CONTENTS
- Changes to the PGPA Flipchart and List - 3 July 2023
- The New Digital Annual Reporting Tool
- The Australian Government Charging Framework has been refreshed and digitally enhanced
- APS Net Zero Emissions Reporting Tool
- Updates to RMG-128
- 2023 Comcover Education Program
- Minor Update to the Commonwealth Procurement Rules
- Tip of the Month
Changes to the PGPA Flipchart and List - 3 July 2023
A new Flipchart and List of PGPA Act Commonwealth entities and companies was issued on 3 July 2023. The updates to both the Flipchart and the List reflect recent changes to current Commonwealth entities and companies for the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act).
Commonwealth entities added to the Flipchart and List
The update to the PGPA Flipchart includes the creation of 2 new non-corporate Commonwealth entities (NCEs) and 1 new corporate Commonwealth entity (CCE):
- Australian Submarine Agency (NCE), created by an amendment to Schedule 1 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 (PGPA Rule) as a result of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Amendment (2023 Measures No. 3) Rules 2023, from 1 July 2023,
- National Anti-Corruption Commission (NCE), created by the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2022 from 1 July 2023,
- High Speed Rail Authority (CCE), created by the High Speed Rail Authority Act 2022 from 12 June 2023.
Commonwealth entities and a Company removed from the Flipchart and List
2 Commonwealth entities and 1 Commonwealth company have been abolished:
- Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (NCE), abolished by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2022 from 1 July 2023,
- National Faster Rail Agency (NCE), abolished by an amendment to Schedule 1 of the PGPA Rule as a result of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Amendment (2023 Measures No. 2) Rules 2023 from 12 June 2022,
- Creative Partnerships Australia Ltd (Commonwealth company), deregistered by the Australia Council Amendment (Creative Australia) Act 2023 from 1 July 2023.
The update to the Flipchart also includes an amendment to the name of the CCE, Australia Council, which may now also operate under the name ‘Creative Australia’ as a result of changes made by the Australia Council Amendment (Creative Australia Act) 2023.
Additional changes to the PGPA Act List include an update to the accountable authority of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) as a result of the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Act 2023, which changes the name from ‘the Director’ to ‘the Chief Executive Officer’ of the WGEA.
Further detail on this update is available in the Table of Changes for 2023-24. 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.
The New Digital Annual Reporting Tool
The development of a new Digital Annual Reporting Tool (DART) has progressed significantly and Finance is pleased to announce the first release today (3 July 2023).
This release will be an opportunity for the annual reporting community (community) to provide feedback on the ongoing development of the DART.
Ongoing development of the DART is part of Finance’s vision for the future of performance reporting and the Digital Reporting team is excited to bring you the next step. With the community's continued engagement, we are optimistic that the DART will keep getting better. The new DART offers the potential for greater reusability of information in the preparation of annual reports and the ability to link between, as well as within, annual reports and other performance reporting.
Finance will keep working with the community, and with other Australian government initiatives, to create a future-facing digital system for annual reports that relies on reusable content and data.
Important links
Online training for the new DART is now available. Access the training at https://training.transparency.gov.au.
Introductory training sessions are also being run to support the online training. The first two weeks are already booked out. We will be advertising more sessions soon.
Please contact the Digital Reporting team at dar@finance.gov.au as soon as possible if you have not yet nominated users for the new DART.
Engagement with the annual reporting community of practice occurs through the Digital Annual Reports GovTEAMS Community. We will be announcing the next meeting soon so please make sure you are a GovTEAMS member to attend.
If you have any Annual Report queries or experience issues joining the Digital Annual Reports GovTEAMS Community, please email us at dar@finance.gov.au.
The Australian Government Charging Framework has been refreshed and digitally enhanced
The Australian Government Charging Framework has been digitally enhanced and is supported by the following resource management guide (RMG) and two policies. The new format provides a user-friendly and clearer language guide to the Charging Framework and offers easy to use tools and templates. Please note, no policy requirements have changed.
- The new Implementing the Charging Framework RMG 302 and policies do not introduce any new or changed requirements, as there are no changes to the existing policies.
- The new enhanced RMG 302 replaces the previous RMG 302 – Australian Government Charging Framework and provides guidance on both charging policies.
- Australian Government Cost Recovery Policy replaces RMG 304 – Australian Government Cost Recovery Guidelines. No requirements under this policy have changed, the title has changed to better reflect the conent.
- The Australian Government Charging policy, no requirements under this policy have changed.
If the updated Charging content is not appearing for you, or if the “Last updated” date does not say 21 June 2023, please press F5 to refresh the page.
If you have any feedback on this RMG and related policies, or need further information in relation to these updates, please contact us at ChargingPolicy@finance.gov.au.
APS Net Zero Emissions Reporting Tool
Earlier in May the APS Net Zero team provided advice around a forthcoming emissions reporting tool to assist entities with their annual reporting obligations in relation to the APS Net Zero program.
The APS Net Zero team is excited to announce that the first iteration of the Emissions Reporting Tool is now available. It can be downloaded from the APS Net Zero 2030 GovTEAMS community.
The team have created a video tutorial on how to use the tool, which goes through column-by-column and provides a detailed explanation of what is required. This is also available on the APS Net Zero 2030 GovTEAMS community.
If you require access to the GovTEAMS community, please contact the APS Net Zero team at APSnetzero@finance.gov.au.
Next steps
Where data is available via the Department of Finance and the Whole of Australia Government procurements, the APS Net Zero team will be pre-filling the tool with the entity’s data and sending this out in the last week of July as discussed with entity representatives at the 7 June APS Net Zero SES Band 1 IDC. This will be distributed in the week of 24 July.
If you have any questions after watching the video, the APS Net Zero team will be holding a live Q&A next Wednesday 5 July, 12:00-12:45 PM. The session will be recorded for those unable to attend.
For any queries regarding the tool, please contact the Data and Reporting team in the APS Net Zero Unit at reportinghelpdeskapsnetzero@finance.gov.au.
Updates to RMG-128
- an updated performance expectation framework graphic, and
- simplified the language throughout.
If you have any feedback on our RMG, or require any further information on these updates or content, please contact us at APSRegulatoryReform@finance.gov.au.
2023 Comcover Education Program
The Program consists of four learning pathways designed to increase risk management capability across the Commonwealth. Key features of the Program are eLearning, face-to-face training, access to reference material, and networking.
The Program has been designed to provide tailored training and support across the following four pathways:
Foundation level: All Commonwealth officials, regardless of level or role who are required to understand basic risk management concepts and how risk is managed in the Commonwealth.
Generalist level: Commonwealth officials, regardless of level, whose role requires them to engage with and apply their entity's risk management framework to successfully deliver outcomes. Generalists engage with risk at the activity level and have attained Foundation level capability.
Specialist level: Job role specialists who are required to design, implement and embed an entity's risk management and insurance framework. Specialists facilitate generalists and executives to fulfil their risk management responsibilities.
SES Professional Development Program: Senior Executive Service officials whose role requires them to communicate the acceptable levels of risk that are appropriate to their entity's profile, allocate resources and model the adoption of risk management policies, strategies and best practice in their entity.
The remainder of our 2023 workshop calendar is below:
| Generalist Practical Risk Management | Specialist Embedding Risk Management |
Executive A Strategic Perspective to Managing Risk |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd August (Virtual) | 19th July (Day 1) 30th August (Day 2) | 29th August |
| 16th August | 20th and 21st September (Virtual) | 10th October (Virtual) |
| 18th October (Virtual) | 12th October (Day 1) 23rd November (Day 2) | 22nd November |
| 1st November | 15th and 16th November (Virtual) | 12th December (Virtual) |
To learn more about enrolling in these workshops and accessing Comcover Education opportunities please visit Education | Department of Finance or call 1800 651 540 and select Option 2.
Minor Update to the Commonwealth Procurement Rules
A minor update has been made to the Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs), which came into effect from Tuesday, 13 June 2023.
The update was limited to listing a new entity, the High Speed Rail Authority, in paragraph 3.7 of the CPRs (regarding procurement and reporting thresholds). No other material changes were made.
The new version of the CPRs can be found the Department of Finance website.
Tip of the Month
Join the new Commonwealth Performance Framework Community of Practice for future Performance related news and information.
