled in Parliament last week has uncovered about $28.2 million in discrepancies between actual payments and amounts recorded in the Government’s financial system for Fiji’s core social protection programmes, prompting fresh scrutiny of record‑keeping and controls in the delivery of welfare benefits.
The 2024 audit found the largest variances in the Social Pension Scheme ($11.26 million) and the Family Assistance Scheme ($9.65 million), with further shortfalls of $4.36 million in the Child Protection Allowance and $2.99 million in the Disability Allowance Scheme. The Auditor‑General attributed the differences not to a single payment error but to systemic failures in reconciling payout records with balances in the Finance Ministry’s FMIS General Ledger.
“The reconciliations between the Social Welfare payout records and the balances in the FMIS General Ledger were not performed as it is currently not a requirement of the Finance Manual,” the report states, underlining that absent or inconsistent reconciliations undermine accountability and the ability to detect errors or misappropriation of public funds. The Auditor‑General has recommended the ministry introduce mandatory monthly reconciliations of social welfare payouts against FMIS to restore integrity to the payments process.
In its formal response, the ministry acknowledged the issues highlighted by the audit and said changes in internal responsibilities and business processes had delayed the implementation of reconciliation procedures. Officials said the reconciliation of bank payout records has now been completed and that staff have undergone training intended to improve accuracy and strengthen oversight of benefit payments.
The ministry also confirmed plans to implement a new Social Protection Management Information System (SPMIS). The system is being presented as a longer‑term measure to improve data integrity, transparency and financial management across social protection programmes; however, the audit report flagged immediate control gaps that require policy and practice changes regardless of future IT upgrades.
The Auditor‑General’s findings come at a politically sensitive moment given continuing pressure on public finances and public expectations that social assistance reach eligible households reliably. By tabling the report in Parliament, the Auditor‑General has placed the discrepancies on the public record and set out concrete corrective steps — monthly reconciliations and improved internal controls — for the ministry to adopt.
The ministry did not provide a detailed timetable in its response for full adoption of the Auditor‑General’s recommendations or for the rollout of SPMIS. Parliamentarians and oversight bodies are now positioned to press for specifics on when reconciliations will become mandatory, how the ministry will verify that past variances have been resolved, and what safeguards will be built into the new management system to prevent recurrence.
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