2.1
In accordance with Standing Order 25(20)(a), the Committee has examined annual reports against relevant legislative and reporting requirements and found them to be ‘apparently satisfactory’. This chapter highlights some of the findings in relation to the annual reports examined.
Performance reporting
Availability of performance framework documents
2.2
The availability of relevant performance framework documents is essential to be able to assess a body’s level of achievement of planned performance. Commonwealth entities and companies are required to set out in their corporate plan each year how it will achieve its purpose and how its performance will be measured and assessed. For budget funded entities, the portfolio budget statements (PBS) also set out performance information in the delivery of departmental programs. Therefore, access to these documents for the relevant financial year is necessary when examining a body’s performance as set out in the annual report.
2.3
While these documents have been primarily located on agencies’ websites, the Government’s Transparency Portal has now become an important repository for PGPA Act performance framework documents. Since the launch of the Transparency Portal website in 2019, the Committee has monitored the availability of the annual report, corporate plan and PBS for the relevant bodies it oversights.
2.4
The presented 2021-22 annual reports for Commonwealth entities and companies were available in HTML format on the Transparency Portal and in PDF format on most bodies’ websites. However, the Australian Military Forces Relief Trust Fund and the AAF Company only provided a link to their respective 2021-22 reports on the Transparency Portal website and did not provide the report in PDF format on their websites. The availability of annual reports as a complete document in PDF format is an important resource which the Committee hopes to see continue to be available in addition to the HTML format in the Transparency Portal.
2.5
All 2021-22 corporate plans for the bodies whose annual reports were examined were located and available for reference.
2.6
All 2021-22 PBSs for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade were also available on the Transparency Portal and their website.
‘Clear read’ principle
2.7
Department of Finance guidance on annual performance statements notes the importance of the alignment of the annual performance statement with the corporate plan and the PBS:
Annual performance statements should include information that demonstrates the connection between the corporate plan, PBS and annual performance statements to enable a ‘clear read’ across the three documents.
To achieve this, entities may wish to include a diagram demonstrating how the performance information fits together across the documents, or page number references to the corresponding information in corporate plans and the PBS.
It is good practice for entities to set out the discussion of the achievement of performance in their annual performance statements in the same order as the corporate plan, reinforcing the connection between the documents. Each performance measure should also be expressed in a consistent way to aid the clear read between its planned performance information and performance results.
2.8
Overall, most annual reports examined demonstrated a ‘clear read’ between the review of performance presented in the annual report and the source documents. As the Committee has noted previously, the inclusion of references in the performance information to the relevant part of the corporate plan or PBS for each measure assisted in examination of these reports and many reports now incorporate this feature.
2.9
A number of bodies include numbering for each performance measure which also assists in connecting the result in the annual report. It was noted that the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) included numbering for each performance measure in their 2021-22 corporate plan but did not include the same numbering in the annual report. The committee encourages Austrade to standardise their numbering across both documents to aid in reviewing performance information.
2.10
The Committee has previously noted when examining the Australian War Memorial’s (AWM) reports that there was not a ‘clear read’ between its framework documents. The AWM performance statement included all performance criteria from the PBS in sequence as set out in the PBS, but did not provide a ‘clear read’ between each measure set out in the AWM’s corresponding corporate plan. The Committee encourages the AWM to outline all program components and performance criteria across the PBS, corporate plan, and annual report.
2.11
The inclusion of a summary table or chart of performance results with a clear indicator of the level of achievement providing a snapshot and an accessible overview of performance was a useful feature and was included in several reports. The Committee commends all presenting bodies for including a table summarising performance results.
Performance results
2.12
In reviewing the annual reports of Commonwealth entities and companies, the Committee examined whether all performance measures set out in the corporate plan and PBS were reported against in the annual report. The Committee was pleased to note that all presenting entities provided results for all required performance measures from the corporate plan and PBS.
Compliance indexes
2.13
The PGPA Rule requires all Commonwealth entities and companies to include the list of relevant reporting requirements with details of where those requirements are found in the annual report. Most bodies again satisfactorily met this requirement and this assisted in the examination of reports.
2.14
Most reporting bodies included exact page number references for the required items. However, the AAF Company, Royal Australian Navy Relief Trust Fund, Royal Military Forces Relief Trust Fund, and Australian War Memorial all referred to the relevant chapter or section in the report for the required information. The Committee has previously noted that this is a recurring issue. Although not prescribed in the PGPA Rule, the inclusion of precise page references in the list of requirements enhances access to information and assists in the examination of annual reports.
2.15
Agencies are reminded that the full and up-to-date list of annual reporting items is a mandatory inclusion in the annual report.
Senator Raff Ciccone
Chair