Established in 1948, the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) provides free English tuition to eligible migrants and humanitarian entrants with no or low English levels. The program supports an average of 53,000 participants annually. The design of the program recognises that learning English can help migrant settlement.

In addition to auditing the management of contracts by the Department of Home Affairs, the audit used the follow the money power provided under paragraph 18B(1)(b) of the Auditor-General Act 1997 to examine the performance of Linda Wyse and Associates (LWA), the quality assurance provider for the AMEP.

Key findings:

• The design and administration of the Adult Migrant English Program contracts has not been effective.
• Appropriate contractual arrangements are not in place with the 13 general service providers. The contracts are continuing to operate past their stated completion date, despite there being no extension options in the contracts.
• The general service provider contracts have not been appropriately managed. A comprehensive set of contracted performance indicators was in place when the contracts were first signed, but that framework has been amended over time such that it no longer addresses the educational outcomes being achieved by students, the accuracy of provider assessments of student educational outcomes or the timeliness of service provider provision of data to the department.
• In its administration of the contract with the firm engaged as quality assurance provider, the Department of Home Affairs has not obtained appropriate assurance over the work of the 13 contracted general service providers.