What are annual performance statements?

At the end of each reporting period, Commonwealth entities must prepare an annual report for presentation to the Parliament by the entity’s responsible Minister.

The annual report must include, among other matters, the annual performance statements for the entity which must comply with any requirements of the Public Governance Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 (PGPA Rule) including section 16F.

The annual performance statements address the non-financial performance of an entity and must provide information about the entity’s performance in achieving its purposes.

Requirements under section 16F(1) of the PGPA Rule

Section 16F of the PGPA Rule requires the accountable authority of the entity to measure and assess the entity’s performance in achieving the entity’s purposes in the reporting period. This must be done in accordance with the method of measuring and assessing the entity’s performance that was set out in the entity’s: 

• corporate plan
• Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS)
• Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements (PAES), and
• any other portfolio estimates statements (for example, Portfolio Supplementary Additional Estimates Statements (PSAES).
   

For the purposes of this guidance, any reference to performance information in an entity’s PBS includes a reference to their performance information in their PAES or any other portfolio estimates statements for the same reporting period. This guidance focuses on the measuring and assessing performance information in corporate plans and the PBS as performance information is typically only outlined in these documents.

An entity’s annual performance statements should report the actual results achieved against the performance measures and planned results, including targets where set, for the entity in its corporate plan and PBS.

The annual performance statements are intended to complete the cycle of performance reporting that commenced at the start of the reporting period with the PBS which typically occurs in May, and the corporate plan (typically 31 August) and is required to be given to the responsible Minister by 15 October the following year.

The measurement and assessment of performance relates only to that particular reporting period, even though the corporate plan sets out how the entity’s performance will be measured and assessed over a minimum of 4 reporting periods covered by the plan. For example, the 2024–25 annual performance statements measure and assess the performance information from the 2024–25 PBS and corporate plan.

While entities have discretion in determining the content of these statements, entities are encouraged to present their annual performance statements in a concise way and to use cross-references to other information included in the annual report where an entity wishes to expand on aspects of its performance.  

For further information on annual reports, refer to section 46 of the PGPA Act, RMG-135 Annual report for non-corporate Commonwealth entities and RMG-136 Annual report for Commonwealth entities available in the right-hand menu under Resource Management Guides.
 

Entities with enabling legislation

A number of entities are subject to legislative requirements for the preparation of their annual reports under their enabling legislation or legislation they administer. The PGPA Act does not alter the operational independence of entities as set out in their legislation. This guidance discusses the matters to be included in the annual performance statements prepared under section 39 of the PGPA Act. The guidance recognises that relevant entities will also include any matters in their annual reports prescribed by their enabling legislation and legislation they administer.

Legislation administered by entities should also be considered in the context of preparation of their annual reports. 

Entities have the flexibility to structure their annual performance statements in a way that provides the best approach to communicating the entity’s performance.

Entities are encouraged to expand or add information beyond this structure to suit individual circumstances in order to clearly convey the entity’s performance against each performance measure.

Generally speaking, an entity’s annual performance statements should be clear, concise, and balanced, including through clear design and the use of headings. The presentation of an entity’s performance should be done in a consistent manner and in such a way so the reader is able to obtain a clear understanding of:

the overall achievement of an entity's purposes

an entity's performance against each individual performance measure, including each target

the factors that may have contributed to the entity's performance.

Location within the annual report

Annual performance statements should be easy to locate within an entity’s annual report. It is good practice to identify annual performance statements as a separate chapter or section with the heading ‘Annual performance statements’. A reference to this chapter or section in the table of contents is also preferable. Also, the list of requirements contained within the annual report must indicate the location of the annual performance statements within the annual report. 

Annual performance statements should include information that demonstrates the connection between the corporate plan, PBS and annual performance statements to enable a ‘clear read’ across the three documents.

To achieve this, entities may wish to include a diagram demonstrating how the performance information maps across the documents, or page number references to the corresponding information in corporate plans and the PBS.

It is good practice for entities to set out the discussion of the achievement of performance in their annual performance statements in the same order as the corporate plan, reinforcing the connection between the documents. Each performance measure should also be expressed in a consistent way to aid the clear read between its planned performance information and performance results.

Where an entity changes performance measures in either its PBS and/or its corporate plan, entities should include the detail of and rationale for each change in their annual performance statements.
 

Changes to performance measures since the PBS

Entities may make changes to their performance measures since the PBS, in their corresponding corporate plan. Changes to performance measures since the PBS typically reflect: 

• changes to an entity’s operating environment since the PBS, such as machinery of government changes, with functions transferring in and/or out of their entity, or
• improvements to performance measures following a review of the appropriateness and meaningfulness of the measures since the PBS. 

Any changes to performance measures since the publication of the PBS should be outlined in the corresponding corporate plan. The corporate plan should also include a statement that the performance measures in the plan will be measured and assessed in the corresponding annual performance statements.