PGPA Newsletter 63

The 2020 PGPA Entity Survey invitation was sent to the CFOs of all Commonwealth entities and Commonwealth companies on 9 November and responses are due by 4 December 2020.

The survey is conducted on behalf of Finance by an independent research firm Piazza Research. Please contact us at PGPA@finance.gov.au if you did not receive the email with the survey invitation from Piazza Research.

The survey is an opportunity for you to provide feedback on the operation of the PGPA framework. It covers a range of topics relevant to the resource management framework, including risk and performance reporting, Finance communication and guidance effectiveness.

We’ve asked CFOs to share the survey with the relevant areas in their entities and coordinate a consolidated response. If you haven’t been contacted by your CFO area regarding input please contact them to obtain survey access.

For any technical issues related to the survey access please contact: admin@piazzaresearch.com.au or PGPA@finance.gov.au.

As the 2019-20 reporting period comes to a close, the Digital Annual Reporting Team would like to thank those who engaged in the second year of producing digital annual reports. We’d like to offer all annual report coordination team members who participated in producing an annual report the opportunity to formally tell us about their individual experiences using the Digital Annual Reporting Tool (the Tool) in year two via a feedback form. The focus of the feedback is to not only understand how each entity engaged with the Tool and what lessons have been learned, but also to look forward and see how the team can better improve the process for year three and what enhancements could be developed.

While we acknowledge there are some areas beyond our direct control, such as the need to table a print version as well as a digital version, where possible we are seeking to engage with our key stakeholders to better align the Tool with the annual reporting process and requirements. As we seek to continuously improve, any constructive feedback will assist us in this endeavour.

We expect the feedback form to take 10 minutes to complete and is available here.

We would appreciate if you could complete the feedback form by 11 December 2020.

Please direct any queries to DigitalAnnualReportProject@finance.gov.au.

Comcover, the Australian Government's self-managed insurance fund, is piloting a new timetable for the annual Renewal Questionnaire. This is designed to ensure that premiums are calculated on the basis of more up-to-date information, and will give Fund Members flexibility to streamline the administrative processes.

This Questionnaire will begin in mid-January 2021 and be open for 6 weeks, closing at the end of February. Indicative premiums will be available at the end of March.

Following the 2021-22 Budget, the Questionnaire will reopen in May, to provide those entities that need to make changes the opportunity to do so. This second stage of the Questionnaire will be optional. The Questionnaire will be closed for the calculation of final premiums, with invoices issued in July.

Participation in Comcover is only available for Australian Government entities that are classified to the General Government Sector.

If you have questions about any of these matters please contact your Comcover Relationship Manager on 1800 651 540 (option 3) or email comcover@comcover.com.au.

As noted in PGPA Newsletter 61 (6 August 2020), an amendment to the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 (PGPA Rule) has been made that applies to the making of grants by corporate Commonwealth entities (CCEs), which is anticipated to commence from 1 December 2020. The PGPA Rule amendment is available on the Federal Register of Legislation.

When a Minister is involved in making a grant, CCEs will be required to produce and publish guidelines and grants awarded on GrantConnect, as well as provide appropriate advice to Ministers on their decision-making and reporting responsibilities. Timeframes apply to the publishing of information on GrantConnect.

Finance has published guidance material for CCEs and Ministers, including factsheets, under Commonwealth Grants on the Finance website.

Updates to the whole-of-government tools and templates and other related material, such as for Ministerial reporting, relevant to CCEs will also be made available on the Finance website when Division 6A of the PGPA Rule commences.

Letters have been sent to all Accountable Authorities of CCEs, Departmental Secretaries and Ministers advising of the changes. Many CCEs have inquired and/or responded to the letters and it is noted that this amendment may not immediately impact most CCEs. Please note that once a Minister is involved in the making of a CCE grant, the PGPA Rule (Division 6A) requirements will apply.

If your entity’s Minister may be involved in the making of a CCE grant, your entity will require access to GrantConnect, the Australian Government centralised grants information system. In this instance, please email grants@finance.gov.au as soon as practicable to initiate the on-boarding process and associated training for GrantConnect.

The Performance Team in the Accountability and Reporting Branch is seeking experienced and energetic policy officers and project managers at the APS6 and EL1 levels (with acting considered).

The Team’s responsibilities include supporting over 170 entities to fulfil the requirements of the Commonwealth performance framework and the requirements of executive remuneration reporting, enhancing the evaluation capacity of the Commonwealth.
More broadly, the Branch manages:

• a range of whole-of-government responsibilities including providing advice on PGPA Act requirements and governance issues;
• guidance on annual reporting requirements;
• managing and expanding reporting through Transparency.gov.au; and
• enhancing digital and web based approaches to providing advice, guidance, training and information about the Commonwealth government.

If you are interested in a temporary transfer for 6 to 12 months we would like to hear from you. Please contact David Saywell on (02) 6215 3130 or by email at david.saywell@finance.gov.au.

The Commonwealth Fraud Prevention Centre has launched a new guidance product, the Fraud Risk Assessment: Leading Practice Guide.

Fraud is a serious, underestimated problem, which if left unchecked can significantly harm Commonwealth programs, officials, service providers and members of the public. Fraud risk assessments address this problem by assisting entities to identify where they are vulnerable so that they are able to design suitable countermeasures to prevent fraud occurring or reducing the impact when it does.

This guide is designed to provide Fraud Control Officers, fraud specialists, government officials and senior leaders alike with the principles and methods for conducting leading practice fraud risk assessments as well as detailing how the assessment process can benefit all entities.

The guide comprises of the following key components:

1. Introduction to the importance of conducting fraud risk assessments.
2. Core foundations for leading practice.
3. Where to start with fraud risk assessments, such as strategic fraud risk profiling, rolling fraud risk assessment programs and enterprise risk management.
4. Outline of the fraud risk assessment process including risk identification, risk analysis, risk evaluation and risk treatment.
5. How to report, monitor and review fraud risks by creating fraud risk registers and conducting pressure testing. 

Please go to our website to access a copy of this guide.

In order to share information and lessons learned in the PGPA performance space, we have an established Community of Practice that is open to all entities.

If you would like to be a member of the Community of Practice please email us at PGPA@finance.gov.au to subscribe.

Did you know that the Finance website has an index of RMGs available to help you navigate to the guidance quickly? The index can be sorted by RMG number, alphabetically by title, topic or summary to give you a quick overview of information in particular RMGs.