10.1 Reporting requirements

Part 5 of the Financial Management Standard 1997 (which is subordinate legislation under Part 4 of the FAA Act) deals with corporate governance issues. Government Boards are to comply with this Standard. The purpose of Part 5 is to state the responsibilities of accountable officers and statutory bodies for the following aspects of corporate management:

• internal control structure;
• systems appraisals;
• internal audit functions;
• risk management;
• delegations;
• reportable gifts; and
• audit committees.

The FAA Act also specifies that statutory bodies must prepare annual financial statements within two months of the end of the financial year (or as agreed with the Auditor-General) which must be certified by the chairperson of the statutory authority and are subject to an audit by the Auditor-General. Statutory bodies are also required to furnish to the appropriate Minister an annual report within four months of the end of the financial year. Ministers are responsible for tabling such reports in the Legislative Assembly. The Minister may extend the four month period by written notice.

Each financial year the Auditor-General must audit all 'public sector entities' except for certain public sector entities which are exempted under a specific regulation pursuant to section 74 of the FAA Act. The FAA Act defines 'public sector entity' as a department, local government, statutory body or a controlled entity of a department, local government or statutory body. The FAA Act also allows for the Legislative Assembly, by resolution, to request the Auditor-General to conduct an audit of a matter relating to the financial administration of a public sector entity. Further, the Auditor-General may audit an entity that is not a public sector entity at the request of a Minister or a public sector entity however, only if the entity agrees to the audit.

In auditing the public accounts, the Auditor-General must ascertain whether or not, in the Auditor-General's opinion:

• proper accounts were properly kept in accordance with law;
• procedures applied were in accordance with the prescribed requirements and were adequate to ensure proper control and safeguards were exercised over the collection, custody, banking, withdrawal, issue of, and accounting for, public moneys;
• public moneys received on account of, or paid out of, the public accounts were credited to, or charged to, the appropriate fund;
• withdrawals from the public accounts were made for lawful and appropriate purposes;
• proper safeguards were followed to prevent fraud and mistake; and
• the requirements of the law relating to public moneys were complied with in all material respects.

The establishment of Government Owned Corporations (GOCs) - ie. the corporatisation process - has been the main public sector reform in Queensland in recent years, commencing with the corporatisation of several entities in mid 1994.

Last reviewed: 17 July, 2009

Last updated: 22 July, 2009

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