COVID-19 pandemic response
2.1
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on agencies continued to be the chief highlight during the 2020–21 reporting period, with a focus on the support and administration agencies undertook during this period. This chapter begins by discussing areas that were central to the reporting period, followed by more general reporting matters.
Information required by other legislation
2.2
All Commonwealth entities are required to report against other legislation that directly applies to them as set out in their respective Administrative Arrangements Orders, including the Work Health and Safety Act 2011
(WHS Act) and Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
Work Health and Safety Act
2.3
Due to the events of 2020-21, employees have been required to work in different settings. The annual report provides insight into how Commonwealth entities have operated during these times in accordance with the reporting requirements of the WHS Act section 4(2):
The matters are:
(a)
initiatives taken during the year to ensure the health, safety and welfare of workers who carry out work for the entity; and
(b)
health and safety outcomes (including the impact on injury rates of workers) achieved as a result of initiatives mentioned under paragraph (a) or previous initiatives; and
(c)
statistics of any notifiable incidents of which the entity becomes aware during the year that arose out of the conduct of businesses or undertakings by the entity; and
(d)
any investigations conducted during the year that relate to businesses or undertakings conducted by the entity, including details of all notices given to the entity during the year under Part 10 of this Act; and
(e)
such other matters as are required by guidelines approved on behalf of the Parliament by the Joint Committee of Public Account and Audit.
2.4
All the Commonwealth entities reported on the above matters to varying extents, including reporting on the impact COVID-19 had on their working environment. Specifically reports noted:
COVID-19 response initiatives created to support working from home; and
Risk management provisions when working from home.
2.5
Additional measures were noted by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources to support employee mental health during lockdowns and similarly, working from home arrangements. These measures included increased workplace training for Workplace Contact Officers, including training in:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural sensitivity.
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
2.6
Commonwealth entities and companies are required to report against the EPBC Act.
(a)
include a report on how the activities of, and the administration (if any) of legislation by, the reporter during the period accorded with the principles of ecologically sustainable development; and
(b)
identify how the outcomes (if any) specified for the reporter in an Appropriations Act relating to the period contribute to ecologically sustainable development; and
(c)
document the effect of the reporter’s activities on the environment; and
(d)
identify any measures the reporter is taking to minimise the impact of activities by the reporter on the environment; and
(e)
identify the mechanisms (if any) for reviewing and increasing the effectiveness of those measures.
2.7
All Commonwealth entities reported against the above requirements to varying extents. The main reporting focused on improvements and arrangements at office locations. The Commonwealth entities reported varying actions to minimise their impact in:
Energy efficiency improvements such as:
using light-emitting diode (LED) lighting;
programmable motion sensors to reduce unused lighting;
geothermal air-conditioning systems;
double-glazed windows and doors;
using energy saver mode for equipment when not in use; and
purchasing 5-star energy rated electrical equipment;
Waste reduction measures, including:
providing waste stream to increase recycling i.e. battery waste, organic waste and e-waste; and
establishment of a fit-out and furniture recycling strategy to reuse departments’ existing office infrastructure, including workstations.
2.8
The committee notes that several Commonwealth entities could improve on the detail provided in their reporting to ensure compliance with the above section and the committee advises Commonwealth entities to review the requirements in this section to make certain that their reporting is satisfactory in the future.
Significant changes
17AF(2) significant changes in the financial results for non-corporate Commonwealth entities
2.9
Included in the detailing of non-corporate Commonwealth (NCC) entities’ financial performance, several noted either a surplus or deficit as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. If there are ‘significant changes in the financial results during or after the previous or current reporting period reporting’ then Rule 17AF(2) is applicable to NCC entities.
2.10
Five NCC entities formally indicated reporting against this requirement—
The Department of the Treasury;
The Australian Accounting Standards Board and the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board;
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (including the Australian Energy Regulator);
The Australian Office of Financial Management; and
The Australian Taxation Office.
2.11
These agencies noted the variance related to reduced travel costs because of nation-wide lockdowns and travel restrictions due to the pandemic, with variances also noted relating to support for working from home arrangements to support staff during state-wide lockdowns.
General reporting observations
2.12
In terms of reporting overall, the majority of Commonwealth entities across both the Committee's portfolio responsibilities included all their mandatory reporting requirements.
Recording the part of report in the compliance checklist for non-corporate Commonwealth entities
2.13
The NCC entities Resource Management Guide No. 135 states that ‘[e]ntities must also provide details of the location of the information in the annual report that addresses each of the mandatory requirements specified by the PGPA Rule’. In addition the guide notes that ‘[t]he information presented in entities’ annual reports should be able to be easily accessed by the reader’. The committee notes that a few reports have chosen not to number all pages in their reports, encourages the use of page numbers to help assist the reader where to identify items are in reports.
2.14
Furthermore, some NCC entities only included the heading to the section or chapter. However, in most instances this required the reader to search for the exact information as the heading applied to multiple pages.
Excluding sections of the compliance checklist for corporate Commonwealth entities
2.15
There were two corporate Commonwealth entities who omitted section 17BF from their compliance checklists. As this section was not a mandatory reporting requirement, the committee understood that it did not apply to the entity. However, for complete reporting all reporting sections should be included.
Error in compliance checklist
2.16
There was one entity that included an error within their reporting requirements appendix. The Commonwealth Grants Commission displays an error message against reporting requirement 17AD(e). The committee encourages all entities to ensure that all reports should be checked for linkage issues prior to publication.