$58 million, five years, and half a job done. Who's accountable?

Cover image courtesy of Scone Race Club

On Tuesday, Minister for Gaming and Racing David Harris stood at Scone Race Club to officially open the completed Polytrack and inspect Stage 1 of the new stabling complex - 113 horses in one two-storey block, with four more to follow. It was a polished moment. Racing NSW Chair Dr Saranne Cooke was there and local members spoke.

Two days later, on Thursday, the NSW Auditor-General tabled a report finding that less than half the projects funded under the same program had been completed, that the department overseeing it had failed at almost every level of its governance obligations, and that projects were running an average of 38 months behind schedule.

The ministerial opening took place on Tuesday 7 April. The audit was tabled on Thursday 9 April. The two events were not publicly connected by either Racing NSW or the Minister's office.

The report that found the department responsible for overseeing the Racing for the Regions program failed at almost every level of its job, and that Racing NSW delivered less than half the funded projects by the original September 2024 deadline.

Six of 14 projects were complete at the time the audit concluded in January 2026. A seventh, Muswellbrook's function centre, opened in March. Seven more are still unfinished, with estimated completion dates ranging from mid-2026 to the end of the year.

Table: Racing For The Regions program grant projects and their status as of the 2026 audit

The business case that started all of this was submitted in October 2020. The funding deed wasn't signed until July 2022, by which point three of the 14 projects were already done, the project timelines in the deed were 21 months out of date, and the Department hadn't asked Racing NSW to update a figure.

What the audit found

The report is direct. The Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport - the third department to hold oversight responsibility for this program since 2021 - did not identify delivery risks before finalising the deed, did not assess Racing NSW's governance or project delivery capability, did not include timelines, project scopes, or an end date in the legally binding agreement, did not require an evaluation plan, and documented fewer than half of its monthly governance meetings.

The funding deed was, in the Auditor-General's assessment, not fit for purpose from the day it was signed.

Racing NSW, meanwhile, has reported high risks on seven projects since formal reporting began in February 2024 - itself 19 months after the deed was executed. The Department received those reports and, according to the audit, did not seek clarification on any of them.

The total cost of the projects has increased by approximately $53 million since the business case was written, with the blowout absorbed by Racing NSW.

The structural question

The audit is careful to stay in its lane: it assesses administration and oversight but doesn't question whether the program should have been structured the way it was.

But the structure itself is unusual.

In a standard government infrastructure grant program, there is separation between the entity that designs the program, the entity that applies for funding, and the entity that delivers. Open competitive rounds exist precisely to create that separation with multiple applicants, independent assessment, a probity advisor and an administering agency with no stake in who wins.

NSW has well-established frameworks for exactly this - the Greater Cities and Regional Sport Facility Fund, for example, requires competitive applications, an independent assessment panel, and external probity oversight as a baseline.

However, with Racing For The Regions, Racing NSW proposed the projects, the government approved them on the basis of Racing NSW's own business case, and Racing NSW then received the money, engaged its own project management firm, and reported on its own progress to a department with no independent view of the industry. It is also the regulator of the clubs receiving the upgrades.

There is no point in that chain where an independent party assessed whether the projects were the right ones, whether the allocations were fair between locations, or whether Racing NSW's interests aligned with the stated public purpose of regional economic stimulus post-COVID.

The NSW Grants Administration Guide is the policy framework that governs how all of this is supposed to work. The audit found the Department failed to meet those requirements at nearly every stage. But the Guide's existence also raises a harder question: it was designed for a model where the grant recipient and the administering agency are genuinely separate.

When the same organisation that secured the funding is also the one spending it and reporting on it, the Guide's oversight mechanisms lose most of their teeth because they assume someone independent is holding them accountable.

Racing NSW's response

TTR sent Racing NSW seven specific questions ahead of publication. We asked about original completion timelines, why regular reporting didn't start until 2024, how the three pre-deed projects were handled financially, why quantity surveyors weren't engaged for those projects, and why indicative rather than developed designs were used in the business case.

Racing NSW's COO Graeme Hinton replied with the following statement:

“What shouldn't be lost is that Racing NSW was able to procure $67 million from the NSW Government for capital infrastructure for the NSW Thoroughbred racing industry. It did this by presenting a detailed business case to the NSW Government. The beneficiaries are the 50,000 participants. However as expected TTR is looking to find a negative.

“As is highlighted in the report, the delays were not the fault of Racing NSW. In fact the Report confirms that Racing NSW used best practice by engaging a third party project manager to oversee the projects, ensuring robust probity and procurement processes.

“Insofar as there has been any delays in delivery of these projects, as is set out in the Report, these were primarily due to the extensive delays in obtaining Development Application Approvals which is an issue that has plagued the entire construction sector in NSW. Racing NSW also took the pro-active step for some projects in acquiring additional land to facilitate the most efficient and effective delivery of the projects, which necessitated some delays with good reason and outcomes.”

We have also directed the same questions to Racing NSW Chair Dr Saranne Cooke, along with a question about whether the board considers this an appropriate standard of governance, transparency, and accountability.

Gallery: Racing NSW Board Members

No response had been received at time of publication.

TTR also asked for details on the additional land Racing NSW acquired for certain projects, referenced in Hinton's statement as justification for some delays. No response was received at time of publication.

What industry insiders are saying

Helen Sinclair has run both Scone and Muswellbrook race clubs, consulted broadly across the state, and worked on projects for Racing NSW. She is a member of the Racing Reform Group NSW.

“It is no surprise to anyone in racing that, five years on from the funding announcement, only six of the 14 projects have been completed,” Sinclair said. “Racing NSW, who are responsible for delivering the projects, lack accountability and transparency. There appears to be a failure of the board to hold the executive to account.”

Sinclair also raised something that doesn't appear in the audit report; "I understand some of these projects have had to be downgraded because of the delays and cost blowouts. At Scone, there was talk of building more stables but only about half will be delivered at best and that is a long time off.”

The April 7 ministerial opening confirmed Stage 1 of the Scone stables - 113 horses in one two-storey block - with four further single-storey blocks to accommodate 302 horses by the end of 2026. Earlier reports had promised trainers 300 stables by December 2022. The scope of what's being delivered, the timeline, and the cost have all shifted materially since the program was announced. Racing NSW has not provided a public account of those changes.

The government's response

A large portion of the audit covers the lack of governance by the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport. This was exacerbated by the Office Of Racing moving between three different NSW government departments between June 2021 and January 2026.

The audit covers the period from July 2021 to January 2026 - spanning both governments. The governance failures embedded in the deed date to 2022. But incomplete records, the absence of documented risk discussions, and the failure to seek clarification on reported high risks continued well into the current government's watch.

The audit is not a Coalition problem or a Labor problem, nor does it blame Racing NSW - it is a structural problem with how the program was designed and overseen, and one that neither government appeared to effectively fix when they had the chance.

A spokesperson for Minister for Gaming and Racing David Harris noted that the program “was established under the previous Coalition Government in 2021” and that the current government has “considerably strengthened the department's reporting, payment and assurance processes.”

TTR also asked the Minister's office whether, in light of the audit findings, the Minister retains confidence in the Director of the Office of Racing.

The spokesperson's response said the Minister “retains confidence in the executives of the Office of Racing.”

What happens next

The Auditor-General made three recommendations, all directed at the Department.

1. Actively monitor remaining projects.

2. Request a benefits realisation evaluation from Racing NSW.

3. Develop a proper risk-based grants administration plan for future programs.

Both the Department and Racing NSW have accepted all three.

Sinclair's call goes further.

“Across the industry there is a lot of hope the review of the Thoroughbred Act being conducted by Brad Hazzard will deliver significant reforms that will enhance governance and accountability at Racing NSW, who are currently failing to meet their statutory obligations,” she said.

“Like many, I believe the government should expand the terms of reference of that review to include racing's funding mechanism and government oversight of Racing NSW.”