Chapter 1Introduction

1.1The Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee (thecommittee) is required under Senate Standing Orders to examine annual reports of entities within the Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water portfolio and the Communications and Arts portfolio.[1]

1.2This report examines four annual reports tabled between 1 November 2022 and 30April 2023, as required by Senate Standing Order 25(20)(f). In addition, the committee has chosen to examine the 2021-22 annual report of the Bundanon Trust, which was tabled after 30 April 2023.

1.3Annual reports are a primary accountability mechanism. They inform the Parliament, stakeholders and other interested parties of the operations and performance of public sector departments, agencies and companies. Additionally, annual reports are important reference documents and form part of the historical record of the Commonwealth.[2]

Terms of reference

1.4Under standing orders, the annual reports of certain departments and agencies are referred to the committee for examination and assessment. The committee is required to:

(a) Examine each annual report referred to it and report to the Senate whether the report is apparently satisfactory;

(b) Consider in more detail, and report to the Senate on, each annual report which is not apparently satisfactory, and on the other annual reports which it selects for more detailed consideration;

(c) Investigate and report to the Senate on any lateness in the presentation of annual reports;

(d) In considering an annual report, take into account any relevant remarks about the report made in debate in the Senate;

(e) If the committee so determines, consider annual reports of departments and budget-related agencies in conjunction with examination of estimates;

(f) Report on annual reports tabled by 31 October each year by the tenth sitting day of the following year, and on annual reports tabled by 30 April each year by the tenth sitting day after 30 June of that year;

(g) Draw the attention of the Senate to any significant matters relating to the operations and performance of the bodies furnishing the annual reports; and

(h) Report to the Senate each year whether there are any bodies which do not present annual reports to the Senate and which should present such reports.[3]

Allocated portfolios

1.5The annual reports examined in this report are for the 2021-22 financial year.

1.6Following the May 2022 Federal election, a new administrative arrangements order was made on 1 June 2022, which consolidated the portfolios for which the committee is responsible into two departments.[4] In accordance with the resolution of the Senate on 27 July 2022, the committee is now responsible for the following portfolios:

Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water; and

Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (Communications and the Arts functions only).[5]

1.7This and future reports on annual reports will be based on these portfolio arrangements.

Reports examined

1.8This report examines the following annual reports:

Corporate Commonwealth entities

National Film and Sound Archive of Australia­­­ –­­­ Annual Report 2021-2022;

National Gallery of Australia – Annual Report 2021-22; and

Sydney Harbour Federation Trust – Annual Report 2021-2022.

Commonwealth companies

Bundanon Trust – Annual Report 2021-2022; and

Creative Partnerships Australia Ltd – Annual Report 2021-22.

Reports not examined

1.9The committee is not obliged to report on Acts, statements of corporate intent, surveys, policy papers, budget documents, corporate plans or errata. The following documents were referred to the committee between 1 November 2022 and 30 April 2023, but are not examined in this report:

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water – Annual Climate Change Statement 2022;

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water – Minister’s priority list 2022-23;

Australian Broadcasting Corporation – Diversity and Inclusion AnnualReport 2021-22;

Australian Communications and Media Authority – Foreign ownership of Australian media assets: review of legislative requirements report [December 2022];

Climate Change Authority – First annual progress report: The baseline, global context and methodology, November 2022; and

Murray-Darling Basin Authority – Basin Plan annual report 2021-22.[6]

Annual reporting requirements

1.10A performance reporting framework is established for all Commonwealth entities and companies by the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act). It requires all Commonwealth entities to measure and assess their performance according to the requirements prescribed by the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 (PGPA Rule).[7]

1.11The PGPA Act requires all Commonwealth entities to prepare an annual performance statement and include those statements in their annual reports.[8] Entities use the annual performance statements to report on the results achieved against the targets, goals and measures established at the beginning of a reporting year in corporate plans and in any portfolio budget statements that were prepared for the reporting period. The PGPA Rule contains the minimum requirements that must be included.

1.12Below is a summary of the legislative authority and requirements for the different types of bodies under which annual reports are prepared:

Non-corporate Commonwealth entities:PGPA Act, section 46, and the PGPA Rule, subdivision 3A(A) for portfolio departments; and for statutory bodies, relevant enabling legislation.

Corporate Commonwealth entities: PGPA Act, section 46, and the PGPA Rule, subdivision 3A(B); and for statutory bodies, relevant enabling legislation.

Commonwealth companies: PGPA Act, section 97, which also refers to requirements under the Corporations Act 2001 and the PGPA Rule, part 3-3; and for statutory bodies, relevant enabling legislation.

Statutory office holders and statutory bodies: statutory office holders or bodies are engaged or employed under an Act, which may prescribe annual reporting requirements pursuant to the office or body.

Non-statutory bodies: the annual reporting requirements are contained in the government response to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration's Report on non-statutory bodies.[9]

Timeliness

1.13As part of its review of annual reports, the committee is required to investigate and report on any lateness in the presentation of annual reports.[10] In assessing the timeliness of the presentation of annual reports, the committee assesses the presentation against the requirements of the PGPA Act, the PGPA Rule and other legislative requirements.

Presentation to ministers

1.14The PGPA Act requires the provision of an annual report of a Commonwealth entity, including corporate and non-corporate entities, to the responsible minister by the 15th day of the fourth month after the end of the reporting period for the entity. For most agencies, this translates to 15 October each year. This part of the PGPA Act does not, however, provide a timeframe for the minister to present the report to the Parliament.[11]

1.15The arrangements for Commonwealth companies differ to some degree. The PGPA Act sets out the requirements for the provision of annual reports of Commonwealth companies to the responsible minister. In general, this amounts to four months after the end of the reporting period for each company.[12]

Tabling in Parliament

1.16The PGPA Rule states that annual reports for corporate Commonwealth entities, non-corporate Commonwealth entities and Commonwealth companies must comply with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet's Guidelines for the Presentation of Documents to the Parliament (PM&C Guidelines).[13] In addition, the Department of Finance's resource management guides for corporate and non-corporate Commonwealth entities advise:

Normally annual reports are tabled on or before 31 October and it is expected annual reports are tabled prior to the October Estimates hearings. This ensures annual reports are available for scrutiny by the relevant Senate standing committee.[14]

1.17Entities reporting in accordance with their own legislation are often required to prepare for the relevant minister their annual report 'as soon as is practicable' after the end of the particular period to which the report relates. The committee draws attention to the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 which stipulates that where no date for providing a report to a minister is specified, the report should be provided no more than six months after the reporting period, and the minister must present the report to the Parliament within 15 days after the minister receives it.[15]

1.18Where a deadline for presenting an annual report cannot be met, a Commonwealth entity or company can seek an extension of time to report under the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 by advising the responsible minister of the reasons why the entity cannot comply with the deadline. The responsible minister is required to table this application and a statement specifying whether the extension was granted and the reasons for the extension in both houses of the Parliament.[16]

Timeliness of reports examined

1.19In its Annual Reports (No. 1 of 2023) tabled on 5 May 2023, the committee noted that most entities tabled their annual reports prior to the first hearing for the relevant portfolio of the second round of budget estimates for 2022.[17] The relevant hearing date for entities under the Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water portfolio was 28 October 2022, and for entities under the Communications and the Arts portfolio it was 7 November 2022.

1.20Due to estimates hearings for the Communications and the Arts portfolio beginning on 7 November, Creative Partnerships Australia Ltd and the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia met the standard of timeliness of tabling reports for examination at estimates, while not following the instruction of the PM&C Guidelines to table by 31 October.

1.21The following entities examined in this report did not table their annual reports before the commencement of the relevant budget estimates hearings held by the committee, or by 31 October as advised by the PM&C Guidelines:

Bundanon Trust;

National Gallery of Australia; and

Sydney Harbour Federation Trust.

1.22Each year the annual report of the Bundanon Trust is referred to the committee for examination. On 26 October 2022, a letter was tabled in the Senate explaining that the Bundanon Trust had been granted an extension under Section 34C of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 to provide its annual report for 2021-22 by 25November 2022.[18] The Bundanon Trust subsequently tabled its annual report in the House of Representatives on 3 August 2023 and in the Senate on 7August2023, after the extension date had passed. The committee asks Bundanon Trust to ensure that future annual reports are provided to the minister and tabled with the Senate within the timeframe required by the PGPA Act, and prior to the commencement of the committee’s October estimates hearings.

1.23Appendix 1 lists the annual reports examined in this report, with relevant tabling dates. For the purposes of the committee's examination of timeliness, the earlier date is taken as the presentation date to the Parliament. The table also includes the dates the reports were submitted to, and received by, the relevant Minister.

Senate debate

1.24In accordance with standing orders, the committee is required to take into account any relevant remarks about annual reports made in debate in the Senate.[19] None of the annual reports examined in this report were the subject of Senate debate.

Non-reporting bodies

1.25Standing orders require that the committee report on any bodies which do not present annual reports to the Senate but should present such reports.[20] The committee notes that there are no relevant bodies which are required to present an annual report to the Senate which have not done so.

Apparently satisfactory

1.26Standing orders require that the committee report to the Senate on whether the annual reports of departments and agencies in its portfolios are 'apparently satisfactory'.[21] In making this assessment, the committee considers such aspects as timeliness of presentation and compliance with relevant reporting requirements.

1.27All Commonwealth entities are encouraged to table their annual reports within the timeframe prescribed by the PGPA Act, and prior to the commencement of the committee’s October estimates hearings, which in 2023 begin on 23October. In particular, the committee reminds the Bundanon Trust to table future annual reports in a timely manner.

1.28The committee reminds all agencies to ensure that they include a complete and accurate compliance index in their annual reports. For Commonwealth entities, this must include the table of the list of requirements as specified by the PGPARule and where those requirements can be found in the annual report.[22]

1.29It was noted in the committee’s Annual Reports (No. 1 of 2023) that some agencies’ compliance indexes did not conform to the requirements of the PGPA Rule. Of the entities examined in this report, Creative Partnerships Australia Ltd and the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust had instances of incorrect or incomplete page references in their compliance indexes. The committee encourages agencies to provide accurate and specific page references, which will assist with assessing compliance and improve the overall accessibility of agencies’ annual reports.

1.30The committee reminds all departments and agencies to ensure all requirements are met in sufficient detail to facilitate scrutiny and accountability. The committee will be thoroughly examining future annual reports for instances of non-compliance with the requirements of the PGPA Rule.

1.31The committee considers all annual reports examined in this report to be 'apparently satisfactory'.

Footnotes

[1]Standing Orders and other orders of the Senate, October 2022, standing order 25(20)(f).

[2]Department of Finance, Resource Management Guide No. 135: Annual report for non-corporate Commonwealth entities, May 2023; Resource Management Guide No. 136: Annual reports for corporate Commonwealth entities, April 2023; Resource Management Guide No. 137: Annual reports for Commonwealth companies, May 2023.

[3]Standing Orders and other orders of the Senate, October 2022, standing order 25(20).

[4]For further information on the committee’s portfolio allocations prior to the administrative order made on 1 June 2022, see page 2 of the committee’s Annual Reports (No. 1 of 2023).

[5]Journals of the Senate, No. 2, 27 July 2022, p. 73.

[6]In addition to the reports listed in this paragraph, the committee has not examined annual reports of the Copyright Agency and Screenrights which were tabled in Parliament during the relevant period.

[7]Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, section 38.

[8]Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, section 39.

[9]Senate Hansard, 8 December 1987, pp. 2632–45.

[10]Standing Orders and other orders of the Senate, October 2022, standing order 25(20)(c).

[11]Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, section 46.

[12]Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, subsection 97(2).

[13]PGPA Rule, sections 17AB, 17BC and 28C. See also Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Guidelines for the Presentation of Documents to the Parliament, February 2017, pp. 4–5.

[14]Department of Finance, Resource Management Guide No. 135 – Annual Report for non-corporate Commonwealth entities, February 2022; Resource Management Guide No. 136 – Annual report for corporate Commonwealth entities, February 2022. In the case of a wholly owned Commonwealth company, or a Commonwealth company that is not required to hold an annual general meeting, the PGPA Act states that 'the responsible Minister must table the documents in each House of the Parliament as soon as practicable after receiving them. In all other cases, the responsible Minister must table the documents in each House of the Parliament as soon as practicable after the annual general meeting of the company' (Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, subsection 97(5)).

[15]Acts Interpretation Act 1901, subsections 34C(2) and 34C(3).

[16]Acts Interpretation Act 1901, subsection 34C(6). Note: Entities and companies impacted by COVID-19 were encouraged to seek an extension if they did not have the capacity to meet existing annual report deadlines.

[17]For an assessment of the timeliness of all 2021-22 annual reports referred to the committee, see pages 7 to 9 of the committee’s Annual Reports (No.1 of 2023).

[18]Bundanon Trust, Correspondence regarding extension for Bundanon Trust to table 2021-22 annual report, 20 September 2022 and 21 October 2022, (tabled 26 October 2022).

[19]Standing Orders and other orders of the Senate, October 2022, standing order 25(20)(d).

[20]Standing Orders and other orders of the Senate, October 2022, standing order 25(20)(h).

[21]Standing Orders and other orders of the Senate, October 2022, standing order 25(20)(a).

[22]PGPA Rule, subsection 17BE(u).