Chapter 1


Chapter 1

Overview

1.1        The committee is responsible for examining the annual reports of departments and agencies of three portfolios:

  • Health and Ageing;
  • Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs; and
  • Human Services.

Terms of Reference

1.2        Under Senate Standing Order 25(20), annual reports of departments and agencies shall stand referred to the legislation committees in accordance with an allocation of departments and agencies in a resolution of the Senate. Each committee shall:

(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 to the attention of the Senate 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.

Requirements

1.3        This report was prepared pursuant to Standing Order 25(20) relating to the consideration of annual reports by committees. The Senate Order requires that the committee examine the reports referred to it to determine whether they are timely and satisfactory. In forming its assessment the committee has considered whether the reports comply with the relevant legislation and guidelines in preparation of annual reports:

  • for departments of state and executive agencies these are: the Public Service Act 1999, subsections 63(2) and 70(2), and the Requirements for Annual Reports for Departments, Executive Agencies and FMA Act Bodies, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, updated June 2010 and approved by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit on 23 June 2010;
  • for Commonwealth authorities and companies: the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (the CAC Act), sections 9, 36 and 48, and the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies (Report of Operations) Orders 2008 (CAC Orders); and
  • for non-statutory bodies: the requirements are contained in the Government response to the report of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Government Operations on Non-statutory bodies, Senate Hansard, 8 December 1987, pp 2643–45.

1.4        The committee notes that some of the bodies required to produce annual reports to the Senate, and whose reports have been referred to this committee, fall outside the categories listed above.  Therefore, where these reports are examined in the body of this report, examination is based on general content and information from the annual reports rather than compliance with legislation and guidelines.

1.5        A table listing the annual reports of departments, agencies and other bodies tabled in the Senate (or presented out of session to the President of the Senate), and referred to the committee for examination, can be found at Appendix 1.  The table shows the legislation under which reports are required to be provided, tabling information, and the reporting period during which the report was provided.

1.6        In addition to the reports listed in Appendix 1, the following reports were also referred to and received by the committee between the period of 1 November 2010 and 30 April 2011.  The committee notes that these reports are referred to it for their information only and the committee is not required by the terms of the Standing Order to report on these:

  • Aged Care Act 1997 – report on operation of the Act 2009-10 (tabled in the Senate 24/11/10)
  • Australian Competition and Consumer Commission – Report to the Australian Senate on anti-competitive and other practices by health funds and providers in relation to private health insurance for the period 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010 (tabled in the Senate 28/02/11)
  • Australian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Agency – Quarterly report for the period 1 October to 31 December 2010 (tabled in the Senate 01/03/11)
  • Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency – quarterly report for period 1 July to 30 September 2010 (tabled in the Senate 24/11/10)
  • Centrelink and the Data-Matching Agency – Data matching program – report on progress 2007-08 (tabled in the Senate 09/02/11)
  • Centrelink and the Data-Matching Agency – Data matching program – report on progress 2008-09 (tabled in the Senate 09/02/11)
  • Gene Technology Regulator – Quarterly report for 1 April to 30 June 2010 (tabled in the Senate 09/02/11)
  • Gene Technology Regulator – Quarterly report for 1 July to 30 September 2010 (tabled in the Senate 09/02/11)
  • Health Insurance Act 1973 – Five yearly review of the Medicare provider number legislation – report dated December 2010 (tabled in the Senate 01/03/11)
  • National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) – NHMRC Licensing Committee – report on the operation of the Research involving Human Embryos Act 2002 for period 1 March to 31 August 2010 (tabled in the Senate 09/02/11)
  • Private Health Insurance Administration Council – Report for 2009-10 on the operations of the registered health benefits organisations (tabled in the Senate 09/02/11)

Annual Reports (No. 1 of 2011)

1.7        Over the past two years it has been the practice of this committee to publish only one Report on Annual Reports per year.  The committee has agreed to, from now on, publish two Reports on Annual Reports each year.  This will align its practice with that of the other Senate standing committees.

1.8        To assist with this transition, and due to the majority of 2009–2010 annual reports being considered in the committee's Report on Annual Reports (No. 1 of 2011), the table at Appendix 1 includes columns indicating within which committee report the annual reports are considered.

Timeliness of reports

1.9        Under Standing Order 25(20)(c), the committee must also report to the Senate on any lateness in the presentation of annual reports. The Requirements for Annual Reports published in 2009 state that:

A copy of the annual report is to be presented to each House of the Parliament on or before 31 October in the year in which the report is given.[1]

...

Where an agency's own legislation provides a timeframe for its annual report, for example 'within six months' or 'as soon as practicable after 30 June in each year', that timeframe applies.[2]

1.10      The majority of annual reports referred to the committee were tabled within the specified period or shortly thereafter.

1.11      In accordance with section 3GC of the Health Insurance Act 1973, the Medical Training Review Panel (MTRP) is required to present a report to the Minister "as soon as practicable after 30 June", and must in any case provide it to the Minister no later than six months after the end of the period to which that report applies (meaning in this case 31 December 2010).[3]

1.12      The committee notes that the MTRP 2009–2010 report was not submitted to or received by the Minister until 17 April 2011 and in turn was not tabled in the Senate until 5 July 2011.  These dates lie well outside those required by the statute. 

1.13      The committee notes that the information contained in the MTRP 2009–2010 report appears to relate to the academic calendar year.  If the MTRP is unable to report within the timeframe provided by the relevant statutes, it should seek an extension of time to report from the Minister for Health and Ageing under section 34C(4) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 or alternatively approach the Department of Health and Ageing about considering an amendment to section 3GC of the Health Insurance Act 1973.

Comments made in the Senate

1.14      The committee is obliged, under Senate Standing Order 25(20)(d), to take into account any relevant remarks made about these reports in the Senate. Where any relevant comments have been made they are referred to in the section below on the evaluation of individual reports.

Bodies not presenting annual reports to the Senate

1.15      The committee is required to report to the Senate on whether there are any bodies which do not present annual reports to the Senate and which should present such reports. The committee considers that there are no bodies within its portfolio areas that do not meet their reporting requirements to the Senate in this regard.

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