PGPA Newsletter 80

The current instrument delegating the Finance Minister’s powers under the PGPA Act and Rule to accountable authorities of non-corporate Commonwealth entities continues to have effect following the outcome of the election and the swearing in of the new Finance Minister, Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher.

The Finance Minister will consider the delegation of her PGPA Act powers in the coming weeks and we will keep entities informed on the progress of this.

When the Finance Minister does issue a new delegation instrument to accountable authorities, entities will need to arrange for their accountable authorities to issue new internal delegation instruments accordingly. Finance will recommend to the Finance Minister that the new delegation instrument take effect on a specific future date to ensure that entities have clarity and sufficient time to prepare new instruments. 

Contact us at PGPA@finance.gov.au if you have any questions.

The 2022 PGPA Survey (the Survey) was launched on 29 April 2022 by ORIMA Research – Finance’s service provider. Thank you to all entities and companies who have already responded.

Given that we have received a number of requests to extend the deadline for completing the Survey, it will be extended to COB Wednesday 8 June 2022. For those that have not yet submitted their response, ORIMA Research may have already reached out to you.

All Commonwealth entities and companies are encouraged to get involved. The Survey is a mechanism that enables entities and companies to provide feedback on the PGPA framework.

An invitation was sent directly to CFOs on 29 April 2022. To get involved in providing feedback please contact your CFO team. If you experience any difficulties accessing the link or with any other technical issues please contact ORIMA directly via the contact details included in the invitation email.

Contact us at PGPA@finance.gov.au for any other queries related to the Survey.

The Digital Annual Reporting Tool is now open for the 2021-22 Annual Reporting cycle. Refreshed Resource Management Guidance is available on the Finance website.

• RMG-135 Annual reports for non-corporate Commonwealth entities
• RMG-136 Annual reports for corporate Commonwealth entities
• RMG-137 Annual reports for Commonwealth companies

While no major policy changes have been made in the 2021-22 reporting period, annual report coordinators are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the enhanced guidance. Refer to PGPA Newsletter #78 for more information.

Please contact us at DigitalAnnualReportProject@finance.gov.au if you have any questions or check out our GovTEAMs community: Digital Annual Reports.

An Annual Report Community of Practice is being held on Wednesday 8 June 2022, via GovTEAMS.

The Digital Annual Reporting team’s focus for the 2021-22 Annual Reporting cycle is on improving the overall data quality on the Transparency Portal. With three years digital reporting now completed, Finance is focussed on ensuring that the transparency reporting requirements are fully met. 

The Community of Practice will focus on supporting entities in meeting requirements with an emphasis on the mandatory data templates and why they are so important, along with other annual report information.

Date: Wednesday, 8 June 2022
Time: 11:00am (AEST)
Location: This event will be streamed live on GovTEAMs. To access the event, click this link.

Please contact us at DigitalAnnualReportProject@finance.gov.au if you have any questions or check out our GovTEAMs community: Digital Annual Reports.

OAR Portfolio Coordinators are reminded that, following the swearing in of the complete Ministry, updates are to be made to the roles for your Portfolio within Directory.gov.au.

Updates will need to be made accordingly, and as soon as possible following confirmation of the Ministry to ensure that Directory.gov.au is accurate.

If you have any questions related to the updating of the roles for your Portfolio within the register please email us at OAR@finance.gov.au.

The next quarterly AGOR statistical update will be undertaken to report on bodies in existence as at 1 July 2022. To facilitate the next statistical update Portfolio Coordinators are required to consider bodies that are to be added and/or removed from the register.

An email outlining the deadlines will be issued shortly.

If you have any questions related to the updating of the register, send an email to OAR@finance.gov.au.

In the 2020-21 reporting period, some inconsistencies were identified with the reporting of Regulatory Charging between the Regulatory Charging Summary Note in the Financial Statements and the DART. Placeholder Regulatory Charging information presented in the Digital Annual Report Tool (DART) should be the same information presented in the Regulatory Charging Summary Note in the financial statements.

A common inconsistency found was the amount reported in the Regulatory Charging Note in the DART was for the entity’s total revenue and expenses, rather than only the revenue and expenses related to the charging for regulatory activities (fees or levies subject to the Australian Government Charging Framework).

The Regulatory Charging Summary Note is a requirement under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Financial Reporting) Rule 2015 (FFR 34A). In 2021-22, the reporting requirement has been updated to allow for greater clarity on listing activities that are relevant to the note.

To assist in the preparations for 2021-22 reporting, please find additional information on the Regulatory Charging Summary Note:

Regulatory Charging Summary Note in the Financial Statements

• Entities are encouraged to use the PRIMA Template titled Regulatory Charging Summary Note (table 5.3 of the 2021-22 template) to meet the FRR requirement.
• This template prompts you to provide aggregated amounts for appropriations, external revenue and expenses for regulatory charging activities. It also allows you to list the charging arrangements that relate to the aggregated amounts.
• Entities are encouraged to liaise with the relevant Cost Recovery or policy area in their entity when completing this information and to include the Cost Recovery Implementation Statement web link (for example DAWE should list Exports, Biosecurity, National Parks, WELS, etc.).

An update on this was presented at the CFO Forum on 26 April 2022. If you have any other questions, or would like a copy of the CFO Forum slides, please contact the Charging Policy Team on (02) 6215 3451 or chargingpolicy@finance.gov.au.

The Commonwealth Fraud Prevention Centre in the Attorney-General's Department has recently completed a project to create a Commonwealth Fraud Risk Profile. To develop this Profile, the Commonwealth Fraud Prevention Centre gathered and analysed enterprise-level fraud risk data from across 15 Australian Government entities. This enabled the Centre to analyse and map common elements of fraud, such as risk categories, enablers and mitigations across the Australian Government.

The Profile is like a fraud risk register for the Australian Government, including common categories of risks and mitigations. This is something that has never existed before, and will unlock new opportunities for entities to:

• collectively mitigate fraud risks and respond to emerging threats and capability gaps
• prioritise existing resources and capability through better visibility and understanding of the fraud risks, including shared risks and emerging threats
• create more consistent recording and reporting of fraud risk across the Australian Government through the use of common reporting categories
• help improve the evidence base of the extent and impacts of fraud.

Examples of how you can use the profile

Here are a couple of ways entities might benefit from the Profile:

1. Reference point for Enterprise Fraud Risk Assessments – Built on analysis of enterprise fraud risk data from across 15 Australian Government entities, the profile provides an excellent starting point for those looking to build their enterprise fraud risk assessments using a top-down approach. This can then support them to undertake Strategic Fraud Risk Profiling and prioritise detailed fraud risk assessments in their highest risk functions and operations. The results of these activities can then further inform and validate the enterprise fraud risk assessment.
    
2. More consistent reporting categories – One of the limitations the Centre encountered during this project was the divergent approaches used by entities to capture and report on fraud risks at the enterprise level. By referencing the Profile, entities can ensure their approaches to recording and reporting fraud risks are consistent with other entities across the Australian Government. This more consistent reporting will help the Commonwealth Fraud Prevention Centre improve the evidence base of the extent and impacts of fraud.

If you work for an Australian Government entity you can request a copy of the Profile by emailing info@counterfraud.gov.au.

The review of the 2022 Commonwealth Risk Management Policy is currently being finalised. Comcover recently began consultation for recommendation one of the Commonwealth Risk Management Policy: Establishment of a Commonwealth Risk Management Framework. Meetings were recently held with entities with policy responsibility for different sources of risk across the APS such Fraud, Cyber, Climate, Legal and People. These consultations will help shape the initial design of the Framework and Comcover will continue to consult with these entities to finalise the Framework before sharing it more broadly.

For more information please contact riskpolicyreview@finance.gov.au.

Comcover Education Program

The 2022 Comcover Education Program is open for enrolments.

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.

Due to the success of our virtual workshops Comcover will continue running virtual workshops to allow everyone to participate across the country as well as our face to face workshops run in Canberra.

Our workshops for the remainder of 2022 are:

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.

Remember next year the new Commonwealth Risk Management Policy will be rolled out so this is a great opportunity to engage with your Executive and entity staff and encourage them to prepare for the new policy by undertaking some valuable Risk Management Training.

Have you joined the Annual Reports GovTEAMS community?

The Digital Annual Reporting Team hosts a community which provides useful information, support and training material on how annual report coordinators can use the Digital Annual Reporting Tool to produce and publish their annual report.

To join the community email digitalannualreportproject@finance.gov.au.