Departmental Financial Performance
With the falling value of the Australian property market because of the global financial crisis, Finance recorded an operating deficit of $49.3 million in 2008-09 compared to an operating surplus of $129.7 million in 2007-08. The department has budgeted for an operating surplus of $24.1 million in 2009-10, an increase of $73.4 million from the 2008-09 actual deficit. This reflects that a further devaluation of the department’s property portfolio is not anticipated in 2009-10. The ANAO audited the department’s financial statements and issued an unqualified audit opinion for these statements on 17 August 2009.