PGPA Newsletter 67

A new Flipchart of PGPA Act Commonwealth entities and companies was issued on 6 May 2021.

The Flipchart has been updated to reflect the following changes:

• The Digital Transformation Agency has moved from the Social Services portfolio to the Prime Minister and Cabinet portfolio;
• The National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency has been renamed the National Recovery and Resilience Agency;
• The Infrastructure and Project Financing Agency has been abolished as a separate entity and is now within the Department of the Treasury; and
• Australian Business Arts Foundation Ltd (Creative Partnerships Australia) has been renamed Creative Partnerships Australia Ltd.

Further detail on this update is available in the Table of Changes for 2020-21. The latest version of the Flipchart and its associated List of Commonwealth entities and companies can be found on the Finance website. 

Feedback on the Flipchart and List and how you use these tools are always welcome and can be sent to PGPA@finance.gov.au.

Performance reporting is in full swing with the production of the Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS) being prepared to be released with the upcoming Budget. In the meantime, the annual reporting process for entities is in motion. The Digital Annual Reporting Tool (DART) was made available in March, and we have been pleased to see the current take up of this availability.

The Digital Annual Reporting team is keen to encourage entities to move to a Digital First approach in using the tool – that is - all drafting, approvals, editing and printing is done in the tool rather than copying and pasting content from word documents after text has been cleared. A Digital First approach provides entities with an efficient, accurate and real time means to author and publish an annual report. The team is here and available to help you realise those benefits.

By now, entities would have received email notifications from MasterDocs, supplier of the Digital Annual Reporting Tool, in relation to the new features and useability enhancements that have been developed in Version 3.0. A key focus of Version 3.0 is further supporting and enabling a Digital First approach, by facilitating quicker, simpler and more intuitive approval processes. Should you have already started drafting your report, any content within your entity’s instance of the DART will automatically transfer to Version 3.0.

The Digital Annual Reporting community in GovTEAMs continues to have the most up to date guidance and information from the team. News items are posted in the SharePoint section, while messages are posted in our two channels in TEAMs. The relatively new Community of Practice channel enables you to post process questions for answering by your annual reporting peers as well as by MasterDocs and the team here.

If you are interested in maximising the use of the DART, or you or your team are new to the DART, please take up the opportunity to book in an onboarding session with the MasterDocs team.  The team can be contacted at support@masterdocs.com.au.

Technical accounting policy and guidance RMGs 116 and 125 have been updated and are now available on the Finance website via the below links:

• RMG 116 – Accounting for Annual Appropriations
• RMG 125 – Commonwealth Entities Financial Statements Guide

Content changes in the RMGs are outlined below:

• RMG 116
  • A new RMG which provides mandatory accounting requirements for annual appropriations in accordance with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Financial Reporting) Rule 2015 (FRR) and Australian Accounting Standards (AAS), with accompanying guidance and illustrative examples.
• RMG 125
  • This guide has been revised to provide information relevant to the preparation of 2020-21 financial statements. It includes information relevant to the specific requirements of the FRR, including disclosure requirements for lease maturity analysis and lessee lease liabilities, investments made from special accounts, current and non-current distinction for assets and liabilities, individual remuneration for senior executives of reporting entities, and other additional disclosures not covered by AAS. This guide explains accounting treatments mandated by the FRR where AAS allows a choice to ensure consistency across Commonwealth reporting entities in the preparation of annual financial statements.

Finance has commenced a review of the Commonwealth Risk Management Policy. The Policy was developed in 2014 as part of the suite of reforms under the PGPA Act. Specifically the Policy supports section 16 of the PGPA Act, which requires accountable authorities maintain systems of risk oversight, management and internal control.

The Policy is comprised of nine elements that cover the fundamental elements of widely accepted risk management best practice and was drafted to be principles based and flexible. This was to allow entities to tailor their existing risk practices and frameworks to the Policy and not add any additional administrative burden. The Policy encourages entities to scale their risk frameworks and systems to a level that is commensurate with the size and nature of their risk profile.

When the Policy was introduced, it was the first time that the Australian Government had introduced a policy around risk management. The review will assess the Policy’s progress in developing agencies’ risk maturity and whether improvements can be made. A particular focus of the review will be on the cultural and behavioural aspects of risk management in the APS and a review of the approaches of other jurisdictions.

A multi-agency steering committee has been established to oversee the review. Public and private sector risk managers and subject matter experts are also being consulted as part of the review.

More information on the Commonwealth Risk Management Policy, including supporting guidance can be found at:

https://www.finance.gov.au/government/comcover/commonwealth-risk-management-policy

The review is expected to be finalised by the end of 2021.

Comcover’s risk education  program has been developed to target four levels of desired capability for Australian Public Service officials:   

• Foundation – Encourages all Commonwealth officials, regardless of level or role to understand the basic risk management concepts of how risk is managed in the Commonwealth;
• Generalist – Supports Commonwealth officials, regardless of level, whose role requires them to engage with and apply their entity's risk management framework to successfully deliver outcomes;
• Specialist - Assists job role specialists who are required to design, implement and embed an entity's risk management framework. Specialists facilitate generalists and executives to fulfil their risk management responsibilities; and
• Senior Executive Service - Help inform SES to recognise key and emerging risk management issues and demonstrate risk leadership by fostering a positive risk culture in their entity and across the Commonwealth.

In 2021 Comcover is also conducting virtual workshops that are accessible to everyone located anywhere, as well as face to face workshops.

To enrol in the workshops and access more Comcover education opportunities please visit the Comcover Learning Centre at https://learningcentre.comcover.gov.au or call 1800-651-540 and select Option 2.

In PGPA Newsletter 65, we advised of work underway to develop guidance to support entities with regulatory functions in their performance reporting, including the shift to reporting through PGPA Act processes commencing 1 July 2021.

A draft Regulator Performance Guide has been developed that outlines the principles of best practice that underpin the Government’s expectations of regulators and their performance. It provides guidance to assist Commonwealth regulators to report on their performance against these expectations.

The principles are:

• Continuous improvement and building trust
• Risk-based and data driven
• Collaboration and engagement.

Public consultation on the Guide was launched on 20 April 2021, with submissions open until 5pm AEST, Friday 21 May 2021. We invite you to consider the Guide and provide feedback to help shape the final document. Read the supporting material or find out how to make a submission.

The development of the Guide is part of the Government’s focus on lifting regulator performance, capability and culture announced in the 2020-21 Budget. To support entities with regulatory functions to embed the Guide into their operations, a library of best practice brings together supporting material, including best practice case studies.

We invite all stakeholders to contribute case studies, questions or reference material to support the regulator community via deregulation@pmc.gov.au.

Did you know that Finance maintains a central inbox for all PGPA matters? If you need any advice or have any questions PGPA related send them through to PGPA@finance.gov.au