PGPA Newsletter 84

A reminder that the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Finance Minister to Accountable Authorities of Non-Corporate Commonwealth Entities) Delegation 2022 commenced on 1 September 2022. The new delegation applies to accountable authorities of non‑corporate Commonwealth entities (NCE) under the PGPA Act and Rule and repeals and replaces the delegation of the previous Finance Minister.

Accountable authorities of NCEs will need to have made new internal delegations for their entities from 1 September to reflect the new Finance Minister’s delegation.

A copy of the new delegation instrument, together with the current delegation instrument, is available on Finance’s PGPA legislation, associated instruments and policies page.

Please contact PGPA@finance.gov.au if you have any queries.

Updates have been made to the Audit Committee Disclosure Requirements FAQs available on the Finance website based on the 2020-21 annual reports, to assist Commonwealth entities and companies to meet their reporting obligations. These updates concern how to report the audit committee charter and shared audit committees.

The Audit Committee Disclosure Requirements FAQs can be found here.

If you have any feedback or queries in relation to the FAQs please email us at PGPA@finance.gov.au.

Given that the 2021-22 financial year recently ended we thought it would be timely to remind corporate Commonwealth entities (CCE) of their obligations under section 44 of the PGPA Act with regards to the auditing of subsidiaries. Note that the operation of section 44 is only triggered if the subsidiary of a CCE produces financial statements (either because they are legally required to do so or because they voluntarily decide to produce financial statements).

The legal requirement for a subsidiary to produce financial statements will be found outside the PGPA Act and not all subsidiaries will be legally required to produce financial statements.

Subsection 44(2) requires that accountable authorities of CCEs must ensure that the financial statements of the CCE’s subsidiaries for a reporting period are audited. Subsection 44(3) requires that (subject to some exceptions) subsidiaries’ financial statements be audited by the Auditor‑General. Subsection 44(5) requires that the accountable authority of the CCE must give the report of the auditor to the responsible Minister (whether or not the auditor is the Auditor-General), together with a copy of the subsidiary’s financial statements.

Please contact PGPA@finance.gov.au if you have any queries.

A new Flipchart and List of PGPA Act Commonwealth entities and companies was issued on 5 September 2022. The updates to both the Flipchart and the List reflect recent amendments to the PGPA Rule and legislation passed in Parliament as outlined below.

PGPA Rule amendments, NRRA and NEMA
The Finance Minister has approved amendments to the PGPA Rule to reflect the Government’s decision to abolish the Commonwealth entity, the National Recovery and Resilience Agency (NRRA), and replace it with a new non-corporate Commonwealth entity, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), incorporating the functions of the NRRA and the Emergency Management Australia group in the Department of Home Affairs. The Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Amendment (Emergency Management Entities) Rules 2022 amend Schedule 1 of the PGPA Rule to:

• Repeal the clause which prescribes the NRRA as a listed entity (a type of non-corporate Commonwealth entity) for the purposes of the PGPA Act, effective on 3 September 2022; and
• Insert a new clause effective on 1 September 2022, prescribing the NEMA as a listed entity for the PGPA Act including setting out its new purposes for the finance law.

The updates to the Flipchart and List show the PGPA Rule amendments by removing the NRRA from the Home Affairs portfolio and adding the NEMA to the Home Affairs portfolio.

Independent Hospital Pricing Authority
Consistent with the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response) Act 2022, the entry for the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority in the Flipchart and the List has been updated to the “Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority” to align with its name as prescribed in the National Health Reform Act 2011.

Further detail on this update is available in the Table of Changes for 2022-23. Here are the latest versions of the Flipchart and its associated List of Commonwealth entities and companies.

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

On 21 August 2022 the new Secretary of the Department of Finance, Jenny Wilkinson PSM, signed the Finance Secretary Direction – Requirements for performance information included in Portfolio Budget Statements. There have been no changes made to the Direction since the previous version.

This Direction is made under subsection 36(3) of the PGPA Act and can be found on the Finance website. The Direction has effect for the 25 October 2022 Budget.

An RMG is available on the Finance website to assist entities to meet the requirements of the Direction, RMG-129 Reporting performance information in portfolio budget statements. In particular, RMG-129 provides information on the requirement to report key activities in current corporate plans that programs relate to and clarifies the existing requirement to report linked programs. In most cases the current corporate plan is the 2022-23 corporate plan.

The RMG should be read in conjunction with Portfolio Budget Statement Guidance prepared for the 25 October 2022 Budget. This provides the performance reporting template adapted for this Budget.

If you have questions about the Direction or template contact us at PGPA@finance.gov.au.

As it is peak Annual Report time, the Digital Annual Reporting Tool provider, MasterDocs, will have extended support hours from Monday 12 September 2022. Where you require assistance with the Digital Annual Reporting Tool, the support desk will be open from 7am to 8pm Monday to Friday. Please contact MasterDocs by email at support@masterdocs.com.au.

For all other digital annual report enquiries, please contact Digital Annual Reporting team at DigitalAnnualReportProject@finance.gov.au, or by the team’s GovTEAMS channel.

The Department of Finance is establishing a Commonwealth Evaluation Community of Practice (CoP) to help embed a culture of evaluation and learning from experience to underpin evidence-based policy and delivery. The CoP is open to all Commonwealth officials with a role or an interest in evaluation.

The CoP aims to bring together people who have a desire to work collaboratively to learn, share and build the evaluation capability of its members. A key objective is to provide a networking mechanisms to help embed the Commonwealth Evaluation Policy (the Policy) and the Evaluation Toolkit (RMG-130), by creating opportunities for colleagues from across the Commonwealth to share perspectives and experiences about how the Policy and Toolkit are being operationalised in different contexts.

The CoP will operate under a hybrid model, including both online and face-to-face communication and engagement methods.

To become a member, please complete the member registration questionnaire.

If you have any queries in relation to the CoP, or would like to see the Terms of Reference before registering, please contact us at PGPA@finance.gov.au.

An updated Portfolio Charging Review (PCR) Schedule was published on 17 August 2022 on the Finance website. This updated schedule reflects the recent Machinery of Government changes and accommodates portfolios that would otherwise have a PCR scheduled in 2022. All other portfolios listed in the schedule after 2023 have had their PCRs pushed out by one year.

As part of the Australian Government Charging Framework, Departments of State and their portfolio entities are required to review charging activities on a rolling five-year basis, in accordance with the published schedule.

PCRs provide an opportunity to examine charging arrangements, propose changes to existing charging activities and identify new charging opportunities across the portfolio.

For any queries or if you need assistance regarding PCRs, please contact us at chargingpolicy@finance.gov.au.

The Minister for Finance has approved the Commonwealth Risk Management Policy (the Policy) which will come into effect on 1 January 2023. The Policy will be published on the Department of Finance website shortly. We will also be communicating the release of the Policy through various newsletters and relevant communities of practice.

Key changes in the 2023 Policy include:

• consolidation and prioritisation of the existing elements;
• the introduction of an element on control effectiveness;
• the introduction of an element on emerging risks; and
• simplified and more direct language.

Finance is also in the final stages of updating the companion guide to the Policy, Guide to Implementing the Commonwealth Risk Management Policy (RMG-211).

This will also be released shortly along with case studies, information sheets and microbites on emerging risks, control effectiveness, and shared risk.

The update to the Policy has been a significant collaborative effort. We would like to thank all of you who contributed to the review with your ideas and feedback which helped to strengthen the Policy.

If you would like further information, or would like to be emailed the Policy in advance of it being published, please get in touch with us at riskpolicyreview@finance.gov.au. 

Did you know that Finance has a PGPA eLearning program available?

The program is a self-learning tool aimed at Commonwealth officials.

The course will empower you with the knowledge to understand and work with the Commonwealth Resource

Management Framework and to understand your responsibilities under the PGPA Act and Rule.