Commonwealth Authority

(1) the Directors of a Commonwealth Authority must:

　　(a) prepare an annual report in accordance with schedule 1 for each financial year; and

　　(b) give it to the responsible Minister by the deadline for the financial year for presentation to the Parliament.

(a) This requirement has been met

(b) This requirement has been met

(1) The Auditor-General must state whether in the Auditor-General’s opinion, the financial statements:

　　(a) Have been prepared in accordance with the Finance Minister’s orders; and

(2) the Auditor-General must state the name of each entity (if any) that satisfies the following description:

　　(a) the entity was a subsidiary of the authority at any time during the financial year; and

　　(b) the Auditor-General has not:

　　　　(i) Acted as auditor of the entity for the financial year; or

　　　　(ii) Audited the entity’s financial statements for the financial year.

(3) if the consolidated financial statements include information derived from financial statements of an entity of a kind referred to in subclause (2), then:

　　(a) if the Auditor-General has not examined those financial statements and the auditor’s report (if any) on them, the Auditor-General must state that fact; andr

　　(b) if an auditor’s report on any of those financial statements included any qualification, the Auditor-General must state the name of the subsidiary and the particulars of the qualification.

If the Auditor-General is of the opinion that:

(a) Any of the financial statements that were used in preparing consolidated financial statements were not appropriate and proper, in both form and content, to be used in that way; or

(b) there was any deficiency in the procedures and methods used in arriving at the amounts taken in to consolidated financial statements; the Auditor-General must state the particulars of the deficiency

The Annual Report of Operations must be constructed having regard to the interests of the Parliament and other users. Information included in the report must be relevant,reliable, concise, understandable and balanced. For example, to the extent practicable:

a. use clear design, including through headings and adequate spacing;

b. define acronyms and technical terms (such as through a glossary);

c. use tables, graphs, diagrams and charts; and

d. include any additional matters that may be appropriate.

Directions and Government policies

The Annual Report of Operations must provide details of:

a. directions issued by the responsible Minister, or other Minister, under the enabling legislation of the Commonwealth authority or other legislation; and

b. general policies of the Australian Government that were notified to the Commonwealth authority before 1 July 2008 under section 28 of the CAC Act (as in force before 1 July 2008) and which continue to apply to the Commonwealth authority; and

c. General Policy Orders that apply to the Commonwealth authority under section 48A of the CAC Act.

Where a direction or applicable policy has not been fully complied with, the report must include an explanation of the non-compliance.

Organisational structure

The Annual Report of Operations must provide an outline of:

a. the organisational structure of the Commonwealth authority (including subsidiaries); and

b. the location, in Australia or elsewhere, of major activities and facilities.

Statement on governance

The Annual Report of Operations can assist a Commonwealth authority to demonstrate that its governance is sound. Consequently, the Annual Report of Operations must include information on the main corporate governance practices that the Commonwealth authority used during the financial year. For example, details should be provided on:

a. board committees of the authority and their main responsibilities;

b. education and performance review processes for directors; and

c. ethics and risk management policies.

The Annual Report of Operations must disclose the decision-making process undertaken by the board of the authority when:

a. it approves for the authority to pay for a good or service from another entity, or provide a grant to another entity; and

b. a director of the authority is also a director of the other entity that provides the good or service or receives the grant; and

c. the value of the transaction, or if there is more than one transaction, the aggregate value of those transactions, exceeds $10,000 (GST inclusive).

If decision-making processes relate to multiple transactions to a single entity, with an aggregate value of more than $10,000 (GST inclusive), then a single report can be provided that explains the number of transactions and the aggregate of expenditure.

The aim is to improve transparency around potential conflicts of interests in the operations of Commonwealth authorities.

Highlighting key activities and changes that have affected the Commonwealth authority can assist the reader to understand the authority’s performance over the past financial year. Consequently, the annual report must detail any key activities and changes that affected the operations or structure of the authority during the financial year. this may include:

a. significant events under section 15 of the CAC Act such as forming or participating in the formation of a company, significant partnership or trust;

b. operational and financial results of the authority;

c. key changes to the authority’s state of affairs or principal activities;

d. amendments to the authority’s enabling legislation and to any other legislation directly relevant to its operation.

As entities of the Australian Government, Commonwealth authorities are expected to have levels of accountability suitable for the public sector. Part of demonstrating these qualities involves reporting on judicial decisions and reports by third parties. As such, the Annual Report of Operations must include particulars of:

a. judicial decisions and decisions of administrative tribunals that have had, or may have, a significant effect on the operations of the Commonwealth authority; and

b. reports about the authority made by the Auditor-General, a Parliamentary Committee, the Commonwealth Ombudsman or the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.