Page 2915 - Week 10 - Thursday, 15 August 1991
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The committee noted that it took almost one to 1 months following the tabling of his report before the Auditor-General received the delegations which he needed. To rectify this, the committee has recommended that financial and personnel delegations be updated to reflect the current administrative arrangements, and that this be finalised as soon as possible.
The Auditor-General's report also commented on the late issuing of financial statement guidelines for both administrative units and statutory authorities. The Auditor-General stated his concern at the lack of knowledge on the part of some statutory authorities of existing or previously applying Commonwealth guidelines and whether changes had occurred and what was the impact of those changes on their organisations. The committee is concerned at the late issuing of initial draft guidelines and, later, of final guidelines for the preparation of financial statements which contributed to the delays in the presentation of final financial statements.
Of further concern to the committee is the lack of awareness by some authorities concerning the guidelines referred to by the Auditor-General. The committee on this matter has recommended that:
all agencies and authorities be made aware of the guidelines for the preparation of financial statements and their application.
On the issue of unitary and aggregate financial statements, the Auditor-General expressed his opinion that most of the administrative units did not have either the accounting and financial management expertise to prepare statements or the willingness on the part of senior officers to meet the requirements of the Audit Act promptly.
The committee noted that a number of factors contributed to the delay in the preparation and finalisation of financial statements; however the committee views the delays as unsatisfactory and, whilst acknowledging that a number of difficulties have existed, considers that the interests of the community, in terms of accountability, have not been served. The committee recommends that:
all audited financial statements not yet tabled in the Legislative Assembly be tabled by the relevant Minister as soon as possible; and
the Audit Act be amended to require the tabling in the Legislative Assembly of audited unitary financial statements.
With regard to statutory authorities and special operations financial statements, the committee is concerned that, of the 17 entities that were required to have audited financial statements, only five were completed within six months of the end of the financial year. The Auditor-
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