Under subsection 63(2) of the Public Service Act 1999, annual reports must be prepared according to guidelines approved on behalf of the Parliament by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA).
The JCPAA approved the Requirements for annual reports for departments, executive agencies and FMA Act bodies on 28 June 2012. These requirements apply to annual reports for the financial year ending on or after 30 June 2012. The requirements stipulate a core set of mandatory information that must be included in annual reports to ensure that accountability requirements are met and to provide consistency for readers.
The following table shows where the information specified by the requirements can be found in this report.
| Part of report | Description |
|---|---|
| Letter of transmittal | |
| Table of contents | |
| Index | |
| Glossary | |
| Contact officer | |
| Internet home page address and internet address for report | |
| Review by secretary | |
| Review by departmental secretary | |
| Summary of significant issues and developments | |
| Overview of department’s performance and financial results | |
| Outlook for following year | |
| Significant issues and developments—portfolio | |
| Departmental overview | |
| Role and functions | |
| Organisational structure | |
| Outcome and program structure | |
| Where outcome and program structures differ from PB Statements/PAES or other portfolio statements accompanying any other additional appropriation bills (other portfolio statements), details of variation and reasons for change | |
| Portfolio structure | |
| Performance reporting | |
Review of performance during the year in relation to programs and contribution to outcomes |
|
| Outcome 1 | |
| Outcome 2 | |
| Outcome 3 | |
| Actual performance in relation to deliverables and key performance indicators set out in PB/PAES or other portfolio statements | |
| Outcome 1 | |
| Outcome 2 | |
| Outcome 3 | |
| Where performance targets differ from the PBS/ PAES, details of both former and new targets, and reasons for the change | |
| Narrative discussion and analysis of performance | |
| Outcome 1 | |
| Outcome 2 | |
| Outcome 3 | |
| Trend information | |
| Outcome 1 | |
| Outcome 2 | |
| Outcome 3 | |
| Significant changes in nature of principal functions/services | |
| Performance of purchaser/provider arrangements | |
| Factors, events or trends influencing departmental performance | |
| Contribution of risk management in achieving objectives | |
| Social inclusion outcomes | |
| Performance against service charter customer service standards, complaints data, and the department’s response to complaints | |
| Discussion and analysis of the department’s financial performance | |
| Discussion of any significant changes from the prior year or from budget or anticipated to have a significant impact on future operations | |
| Agency resource statement and summary resource tables by outcomes: | |
| Outcome 1 | |
| Outcome 2 | |
| Outcome 3 | |
| Operational reporting | |
| Corporate governance | |
| Agency heads are required to certify that their agency comply with the Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines | |
| Statement of the main corporate governance practices in place | |
| Names of the senior executive and their responsibilities | |
| Senior management committees and their roles | |
| Corporate and operational planning and associated performance reporting and review | |
| Approach adopted to identifying areas of significant financial or operational risk | |
| Policy and practices on the establishment and maintenance of appropriate ethical standards | |
| How nature and amount of remuneration for SES officers is determined | |
| External scrutiny | |
| Significant developments in external scrutiny | |
| Judicial decisions and decisions of administrative tribunals | |
| Reports by the Auditor-General, a parliamentary committee or the Commonwealth Ombudsman | |
| Human resource management | |
| Assessment of effectiveness in managing and developing human resources to achieve departmental objectives | |
| Workforce planning, staff turnover and retention | |
| Impact and features of enterprise or collective agreements, individual flexibility arrangements (IFAs), determinations, common law contracts and AWAs | |
| Training and development undertaken and its impact | |
| Work health and safety performance | |
| Productivity gains | |
| Statistics on staffing | |
| Enterprise or collective agreements, IFAs, determinations, common law contracts and AWAs | |
| Performance pay | |
| Asset management | Assessment of effectiveness of assets management |
| Purchasing | Assessment of purchasing against core policies and principles |
| Consultants | The annual report must include a summary statement detailing the number of new consultancy services contracts let during the year; the total actual expenditure on all new consultancy contracts let during the year (inclusive of GST); the number of ongoing consultancy contracts that were active in the reporting year; and the total actual expenditure in the reporting year on the ongoing consultancy contracts (inclusive of GST). The annual report must include a statement noting that information on contracts and consultancies is available through the AusTender website |
| Australian National Audit Office Access clauses | Absence of provisions in contracts allowing access by the Auditor-General |
| Exempt contracts | Contracts exempt from the AusTender |
| Financial statements | Financial statements |
| Other mandatory information | |
| Work health and safety (Work Health and Safety Act 2011) | |
| Advertising and market research (section 311A of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918) and statement on advertising campaigns | |
| Ecologically sustainable development and environmental performance (section 516A of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999) | |
| Compliance with the agency’s obligations under the Carer Recognition Act 2010 | |
| Grant programs | |
| Disability reporting – explicit and transparent reference to agency‑level information available through other reporting mechanisms | |
| Information Publication Scheme statement | |
| Correction of material errors in previous annual report | |
| List of requirements | |