The overarching purpose of annual reports is to inform the Parliament and the public about the achievements, non-financial performance and financial position of Commonwealth entities and companies at the end of each reporting year.
Annual report principles
When corporate Commonwealth entities are preparing an annual report, they should consider the following principles. An annual report should:
Be written in plain English and provide sufficient information and analysis for the Parliament to make a fully informed judgement on the entity’s performance. | Align with the overall Commonwealth resource management framework, Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act), Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 (PGPA Rule) and the Commonwealth performance framework. | Show the relationship between the reporting requirements within government (including corporate plans, Portfolio Budget Statements and other portfolio statements accompanying any other additional appropriation bills), and between the government and non‑government sectors. |
Accountable authorities have discretion as to the extent of information to include in annual reports and the sequence in which it is presented. The requirements for information set out in the PGPA Rule must be met.
