Chapter 1Introduction
1.1The Senate Economics Legislation Committee (the committee) is responsible for examining the annual reports of the Treasury Portfolio and the Industry, Science, and Resources Portfolio (Industry Portfolio).
1.2On 1 July 2022, Machinery of Government changes announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the 23 June 2022 took effect. Changes that affected the committee’s portfolio:
The AAO created the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, moving all energy matters to the Department of Climate Change, the Environment and Water.
1.3This report on annual reports (No. 1 of 2023) provides an overview of the committee’s examination of selected annual reports and, on this occasion, the committee has chosen to also include reports tabled after 31 October 2021 that were available at the time of preparing this report. The committee is required to report to the Senate by 21 March 2023, being the tenth sitting day in the following year.
Terms of reference
1.4Senate Standing Order 25(20) refers annual reports of departments and agencies—in accordance with a resolution of the Senate—to committees and sets out the committee’s requirements. The committee’s requirements—(a) to (h)—are outlined and reported against below. The full text of Senate Standing Order 25(20) can be found at Appendix 1.
Role of annual reports
1.5The tabling of annual reports is an important element of executive accountability to legislature. According to the Department of Finance, effective reporting is critical in ensuring transparency and accountability of the government to the Parliament and the public. Together with Portfolio Budget Statements, Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements and the estimates process, annual reports are a primary mechanism by which the Senate can scrutinise the operations of executive government.
Annual reporting requirements
1.6Section 38 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act) requires all Commonwealth entities to measure and assess their performance against its purpose and according to the requirements prescribed by the rules.
1.7The PGPA Act establishes a performance reporting framework for all Commonwealth entities and companies. The Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 (PGPA Rule) contains the minimum requirements that must be included. The performance framework includes the requirement for Commonwealth entities and companies to prepare a corporate plan and annual performance statements.
1.8The legislative authority and requirements for the different types of bodies that prepare annual reports are as follows:
Non-corporate Commonwealth entities: section 46 PGPA Act, division 3A(A) PGPA Rule and relevant enabling legislation;
Corporate Commonwealth entities: section 46 PGPA Act, division 3S(B) PGPA Rule and relevant enabling legislation;
Commonwealth companies: section 97 PGPA Act, which also refers to requirements under the Corporations Act 2001 and Part 3-3 PGPA Rule and relevant enabling legislation; and
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.
Reports referred to and examined by the committee
1.9All 2021–22 annual reports of Commonwealth entities and companies in the Treasury Portfolio and Industry Portfolio have been presented to the Parliaments and referred to the committee.
1.10The reports examined by the committee are listed at Appendix 2.
1.11It should be noted that the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services is required by section 243 of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 to report on select annual reports for agencies within the Treasury Portfolio. These reports are distinguished in Appendix 2.
1.12The committee notes that the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal ceased operations on 31 December 2020, and therefore the committee will no longer be receiving annual reports from this organisation.
Additional reports referred to the committee
1.13The committee is not obliged to report on acts, statements of corporate intent, surveys, policy papers, budget documents, corporate plans, or errata. The committee notes the following documents were referred for information:
Australian Business Securitisation Fund Review—Section 21 of the Australian Business Securitisation Fund Act 2019—presented to the Senate out of sitting 1 April 2022.
Foreign Investment Review Board—Annual Report 2020-21 (No legislative requirement to table the report)—presented to the Senate out of sitting 7 April 2022.
Effectiveness and Capability Review of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission—Financial Regulator Assessment Authority—July 2022—Section 17 of the Financial Regulator Assessment Authority Act 2021—presented to the Senate out of sitting 25 August 2022.
Correction to the Commonwealth Grants Commission 2020–2021 Annual Report—Section 46 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013—tabled in the Senate 6 September 2022.
Small Business Natural Disaster Preparedness and Resilience Inquiry March 2022—Section 56 of the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Act 2015—tabled in the Senate 21 November 2022.
Venture Capital Tax Concession Review—Section 118–455 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997—tabled in the Senate 21 November 2022.
Government Co-contributions Quarterly Report: 1 July 2022 to 30 September 2022—Section 54(1) of the Superannuation (Government Co-contribution for Low Income Earners) Act 2003—tabled in the Senate 23 November 2022.
Low Income Superannuation Tax Offset (LISTO) Quarterly Report: 1 July 2022 to 30 September 2022—Section 54(1) of the Superannuation (Government Co-contribution for Low Income Earners) Act 2003—tabled in the Senate 23 November 2022.
Audit Report of the 2021–22 Annual Performance Statement Department of Social Services—Section 40(3) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013—presented to the Senate out of sitting 6 February 2023.
Audit Report of the 2021–22 Annual Performance Statement Department of the Treasury—Section 40(3) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013— presented to the Senate out of sitting 6 February 2023.
Audit Report of the 2021–22 Annual Performance Statement Department of Education, Skills and Employment—Section 40(3) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013—presented to the Senate out of sitting 6 February 2023.
Audit Report of the 2021–22 Annual Performance Statement Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment—Section 40(3) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013—presented to the Senate out of sitting 6 February 2023.
Audit Report of the 2021–22 Annual Performance Statement Attorney-General’s Department – Section 40(3) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013—presented to the Senate out of sitting 6 February 2023.
Audit Report of the 2021–22 Annual Performance Statement Department of Veterans’ Affairs—Section 40(3) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013—presented to the Senate out of sitting 6 February 2023.
Lifting productivity at Australia’s container ports: between water, wharf and warehouse (Productivity Commission Inquiry Report No. 99)—Section 12 of the Productivity Commission Act 1998—presented to the Senate out of sitting 6 February 2023.
Timelines
1.14Standing Order 25(20)(c) requires the committee to report to the Senate on the late presentation of annual reports. To assess the timeliness of the presentation of annual reports, the committee considers the presentation against the requirements of the PGPA Act, the PGPA Rule and other legislative requirements:
Presentation to ministers—on the 15th day of October, the annual report is to be given to the responsible Minister.
Tabling in Parliament—the Department of Finance’s Resource Management Guides for non-corporate and corporate Commonwealth entities advise that ‘[n]ormally annual reports are tabled prior to the October Estimates hearings’.
1.15Agencies reporting in accordance with their own legislation are often required to prepare their annual report for the relevant Minister ‘as soon as is practicable’ after the end of the period to which the report relates. The committee draws attention to subsection 34C(2) and 34C(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, which stipulate that, where no date for providing a report to a Minister is specified, the report should be presented no more than six months after the reporting period, and the report must be provided to the Parliament within 15 days after receipt by the Minister.
Timeliness of reports examined
1.16The committee considers the timely presentation of annual reports to be an important element of accountability to the Parliament and continues to encourage departments and agencies to endeavour to meet the relevant reporting timeframes.
1.17As outlined earlier, this report will be reporting on all reports of the Treasury Portfolio and Industry Portfolio, including those presented after 31 October 2022.
1.18The committee notes that the annual reports for 2021–22 were presented in a timely manner.
Senate debate
1.19The committee is required to ‘take into account any relevant remarks about the report[s] made in debate in the Senate’. The committee notes that none of the annual reports examined in this report have been the subject of comment or debate in the Senate.
Non-reporting bodies
1.20The committee is required to ‘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’.
1.21The committee makes no recommendations for any bodies not presenting an annual report to do so.
Apparently satisfactory
1.22Standing Order 25(20)(a) requires that the committee report to the Senate on whether the annual reports of the departments and agencies in its portfolios are ‘apparently satisfactory’. In making this assessment, the committee considers such aspects as timeliness of presentation and compliance with relevant reporting requirements.
1.23The committee has examined all annual reports referred during the reporting period and considers that, with the exception of the Australian Office of Financial Management and IP Australia, all are ‘apparently satisfactory’.
Report structure
1.24This report is structured as follows:
Chapter 1—provides background to the committee’s examination of annual reports;
Chapter 2—reports topical requirements and compliance with reporting requirements;
Chapter 3—reports on a select few annual reports;
Appendix 1—Standing Order 25(20); and
Appendix 2—tabled of departments’ and agencies’ presentation dates for annual reports.