Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014

CHAPTER 2 - COMMONWEALTH ENTITIES AND THE COMMONWEALTH  

PART 2-3 - PLANNING, PERFORMANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY  

Division 3A - Annual report for Commonwealth entities  

Subdivision A - Annual report for non-corporate Commonwealth entities  

SECTION 17AG   INFORMATION ON MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY  

17AG(1)    
For the purposes of paragraph 17AD(d) , this section sets out the requirements for the information on the management and accountability of the entity for the period that is to be included in the annual report.

Corporate governance

17AG(2)    
The annual report must include the following:

(a)    information on compliance with section 10 (which deals with preventing, detecting and responding to fraud and corruption) in relation to the entity during the period;

(b)    a certification by the accountable authority of the entity that:

(i) fraud and corruption risk assessments have been conducted and fraud and corruption control plans have been prepared; and

(ii) appropriate mechanisms for preventing, detecting incidents of, investigating or otherwise dealing with, and recording or reporting fraud and corruption that meet the specific needs of the entity are in place for the entity; and

(iii) all reasonable measures have been taken to deal appropriately with fraud and corruption relating to the entity;

(c)    an outline of the structures and processes that are in place for the entity during the period to implement the principles and objectives of corporate governance;

(d)    a statement of any significant issue reported to the responsible Minister under paragraph 19(1)(e) of the Act that relates to non-compliance with the finance law in relation to the entity;

(e)    if a statement is included under paragraph (d) of this subsection - an outline of the action that has been taken to remedy the non-compliance.

Audit committee

17AG(2A)    
The annual report must include the following:

(a)    a direct electronic address of the charter determining the functions of the audit committee for the entity;

(b)    the name of each member of the audit committee during the period;

(c)    the qualifications, knowledge, skills or experience of those members;

(d)    information about each of those members ' attendance at meetings of the audit committee during the period;

(e)    the remuneration of each of those members.

External scrutiny

17AG(3)    
The annual report must include information on the most significant developments during the period in external scrutiny of the entity, and the entity ' s response to that scrutiny, including particulars of:

(a)    judicial decisions, or decisions of administrative tribunals or the Australian Information Commissioner, made during the period that have had, or may have, a significant effect on the operations of the entity; and

(b)    any report on the operations of the entity given during the period by:

(i) the Auditor-General, other than a report under section 43 of the Act (which deals with the Auditor-General ' s audit of the annual financial statements for Commonwealth entities); or

(ii) a Committee of either House, or of both Houses, of the Parliament; or

(iii) the Commonwealth Ombudsman; and

(c)    any capability reviews of the entity that were released during the period.

Management of human resources

17AG(4)    
The annual report must include the following:

(a)    an assessment of the entity ' s effectiveness, at the end of the reporting period, in managing and developing its employees to achieve its objectives;

(aa)    statistics on the number of employees of the entity (including by reference to ongoing and non-ongoing employees), at the end of that and the previous reporting period, in relation to each of the following:

(i) full-time employees;

(ii) part-time employees;

(iii) gender;

(iv) location;

(b)    statistics on the number of APS employees of the entity (including by reference to ongoing APS employees and non-ongoing APS employees), at the end of that and the previous reporting period, in relation to each of the following:

(i) each classification level of the entity;

(ii) full-time employees;

(iii) part-time employees;

(iv) gender;

(v) location;

(vi) employees who identify as Indigenous;

(c)    information on any enterprise agreements, individual flexibility arrangements, Australian workplace agreements, common law contracts or determinations under subsection 24(1) of the Public Service Act 1999 , including:

(i) the number of SES employees and non-SES employees of the entity covered by such agreements, arrangements, contracts or determinations during the period; and

(ii) the salary ranges available during the period for APS employees of the entity by classification level; and

(iii) a description of the range of non-salary benefits provided during the period by the entity to its employees;

(d)    if payments of performance pay are paid to APS employees of the entity - information on that performance pay, including the following:

(i) the number of APS employees of the entity at each classification level who received performance pay during the period;

(ii) the aggregated amount of such payments at each classification level;

(iii) the average amount of such payments, and the range of such payments, at each classification level;

(iv) the aggregate amount of such payments for the entity.

Assets management

17AG(5)    
If managing assets is a significant part of the activities of the entity during the period, the annual report must include an assessment of the effectiveness of that management.

Purchasing

17AG(6)    
The annual report must include an assessment of the entity ' s performance during the period against the Commonwealth Procurement Rules.

Reportable consultancy contracts

17AG(7)    
The annual report must include the following:

(a)    a summary statement of the following:

(i) the number of new reportable consultancy contracts that were entered into during the period;

(ii) the total actual expenditure during the period on all such contracts (inclusive of GST);

(iii) the number of ongoing reportable consultancy contracts that were entered into during a previous reporting period;

(iv) the total actual expenditure during the period on those ongoing contracts (inclusive of GST);

(b)    a statement that " During [reporting period], [specified number] new reportable consultancy contracts were entered into involving total actual expenditure of $[specified million]. In addition, [specified number] ongoing reportable consultancy contracts were active during the period, involving total actual expenditure of $[specified million]. " ;

(c)    a summary of:

(i) the policies of the entity on selecting and engaging consultants; and

(ii) the procedures of the entity for selecting consultants; and

(iii) the main categories of purposes for which consultants were engaged;

(d)    a statement that " Annual reports contain information about actual expenditure on reportable consultancy contracts. Information on the value of reportable consultancy contracts is available on the AusTender website. " .

Reportable non-consultancy contracts

17AG(7A)    
The annual report must include the following:

(a)    a summary statement of the following:

(i) the number of new reportable non-consultancy contracts that were entered into during the period;

(ii) the total actual expenditure during the period on all such contracts (inclusive of GST);

(iii) the number of ongoing reportable non-consultancy contracts that were entered into during a previous reporting period;

(iv) the total actual expenditure during the period on those ongoing contracts (inclusive of GST);

(b)    a statement that " Annual reports contain information about actual expenditure on reportable non-consultancy contracts. Information on the value of reportable non-consultancy contracts is available on the AusTender website. " .

Australian National Audit Office access clauses

17AG(8)    
If the accountable authority of the entity entered, during the period, into a contract that has a value of $100 000 or more (inclusive of GST) with a contractor, and that does not provide for the Auditor-General to have access to the contractor ' s premises, the annual report must include:

(a)    the name of the contractor; and

(b)    the purpose and value of the contract; and

(c)    the reason why a clause allowing such access was not included in the contract.

Exempt contracts

17AG(9)    
If a contract entered into during the period by the accountable authority of the entity, or a standing offer, with a value of more than $10 000 (inclusive of GST) has been exempted by the accountable authority from being published in AusTender because it would disclose exempt matters under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 , the annual report must include:

(a)    a statement that the contract or standing offer has been exempted; and

(b)    the value of the contract or standing offer, to the extent that doing so does not disclose the exempt matters.

Procurement initiatives to support small business

17AG(10)    
The annual report must include the following:

(a)    a statement that " [Name of entity] supports small business participation in the Commonwealth Government procurement market. Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and Small Enterprise participation statistics are available on the Department of Finance ' s website. " ;

(b)    an outline of the ways in which the procurement practices of the entity support small and medium enterprises;

(c)    if the entity is considered by the Department administered by the Finance Minister as material in nature - a statement that " [Name of entity] recognises the importance of ensuring that small businesses are paid on time. Further information on payment times can be found at [entity web address]. " .

Note:

See the Commonwealth Procurement Rules for requirements for procurement practices of Commonwealth entities to support small and medium enterprises.