Chapter 1


Chapter 1

Overview

1.1        This is the first Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee (the committee) report on annual reports for 2016. It provides an overview of the committee's examination of annual reports for the 2014–15 financial year.[1]

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

Terms of Reference

1.3        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:

  1. examine each annual report referred to it and report to the Senate whether the report is apparently satisfactory;
  2. 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;
  3. investigate and report to the Senate on any lateness in the presentation of annual reports;
  4. in considering an annual report, take into account any relevant remarks about the report made in debate in the Senate;
  5. if the committee so determines, consider annual reports of departments and budget-related agencies in conjunction with examination of estimates;
  6. 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;
  7. draw to the attention of the Senate any significant matters relating to the operations and performance of the bodies furnishing the annual reports; and
  8. 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.

Allocated portfolios and changes to portfolios

1.4        On 13 November 2013,  a resolution of the Senate allocated the following three portfolios to this committee:

  • Health;
  • Social Services; and 
  • Human Services. [3]

1.5        Under the most recent Administrative Arrangements Order (AAO), early childhood policies and programs were transferred from the Department of Social Services to the Department of Education and Training. Ageing and aged care policies and programs were transferred from the Department of Social Services to the Department of Health.[4]

1.6        The committee notes that the reports for the 2014–15 financial year relate to the period prior to the most recent AAO changes.

Purpose of annual reports

1.7        The primary purpose of annual reports is accountability, in particular to the Parliament.[5]  The tabling of annual reports places information about government departments and agencies on the public record and assists in the effective examination of the performance of departments and agencies and the administration of government grants.

Annual reporting requirements

1.8        Senate Standing Order 25(20) requires that the committee report on annual reports—tabled by 31 October each year—be tabled by the tenth sitting day of the following year. The committee is required to examine reports referred to it to determine whether they are timely and 'apparently satisfactory'. The committee must consider whether the reports comply with the relevant legislation and guidelines for the preparation of annual reports in forming its assessment.

1.9        The requirements for annual reports are reviewed annually. This is the first time departments and agencies are reporting under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act), which commenced on 1 July 2014. The PGPA Act consolidates the governance, performance and accountability requirements contained in the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 and the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997. It also establishes a performance reporting framework for all Commonwealth entities and companies. For the 2014-15 reporting period, transitional arrangements are in place for the full commencement of the performance reporting model under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act).

1.10       The requirements are set down in the following instruments:

  • subsection 63(2) for departments of state and subsection 70(2) for Executive Agencies of the Public Service Act 1999. As a matter of policy, they also apply to other non-corporate Commonwealth entities, as defined in section 11 of the PGPA Act.
  • for corporate Commonwealth entities, sections 7AB and 7AC of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Rule applies, which continues the application of the Commonwealth Authorities (Annual Reporting) Orders 2011 and the Commonwealth Companies (Annual Reporting) Orders 2011; and
  • for non-statutory bodies, the guidelines are contained in the government response to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration Report on Non-Statutory bodies.[6]

1.11      Statutory authorities must report in accordance with their establishing legislation.

1.12      The committee notes that some of the bodies that are required to produce annual reports to the Senate fall outside the categories listed above.  In these cases, examination of the annual report is based on general content and information rather than compliance with legislation and guidelines.

Timeliness of reports

1.13      Annual reports for departments, entities and companies are required to be tabled in Parliament by 31 October each year unless another date is specified in an agency's legislation, charter and/or terms of reference. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Requirements for Annual Reports (PM&C Requirements) state that 'it remains the Government's policy that all annual reports should be tabled by 31 October'.[7] Annual reports are required to be provided to the responsible Minister by the fifteenth day of the fourth month after the end of the financial year. For the standard financial year, this is 15 October. The committee considers timeliness in annual reporting is an important element in accountability.

1.14      PM&C Requirements state that in the event of Senate Supplementary Estimates being held before 31 October 2015, it is best practice for annual reports to be tabled prior to those hearings. This year Supplementary Estimates hearings took place on 21 and 22 October 2015, and the committee notes that a number of annual reports were not tabled prior to the hearings. The committee encourages all Commonwealth entities and companies to comply with the best practice guidelines.

Publishing standards for the Presentation of Documents to Parliament

1.15      PM&C has produced Guidelines for the Presentation of Documents to the Parliament.  These guidelines state:

Documents to be included in the Parliamentary Papers Series must be printed on International B5 size paper.[8]

1.16      The committee notes that the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency annual report has not been presented on B5 size paper and encourages the agency to follow this guideline for future reports.

Reports examined 2014–15

1.17      This report considers 21 annual reports received during the period 1 May 2015 to 31 October 2015. This report also examines five reports presented after 31 October 2015 but before the tabling of this report.

1.18      A list of the annual reports of Commonwealth entities and companies 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 and tabling information.

1.19      The committee is pleased to note that generally the annual reports examined adhere to the relevant reporting guidelines in a satisfactory manner. The reports continue to maintain high standards of presentation and provide a comprehensive range of information on their functions and activities.

Comments made in the Senate

1.20      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. The committee is not aware of any comments made in the Senate regarding the annual reports of departments and agencies within its purview.

Other Issues

Additional Reports

1.21      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 May 2015 and 31 October 2015. The committee notes that these reports were for their information only and the committee is not required by the terms of the Standing Order to report on these:

  • Australian Government Actuary—Fourth report on the costs of the Australian Government's Run-Off Cover Scheme for midwife professional indemnity insurers 2013-14 financial year;
  • Australian Government Actuary—Tenth report on the costs of the Australian Government's Run-Off Cover Scheme for medical indemnity insurers 2013-14 financial year;
  • Australian Government Department of Health—Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record System Operator—Annual Report 2014–15;
  • Australian Government Department of Human Services—Healthcare Identifiers Service Annual Report 2014–15;
  • Australian Government Office of the Australian Information Commissioner—Annual report of the Information Commissioner's activities in relation to eHealth 2014–15;
  • Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency—Quarterly report for the period 1 July to 30 September 2015.
  • Department of Health—2014–15 Report on the operation of the Aged Care Act 1997;
  • Medical Training Review Panel—Eighteenth Report May 2015;
  • National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner—Annual Report 2014–15;
  • Office of the Gene Technology Regulator—Quarterly Report for the period 1 April to 30 June 2015;
  • Office of the Gene Technology Regulator—Quarterly Report for the period 1 July to 30 September 2015; and
  • The seventh report of the Interdepartmental committee on human trafficking and slavery—Trafficking in Persons: The Australian Government Response 1 July 2014 – 30 June 2015;

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