PGPA Newsletter 61

Updates have been made to RMGs 138 and 139 to include further guidance on the inclusion of Fringe Benefits Tax in determining an employee’s Total Remuneration.

• RMG 138: Commonwealth entities executive remuneration reporting guide for annual reports: Updates have been made to paragraphs 33 to 35.
   
• RMG 139: Commonwealth companies executive remuneration reporting guide for annual reports:  Updates have been made to paragraphs 30 to 32.

If you have any questions please email PGPA@finance.gov.au.

The Outcomes and planned performance section (Section 2) of the Portfolio Budget Statements details the expenses incurred in delivering the outcomes and programs of an entity, and related performance information.

Subsection 36(3) of the PGPA Act requires the accountable authorities of all entities to comply with the Finance Secretary’s Direction for the provision of performance information in Portfolio Budget Statements. This normally includes providing forecasts of program performance against expected targets for the current financial year (Requirement 4 of the Direction).  This requirement is designed to provide Parliament with confidence that the programs for which funding is being sought are performing as expected. 

As the 2020-21 Budget is being delivered after the 2019-20 financial year, entities are required to report the actual performance outcomes for each program for the 2019-20 period in Section 2 of the 2020-21 Portfolio Budget Statements.  This reporting should be consistent with the reporting of performance results in the 2019-20 annual performance statements.

2020-21 Portfolio Budget Statement Guidance will provide further information on this reporting requirement, including a template amended to reflect this requirement.

The coronavirus pandemic has had wide reaching personal, employment and economic impacts across Australian communities, business, and industry sectors. The Government has responded to address these impacts through a number of assistance packages to assist those most impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, which includes consideration of temporary relief from government fees and charges.

The Finance Minister has agreed Fee Relief Guidance to assist Government entities and ministers in determining whether Fee Relief is appropriate, its duration and subsequent withdrawal. Four key principles underpin this guidance:

• Appropriateness – should be proportionate to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and  there is evidence a sector has been impacted and Fee Relief will assist economic recovery
• Authority – relevant policy and legislative authorities are required for Fee Relief
• Fiscal impact – the full financial impact to the Government of Fee Relief should be estimated
• Recovery pathway – there needs to be a plan to return to normal charging arrangements.

The Guidance includes a support tool to lead entities through the considerations and determine what, if any, type of Fee Relief is most appropriate.

The Finance Minister has written to Ministers with a copy of the guidance.  The guidance is available on the Finance website here and has been issued through EM2020-30 – Fee Relief. If you have any questions please contact the relevant Agency Advice Unit in Finance or the Charging Policy Team on (02) 6215 3451 or at chargingpolicy@finance.gov.au.

The Digital Annual Reporting Team has been developing a GovTEAMS community dedicated to providing annual report coordinators with practical information. This resource includes guidance, a repository of FAQ information, how-to guides for using MasterDocs and other helpful resources.

Annual report coordinators should be familiar with

• The most recent Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• The Training Library
• The Summary of Changes to the RMGs.

If you would like to join the community you will need to establish a GovTEAMS account and request to join the Team. Once approved you can access these documents via the Digital Annual Report Team’s GovTEAMS community.

For any further details regarding accessing GovTEAMS, access to the Digital Annual Reporting Tool – MasterDocs, MasterDocs on boarding/online training or annual report enquiries contact the digital report team at DigitalAnnualReportProject@finance.gov.au.

The Finance Minister has approved an amendment to the PGPA Rule – the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 (Grant Rules for Corporate Commonwealth Entities) Rules 2020. This amendment will impose additional requirements on corporate Commonwealth entities (CCEs) where a Minister is the decision maker for a grant activity. The Amendment Rules are to commence after the disallowance period, at this stage anticipated to be no earlier than 13 November 2020.

In summary, the new requirements will apply to CCE's making grants and to the Ministers who approve or request them, such as:

• CCE’s will be required to produce grant guidelines and provide appropriate written advice to Ministers before a Minister makes a decision on a CCE grant;

• Grant guidelines and grants awarded are to be published on GrantConnect, the Australian Government whole-of-government web-based facility;
• Ministers will have reporting requirements, when involved in making a grant: in particular to their own electorate; and/or, where they make a decision to award a grant that was recommended not be made by the CCE.

Further guidance material will be produced and made available on the Finance website before the Amendment Rules commence.

An updated Flipchart of PGPA Act Commonwealth entities and companies was issued on 1 July 2020.

The Flipchart has been updated to reflect:

• the establishment of Sport Integrity Australia as a new non-corporate Commonwealth entity and the abolishment of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA);
• National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency changed from 'Material' to 'Small'; and
• Geoscience Australia changed from 'Small' to 'Material'.

Further detail on these updates is available in the table of changes for 2020-21. The table of changes for 2019-20 has been archived and can be found under ‘Related resources: Tools and templates’.

Here are the latest versions of the Flipchart and its associated List of Commonwealth entities and companies.

The Commonwealth Fraud Prevention Centre is excited to announce the launch of a new Counter Fraud website (CounterFraud.gov.au). The website offers tools and guidance that will help strengthen the Commonwealth’s counter fraud capabilities.

This dedicated counter fraud resource will help you:

• learn what fraud is, why it’s a problem and why we need to do our best to counter it
• apply countermeasures to your entity to prevent, detect and respond to fraud
• understand your obligations under the Commonwealth Fraud Control Framework
• connect and share with the fraud community
• discover the different types of fraudsters you will face.

The Commonwealth Fraud Prevention Centre was established on 1 July 2019 as a two-year pilot within the Attorney-General's Department. Contact the Centre if your agency needs help with dealing with unseen and unchecked fraud.