Chapter 1

[1]        See Appendix 1.

[2]        Journals of the Senate, No. 3, 4 July 2019, pp 83-84. This resolution was subsequently amended on 13 February 2020; however, the amendments did not relate to these portfolios. See Journals of the Senate, No. 42, 13 February 2020, pp. 1268-69.

[3]        Department of Finance, Resource Management Guide No. 130 – Overview of the enhanced Commonwealth performance framework, July 2016, p. 7.

[4]        Department of Finance, Resource Management Guide No. 135: Annual report for non-corporate Commonwealth entities, May 2019, p. 7; Resource Management Guide No. 136: Annual reports for corporate Commonwealth entities, May 2019, p. 5; Resource Management Guide No. 137: Annual reports for Commonwealth companies, May 2019, p. 5.

[5]        See https://www.finance.gov.au/resource-management/governance/overview/ (accessed 4 June 2019).

[6]        Department of Finance, Resource Management Guide No. 134 – Annual performance statements for entities, July 2017, p. 7.

[7]        Department of Finance, Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Newsletter 55, 2 August 2019, [p. 1].

[8]        Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Amendment (Reporting Executive Remuneration) Rules 2019 Explanatory Statement, p. 1.

[9]        Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann and Senator the Hon Zed Seselja, Joint Media Release, Launch of Government transparency website, 13 March 2019, https://www.financeminister.gov.au/media-release/2019/03/13/launch-government-transparency-website (accessed 4 February 2020).

[10]      Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann, Minister for Finance, Speech at Modernising the Public Sector Expo, 13 March 2019, p. 4.

[11]      Department of Finance, Resource Management Guide 135, Annual reports for non-corporate Commonwealth entities, p. 12; Resource Management Guide 136, Annual report for corporate Commonwealth entities, p. 12; Resource Management Guide 137, Annual report for Commonwealth companies, p. 9.

[12]      Government response to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration Report on Non-Statutory bodies, Senate Hansard, 8 December 1987, pp. 2632–45.

[13]      Government response to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration Report on Non-Statutory bodies, Senate Hansard, 8 December 1987, pp. 2632–45.

[14]      Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann, Minister for Finance and the Public Service, Australian Government Response to the Independent Review into the PGPA Act and Rule, dated 2 April 2019.

[15]      Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee, Supplementary Budget Estimates 2019-20, Department of Finance, Answer to Question on Notice No. F248, p. 2.

[16]      See PGPA Rule, sections 17BC, 17AB and 28C.

[17]      Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Tabling Guidelines, June 2019, pp. 4-5.

[18]      Department of Finance, Resource Management Guide No. 135 – Annual report for non-corporate Commonwealth entities, May 2019, p. 11; and Resource Management Guide No. 136 – Annual report for corporate Commonwealth entities, p. 9.

[19]      Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Tabling Circular No. 2 of 2019, Tabling of Departmental Annual Reports 2018-19, p. 1.

[20]      Department of Finance, Resource Management Guide No. 137 – Annual reports for Commonwealth companies, May 2019, p. 8.

[21]      Department of Finance, Resource Management Guide No. 137 – Annual reports for Commonwealth companies, May 2019, p. 8.

[22]      Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee, Report on Annual Report (No.1 and 2 of 2019), p. 10.

[23]      Australian Government response to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee Report – Annual reports (No.1 and No. 2 of 2019).

[24]      Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force – Annual Report 2017-18, p. 3.

Chapter 2 - Overview of the annual reports examined

[1]        Department of Finance, Resource Management Guide No. 132, Corporate Plans for Commonwealth entities, January 2017, p, 8; Resource Guide No. 133, Corporate Plans for Commonwealth Companies, January 2017, p. 5.

[2]        DHA does not publish its Corporate Plan in order to protect commercial sensitivities, but makes publicly available its Statement of Corporate Intent which provides an overview of its key objectives and priorities for the financial year, see DHA Annual Report 2018-19, p. 42.

[3]        Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee, Annual reports (No. 1 and No. 2 of 2019), July 2019, pp. 32-33 and 43.

[4]        Department of Finance, Resource Management Guide No. 132, Corporate Plans for Commonwealth entities, January 2017, p, 8.

[5]        See https://www.finance.gov.au/government/managing-commonwealth-resources/planning-reporting/commonwealth-performance-framework, (accessed 5 February 2020).

[6]        Australian National Audit Office, Report No. 14 2019-20, Commonwealth Resource Management Framework and Clear Read Principle, pp. 20-21.

[7]        See corporate key performance indicator 'Corporate costs as a percentage of overall budget', Tourism Australia Corporate Plan 2018-2022, p. 30.

[8]        See performance criterion for Objective 2 'reacting to government and industry demands', ASPI Corporate Plan 2018-2022, p. 7.

[9]        See performance criteria for Program 2.8 'Effective implementation of the Integrated Investment Program' and 'Operational outcomes meet the requirements of Government Policy', Defence PBS 2018-19, p. 70. It is noted that these criteria were amended for 2019-20, see Defence PBS 2019-20, p. 66.

[10]      Australian Signals Directorate Annual Report 2018-19, p. 22.

[11]      See for example Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee, Report on Annual Reports (No.1 and No. 2 of 2019), p. 35.

[12]      Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Annual Report 2018-19, p. 14.

[13]      See for example Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee, Report on Annual Reports (No.1 and No. 2 of 2019), p. 35.

[14]      Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research Annual Report 2018-19, p. 22.

[15]      Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research Annual Report 2018-19, p. 22.

[16]      Department of Defence Annual Report 2018-19, p. 49.

[17]      Resource Management Guide 134 – Annual performance statements for Commonwealth entities, July 2017, pp. 11-12.

[18]      These included Royal Australian Air Force Veterans' Residences Trust, Navy Canteens, the Royal Australian Navy Relief Trust Fund, Australian Military Forces Relief Trust Fund, Royal Australian Air Force Welfare Trust Fund, AAF Company and Royal Welfare Recreational Company.

[19]      Royal Australian Navy Central Canteens Board Annual Report 2018-19, p.19.

[20]      Army and Air Force Canteen Service Annual Report 2018-19, p. 44.

[21]      Australian National Audit Office, Report No. 20 2019-20, Audits of the Financial Statements of Australian Government Entities for the Period Ended 30 June 2019, p. 43.

[22]      Australian National Audit Office, Report No. 20 2019-20, Audits of the Financial Statements of Australian Government Entities for the Period Ended 30 June 2019, p. 44.

[23]      Australian National Audit Office, Report No. 20 2019-20, Audits of the Financial Statements of Australian Government Entities for the Period Ended 30 June 2019, p. 44.

[24]      See Department of Finance, Resource Management Guide No. 135 – Annual reports for non-corporate Commonwealth entities, May 2019, Appendix G; Resource Management Guide No. 136 – Annual report for corporate Commonwealth entities, Appendix D; and Resource Management Guide 137 – Annual reports for Commonwealth companies, Appendix B.

[25]      See AAF Company Annual Report 2018-19, p. 21; and Australian Military Forces Relief Trust Fund Annual Report 2018-19, p. 32.

[26]      Royal Australian Air Force Welfare Trust Fund Annual Report 2018-19, p. 32.

[27]      See for example the annual reports of ASD, ASPI, RAAF Welfare Trust Fund, RAAF Welfare Recreational Company, AAFCANS and ACIAR.

[28]      See for example the annual reports of EFA, Royal Australian Navy Relief Trust Fund, Royal Australian Air Force Welfare Trust Fund and ASPI.

[29]      Department of Veterans' Affairs Annual Report 2018-19, p. 253.

[30]      Tourism Australia Annual Report 2018-19, pp. 162-164.

[31]      Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee, Annual reports (No. 1 of 2018), March 2018, pp. 28-33; and Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee, Annual reports (No. 1 and No. 2 of 2019), July 2019, pp. 49-54.

[32]      Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee, Annual reports (No. 1 and No. 2 of 2019), July 2019, pp. 49-54.

[33]      Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Annual Report 01 July 2017 to 30 June 2018, p. 4.

[34]      Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Annual Report 2018-19, p. 35.

[35]      Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee, Annual Reports (No. 1 and No. 2 of 2019), pp. 50-52.

[36]      Judge Advocate General Report for the period 1 January to 31 December 2018, pp. 9 and 24.

[37]      Judge Advocate General Report for the period 1 January to 31 December 2018, p. 9.

[38]      Judge Advocate General Report for the period 1 January to 31 December 2018, pp. 10-11.

[39]      Judge Advocate General Report for the period 1 January to 31 December 2018, pp. 11-15.

[40]      Judge Advocate General Report for the period 1 January to 31 December 2018, pp. 24-25.

Appendix 1 - Dates relating to the presentation of reports between 1 May 2019 to 14 February 2020[1]

[1]        Under Standing Order 25(20)(f) the committee is required to report on annual reports tabled by 31 October each year by the tenth sitting day of the following year. On this occasion, the committee has chosen to include relevant reports which were tabled after this date and available to the committee at the time of preparing this report.