- AGOR Quarterly Report - 31 March 2024
- Online Tabling Documents System - trial launched
- Updates to Commonwealth Performance Framework Resource Management Guides
- Updates to Annual Report Resource Management Guides
- Commonwealth Climate Disclosure pilot
- Update to structure.gov.au
- New Corporate Plan reporting expectation for entities that employ under the Public Service Act
- Comcover Renewal Questionnaire 2024-25 Closing Soon
- Risk and Insurance – Education
- Risk and Insurance – Communities of Practice
- Tip of the Month
AGOR Quarterly Report - 31 March 2024
AGOR provides information on the function, composition, origins and other details of Australian Government entities and bodies and is updated on a quarterly basis. The online searchable version of AGOR is located on Directory.gov.au. The Directory is your guide to the structures, organisations and key people in the Australian Government. The Spreadsheet of bodies is also available for download from data.gov.au.
The next Quarterly Report will occur in July 2024.
Please send any questions on AGOR or the datasets to OAR@finance.gov.au.
Online Tabling Documents System - trial launched
OTD is available for trial now on an opt-in basis and will be mandatory under the revised Tabling Guidelines from 8 July 2024.
The number of printed copies of documents to be tabled will be significantly reduced. Information on the number of printed copies will be confirmed shortly.
For more information please refer to the recent Tabling Circular no.1 2024 or email tabling@pmc.gov.au.
Updates to Commonwealth Performance Framework Resource Management Guides
Finance has completed a refresh of the suite of the Commonwealth Performance Framework RMGs. The updates made to each RMG are outlined below and are also included in an alert box on each RMG. Please note, there have been no changes in the performance requirements.
RMG-129 Reporting performance information in Portfolio Budget Statements has been updated to reflect the new budget year and forward estimates reflected in the linked program and performance measures table.
Need Better practice examples?
See the next article for information in relation to Annual Report RMGs!
If you have any feedback on our RMGs or need further information in relation to these updates, please contact us at PGPA@finance.gov.au.
Updates to Annual Report Resource Management Guides
The RMGs have been updated to reflect the revised requirements for the 2023-24 reporting period. The updates made to each RMG are outlined below and are also included in an alert box on each RMG.
RMG-135 Annual reports for non-corporate Commonwealth entities
- Other Highly Paid Staff (OHPS) reporting – the lower threshold has increased to $250,000 to $270,000
- New requirements for Climate Action in Government Operations reporting and a Pilot Commonwealth Climate Disclosure reporting for Departments of State
- Refreshed Data Templates, with updates to the financial performance data templates.
RMG-136 Annual reports for corporate Commonwealth entities
- OHPS reporting – the lower threshold has increased to $250,000 to $270,000
- New requirements for Climate Action in Government Operations reporting
- Refreshed Data Templates, with updates to the financial performance data templates.
RMG-137 Annual reports for Commonwealth companies
- New requirements for Climate Action in Government Operations reporting
- Refreshed Data Templates, with updates to the financial performance data templates.
RMG-138 Commonwealth entities’ executive remuneration reporting guide for annual reports
- Updates have been made to reflect the current annual performance cycle and reporting period.
- OHPS reporting – the lower threshold has increased to $250,000 to $270,000.
The Digital Annual Reporting Team has reached out to Annual Report Coordinators from all PGPA Act entities and companies requesting updated stakeholder contacts and requesting user logon details for the Digital Annual Reporting Tool (DART).
If you were registered in the 2022-23 reporting period, you will need to re-register for access to the DART for 2023-24. Confirmation of when the DART is open for drafting will be shared in the coming weeks.
For any questions on these updates, please contact us at dar@finance.gov.au.
Commonwealth Climate Disclosure pilot
All Departments of State will commence reporting on their climate risk management activities in their 2023-24 annual report against a limited range of criteria.
The Commonwealth Climate Disclosure pilot demonstrates federal government leadership on climate disclosure. It paves the way for other Commonwealth entities to meet the Commonwealth Climate Disclosure requirements as they are brought into full effect in 2024-25.
RMG-135 Annual reports for non-corporate Commonwealth entities has been updated to provide guidance on how departments are to make disclosures under the pilot.
In recognition of the time and capability constraints faced by departments, the Guidance for the pilot has been designed to serve as a realistic stretch for departments in taking their first steps towards making full climate-related disclosures. The pilot also draws on related work on the pillars of Governance, Risk Management and Metrics and targets; leveraging work underway across government, through the Net Zero in Government Operations Strategy, the Commonwealth Emissions Reporting Framework, and the Climate Risk and Opportunity Program and the Commonwealth Risk Management Policy.
Please visit Climate Action in Government Operations or contact us at climateaction@finance.gov.au for further information.
Update to structure.gov.au
Finance holds vast amounts of information on government bodies. To better organise this information so that meaningful and accurate data can be quickly found we have developed structure.gov.au. Supported by information managed in the Finance Knowledge Graph, structure.gov.au will present an increasingly rich picture of the structure of the Australian Government, the activities of government bodies, and the ways in which they change over time.
A new Budget Summary has been added to the site, presenting budget measures and a visualisation of appropriations by portfolio, organisation, and outcome.
Feedback on structure.gov.au can be provided directly to financeknowledgegraph@finance.gov.au or via the Feedback button on the site.
New Corporate Plan reporting expectation for entities that employ under the Public Service Act
The guidance on targets, monitoring and accountability is on the APSC website. It notes:
- By 30 June 2024 entities must identify their core work and set targets to start bringing it back in-house in 2024-25.
- Targets must be reported to the APSC in June-July 2024 via the APS Agency Survey
- Targets should be summarised in each entities 2024-25 corporate plan.
RMG-132 Corporate plans for Commonwealth entities has been updated to include this new guidance.
If you have questions about the Strategic Commissioning Framework, start with the Resources Toolkit on the APSC website.
The APSC is hosting fortnightly drop-in sessions between now and 30 June. Entites are encouraged to register and come along with questions as they work through implementation.
Comcover Renewal Questionnaire 2024-25 Closing Soon
The Questionnaire is used by the Department of Finance to forecast risk exposures to the Comcover Insurance Fund and forms the basis of Comcover premiums charged.
The Questionnaire is currently available in the Comcover Gateway on the Renewal Questionnaire tab. The Comcover Gateway is accessed from the Comcover Launchpad.
For any queries, please contact your Comcover Relationship Manager on 1800 651 540 (option 3) or email comcover@comcover.com.au.
Risk and Insurance – Education
Finance offers risk and insurance education to all Commonwealth officials – free of charge.
Risk education
Finance offers risk education across four different pathways:
- Foundation level: to support Commonwealth officials (in any role) understand basic risk management concepts. This pathway comprises two eLearning courses available through the Comcover Learning Centre
- Generalist level: to support Commonwealth officials (in any role) who are required to engage with and apply their entity’s risks management framework.
- Specialist level: to support Commonwealth officials (in a risk management role) who are required to design, implement and embed their entity’s risk management framework.
- SES level: to support SES officials (in any role) understand and manage risk from a strategic perspective.
Upcoming training sessions for the General, Specialist and SES levels are provided below:
| Generalist level: Practical risk management | Specialist level: Embedding risk management | SES level: A strategic perspective to managing risk |
| 11 June (face-to-face) | 23 July (Day 1) and 29 August (Day 2) (face-to-face) | 28 August (Virtual) |
| 24 July (Virtual) | 19 September (Day 1) and 20 September (Day 2) (Virtual) | 26 September (face-to-face) |
| 13 August (face-to-face) | ||
| 27 September (Virtual) |
For more information on these training sessions please visit Education or call 1800 651 540 (Option 2).
Insurance education
Finance is responsible for managing Comcover, the Australian Government’s self-managed insurance fund. All Commonwealth entities that are subject to the PGPA Act and classified to the General Government Sector are members of the Comcover Fund.
Finance offers induction training to Commonwealth officials who have a role in administering the Comcover insurance arrangements for their entity. This induction training provides an overview of what insurable risks are covered by Comcover, the claims process run reports and how to navigate Comcover’s online portal.
Upcoming face-to-face training sessions in Canberra are provided below:
| Comcover Insurance - Induction Training |
| 20 May |
| 3 July |
| 14 August |
| 24 September |
To register please email comcover@comcover.com.au or call 1800 651 540 (option 2).
Risk and Insurance – Communities of Practice
Upcoming Communities of Practice meetings include:
- Comcover Insurance Community of Practice – Wednesday 22 May 2024
- Commonwealth Risk Managers Forum – Thursday 20 June 2024
Tip of the Month
Do you have feedback on what you would find helpful in our PGPA Newsletter? Let us know!
All suggestions are welcome. Email these through to us at PGPA@finance.gov.au.
