Published Date
- Amendments to the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 (PGPA Rule)
- UPDATED: RMG-206 Accountable Authority Instructions (AAIs)
- Annual Reports - feedback
- Upcoming review of the Australian Government Charging Framework
- The 2025 Commonwealth Awards for Excellence in Risk Management Winners
- Comcover’s 2026 risk management education program
Amendments to the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 (PGPA Rule)
The Minister for Finance has made an amendment to the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 (PGPA Rule), titled the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Amendment (Minor and Technical Measures) Rules 2025.
This amendment makes minor technical corrections to paragraph 18A(1)(d) and subsection 27(8) of the PGPA Rule, which commenced on 6 December 2025.
This amendment also repeals clause 4 of Schedule 1 to the PGPA Rule, abolishing the Australian National Preventive Health Agency (ANPHA) as a listed entity, a type of non-corporate Commonwealth entity, from 1 January 2026. The abolishment of ANPHA aligns with the commencement of the legislative package establishing the Australian Centre for Disease Control as a non-corporate Commonwealth entity.
Further detail on the policy rationale for this amendment can be found in the explanatory memorandum relevant to the Australian Centre for Disease Control (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Act 2025.
A new version of the Flipchart of PGPA Act Commonwealth entities and companies will be issued in the week commencing 5 January 2026.
For more information, please contact PGPA@finance.gov.au.
UPDATED: RMG-206 Accountable Authority Instructions (AAIs)
Minor amendments have been made to the Model Accountable Authority Instructions available as part of RMG-206 Accountable Authority Instructions (AAIs).
Model AAIs are templates designed by Finance to help accountable authorities provide operational instructions to their officials under section 20A of the PGPA Act. The Model AAIs for non-corporate Commonwealth entities (NCEs) and Model AAIs for corporate Commonwealth entities (CCEs) address core business topics and are not mandatory for accountable authorities to follow. The templates enable accountable authorities to change the Model AAIs to suit the needs of their entity.
The Model AAIs contain four sections:
Model AAIs are templates designed by Finance to help accountable authorities provide operational instructions to their officials under section 20A of the PGPA Act. The Model AAIs for non-corporate Commonwealth entities (NCEs) and Model AAIs for corporate Commonwealth entities (CCEs) address core business topics and are not mandatory for accountable authorities to follow. The templates enable accountable authorities to change the Model AAIs to suit the needs of their entity.
The Model AAIs contain four sections:
- an introduction to help officials determine whether the instructions are relevant to their activities or actions;
- the model instructions (text in grey boxes) on the core requirements of the topic;
- suggestions for additional instructions (text in italics) that may be included where relevant to suit an entity’s specific needs;
- links to relevant legislative requirements, policy, and guidance.
The updated templates, as well as versions with changes in markup, can be found on RMG-206. Detail on the changes is included below:
Model AAIs for NCEs
- Commonwealth credit cards and credit vouchers
- New advice that gift cards/vouchers must be treated as relevant property rather than relevant money.
- Implications of the above with regards to section 66 of the PGPA Act (gifting) and gift cards/vouchers.
- Fraud control (now Fraud and Corruption control)
- Updated to reflect the addition of corruption to the Fraud Rule (section 10 in the PGPA Rule) and the content of the Commonwealth Fraud and Corruption Framework 2024.
- Managing debts and amounts owing to the Commonwealth
- New advice on the interaction between collective agreements that prohibit the charging of interest in relation to the repayment of benefits provided under the collective agreement and interest charged in relation to payment by instalments.
- Grants
- Changes to reflect the introduction of the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Principles 2024.
- Indemnities, guarantees and warranties
- New paragraph on how certain types of legal assistance can amount to an indemnity for the purposes of section 60 of the PGPA Act.
- Procurement
- Changes to reflect changes made to the Commonwealth Procurement Rules that took effect on 17 November 2025.
- Throughout the template
- Updated links.
Model AAIs for CCEs
- Fraud control (now Fraud and Corruption control)
- Updated to reflect the addition of corruption to the Fraud Rule (section 10 in the PGPA Rule) and the content of the Commonwealth Fraud and Corruption Framework 2024.
- Grants
- Updated to reflect the introduction of the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Principles 2024 and changes to Division 6A of part 2-4 of the PGPA Rule.
- Indemnities, guarantees and warranties
- New material on section 22B of the PGPA Rule.
- Procurement
- Changes to reflect changes made to the Commonwealth Procurement Rules that took effect on 17 November 2025.
- Throughout the template
- Updated links.
We intend to seek feedback from entities on the form and utility of the Model AAIs in the new year to inform a broader review to ensure the Model AAIs are a useful tool for entities.
If you have any questions on these changes, please contact PGPA@finance.gov.au.
Annual Reports - feedback
Thank you to everyone who has provided feedback on the Digital Annual Reporting Tool (DART) and the Transparency Portal this year through the 2024-25 DART Survey, the Transparency Portal User Group, and other mechanisms.
Your responses to the DART Survey are helping us pinpoint what’s working and where we can improve. In addition, the Transparency Portal User Group continues to play a vital role is shaping new features and user experience enhancements. Thank you to those who participated in the recent User Experience Research session.
Please continue to reach out to the team if you would like to provide feedback.
If you have any questions about PGPA annual reports, the DART or the Transparency Portal please contact DAR@finance.gov.au.
Your responses to the DART Survey are helping us pinpoint what’s working and where we can improve. In addition, the Transparency Portal User Group continues to play a vital role is shaping new features and user experience enhancements. Thank you to those who participated in the recent User Experience Research session.
Please continue to reach out to the team if you would like to provide feedback.
If you have any questions about PGPA annual reports, the DART or the Transparency Portal please contact DAR@finance.gov.au.
Upcoming review of the Australian Government Charging Framework
The Department of Finance will soon be undertaking a review of the Australian Government Charging Framework to identify opportunities to simplify terminology and requirements, making the framework easier for entities to understand and apply.
Finance will seek feedback on the review from all Commonwealth Portfolios and entities in early 2026. This will be via Chief Financial Officers and through the Charging Community of Practice.
For any question on the review, please contact ChargingPolicy@finance.gov.au.
Finance will seek feedback on the review from all Commonwealth Portfolios and entities in early 2026. This will be via Chief Financial Officers and through the Charging Community of Practice.
For any question on the review, please contact ChargingPolicy@finance.gov.au.
The 2025 Commonwealth Awards for Excellence in Risk Management Winners
The 2025 Commonwealth Awards for Excellence in Risk Management were held on Thursday, 11 December 2025.
These awards raise awareness of the significance of risk management across the Commonwealth by highlighting best practice risk management, rewarding those entities that exhibit excellence in risk management thinking and practice.
The Australian Taxation Office is this year’s enterprise-wide category winner.
These awards raise awareness of the significance of risk management across the Commonwealth by highlighting best practice risk management, rewarding those entities that exhibit excellence in risk management thinking and practice.
The Australian Taxation Office is this year’s enterprise-wide category winner.
- The Australian Communications and Media Authority received Highly Commended and
- The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations earned an Honourable Mention.
In the risk initiative category, the winner is Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency.
Honourable Mentions went to:
- The Department of Home Affairs and
- The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
For more information on these awards, please visit Commonwealth Awards for Excellence in Risk Management 2025.
Comcover’s 2026 risk management education program
The Department of Finance offers risk and insurance education to all Commonwealth officials.
The 2026 program kicks off with a series of workshops running from February to June.
Places are filling up fast, please register on APS Learn to secure your spot.
Comcover's education program offers targeted learning solutions across four pathways to help learners acquire essential knowledge and skills for their role.
The 2026 program kicks off with a series of workshops running from February to June.
Places are filling up fast, please register on APS Learn to secure your spot.
Comcover's education program offers targeted learning solutions across four pathways to help learners acquire essential knowledge and skills for their role.
- Foundation: All Commonwealth officials, regardless of level or role, need to understand basic risk management concepts and how risk is managed within the Commonwealth.
- Generalist: Officials whose roles require them to engage with and apply their entity’s risk management framework to achieve outcomes.
- Specialist: These professionals design, implement, and embed their entity’s risk management framework, ensuring Generalists and Executives meet their responsibilities.
- Senior Executive Service level: Assist SES to recognise key and emerging risks and demonstrate risk leadership by fostering a positive risk culture in their entity and across the Commonwealth.
For more information on these workshops, please email comcover@comcover.com.au or call 1800 651 540 (option 2).
