PGPA Newsletter 66

Finance would like to remind non-corporate and corporate Commonwealth entities that section 72 of the PGPA Act requires the responsible Minister to notify parliament of certain events by tabling a notice of the event in each House of Parliament. The purpose of the notice is to help ensure transparency about government operations relating to companies by requiring meaningful information be given to Parliament about those operations.  

The events for which a notice must be tabled include:

• the Commonwealth or a corporate Commonwealth entity forms or participates in forming, a company or relevant body
• the Commonwealth or a corporate Commonwealth entity becomes, or ceases to be, a member of a company or a relevant body
• a variation occurs in rights of the Commonwealth or a corporate Commonwealth entity as member of a company or relevant body
• the Commonwealth or a corporate Commonwealth entity acquires shares (either by purchase or subscription) or disposes of shares in a company
• a variation occurs in the rights attaching to shares held by the Commonwealth or a corporate Commonwealth entity

The Minister must notify parliament of the event as soon as practicable after the event occurs.

Additionally, section 26 of the PGPA Rule requires that the notice of event under section 72 of the PGPA Act must provide particulars and a short statement about the event.  

Further information can be found in Section 72 Template for Ministers to Inform Parliament, which is located under Tools and templates in RMG 200 or by contacting PGPA@finance.gov.au. 

When tabling a section 72 notice, please provide a copy to Finance by email to PGPA@finance.gov.au.

Guidance on the annual report requirements for the 2020-21 reporting period have been refreshed and are available on the Finance website via the below links.

• RMG 135 - Non-corporate Commonwealth entities (NCEs)
• RMG 136 - Corporate Commonwealth entities (CCE)
• RMG 137 - Commonwealth companies (companies)

The guidance has been streamlined with a digital first approach in mind, using plain English to make the guidance simple and engaging in a web based format.

Content changes

The main content changes relate to the data templates, outlined below:

• Consultancy and non-consultancy contract reportable expenditure (NCEs only):
  • Updated list of requirements
  • Changes to the consultancy data templates
  • New non-consultancy data templates
• Other Highly Paid Staff reporting (NCEs and CCEs only):
  • Data template updated so the first banding now starts at $230,000
• Audit committee reporting (NCEs, CCEs and companies):
  • Additional information column added to data template.

The data templates are also available in the Digital Reporting Tool. We encourage entities to engage in a digital first approach for coordinating their 2020-21 annual report by using the Digital Reporting Tool to its full extent. For access to the Digital Reporting Tool, annual report coordinators should email digitalannualreportproject@finance.gov.au.

If you have any feedback on our RMGs or need further information in relation to the data template changes, please contact us at PGPA@finance.gov.au.

Technical accounting policy and guidance RMGs 112 and 117 have been updated and are available on the Finance website via the below links:

• RMG 112 - Identification of general insurance contracts for accounting purposes 
• RMG 117 – General principles for the recognition of expenditure in the budget aggregates

Content changes in the RMGs are outlined below:

• RMG 112
  • Updates to accounting standard references and minor wording changes.
• RMG 117
  • A new RMG which:
    • defines the key budget aggregates: underlying cash balance; headline cash balance; net operating balance; fiscal balance and net debt; and
    • outlines the impact on these aggregates of the following types of expenditure: grants; purchases of non-financial assets; prepayments for grants or non-financial assets; loans (commercial and concessional) and equity investments.

These RMGs are designed to support and be read in conjunction with the Commonwealth entities financial statements guide, Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Financial Reporting) Rule 2015 (FRR) and Australian Accounting Standards (AASs)

For further information in relation to RMG 112 or 117, please contact the Accounting Policy team. 

In PGPA Newsletter 65, we advised that the Government is streamlining performance reporting requirements for Commonwealth entities with regulatory functions.

From 1 July 2021, entities with regulatory functions will no longer be required to produce a standalone performance report under the 2014 Regulator Performance Framework. Instead, regulator performance reporting should be incorporated into an entity’s reporting processes as required under the PGPA Act and PGPA Rule. To support entities in reporting on regulator performance, the first year of reporting under these arrangements will be considered a transitional year.

Frequently Asked Questions

My organisation has a well-established process for preparing a Regulator Performance Framework report – can we still prepare such a report after 1 July 2021?

Entities with regulatory functions may continue to prepare a standalone report on regulator performance alongside reporting in corporate plans and annual reports. It is recommended that any standalone reports are also referred to in entities performance reporting under the PGPA Act.

It is also open to entities to continue to report against the Regulator Performance Framework during the transitional year. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Department of Finance are consulting closely with agencies and stakeholders to develop principles-based guidance to support better regulator performance reporting and measurement under PGPA Act processes. This guidance is expected to be issued before 1 July 2021. From this time, agencies with regulatory functions should consider this guidance in preparing performance reporting, in place of the Regulator Performance Framework.

The sequencing of my organisation’s last Regulator Performance Framework report and its next annual report don’t line up and there is a gap/an overlap in reporting periods. What should I do?

The first year of reporting under the new arrangements, from 1 July 2021, will be considered a transitional year. It is open to the accountable authority for each entity to consider how it could most appropriately account for and report against its performance for this period.

My organisation’s planning cycle is well underway but the new regulator performance guidance is not expected to be released before mid-year. What is the expectation around incorporating this guidance?

Updated guidance on the Government’s expectations of regulator performance and reporting is expected to be issued before 1 July 2021. Entities may then use the transitional year to settle how to most appropriately embed the guidance in undertaking and reporting on performance for their organisation.

Are there examples of entities currently including Regulator Performance Framework Reporting in annual reports?

A number of entities with regulatory functions are already incorporating Regulator Performance Framework reporting in their annual reports to varying degrees. The below examples may assist in providing a sense of how regulator performance reporting may be included in these reports.

Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Annual Report 2019-20

ACMA Annual Report 2019-20

AEC Annual Report 2019-20

Australian Maritime Safety Authority – Annual Report 2019–20

Sydney Harbour Federation Trust Annual Report 2019-20

Tax Practitioners Board Annual Report 2019-20

Treasury Annual Report 2019-2020

Further questions can be sent to Finance at PGPA@finance.gov.au and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet at Deregulation@pmc.gov.au.

In a world of digital innovation, e-invoicing is one change set to deliver big benefits by streamlining the way we invoice. E-invoicing is the automated digital exchange of invoice information directly between a buyer's and supplier's accounting systems.

As part of government’s Digital Business Plan, Federal Government agencies are required to be e-invoicing enabled by 1 July 2022, with 80% of total invoices to Federal Government agencies expected to be received electronically by 1 July 2021.

Changing from traditional invoicing to e-invoicing, means government agencies can better support businesses by improving invoice processing and payment times. E-invoicing will help create improvements to accounts payable processes, including more automated, streamlined and consistent invoice processing. It also allows for better visibility of real-time spend, meets the government five day payment policy, and helps small businesses get paid sooner.

Getting started with e-invoicing
There are a number of ways by which an agency can become e-invoicing enabled, and many agencies across government have already started e-invoicing.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is actively supporting government agencies to become e-invoicing enabled as soon as possible.

A suite of information resources and tools, including e-invoicing adoption options, is available to support agencies to plan, prepare for and implement e-invoicing. These are available on the e-invoicing site on GovTEAMS.

For more information visit ato.gov.au/e-invoicing or to discuss e-invoicing implementation for your agency you may also contact the ATO e-invoicing team at e-invoicing@ato.gov.au.

Resource Management Guides (RMGs) are available to support you through the application of the PGPA Act and Rule requirements. An index of RMGs is available that can be sorted by RMG number, topic and in summary view. All RMGs on the website are the current version. When RMG updates occur users are notified through the PGPA Newsletter, issued via email and available on the Finance website home page under the latest news section. Printed versions are only current at the time of printing, so be sure to use the digital version in the first instance. Any comments on the RMGs should be sent to PGPA@finance.gov.au.