Page 4422 - Week 10 - Thursday, 23 September 2010
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The Committee believes that it is incumbent upon respective departmental and agency heads to ensure that their entity’s financial report and statement of performance complies with the legislative provisions as set out in the Financial Management Act 1996.
Recommendation 3 goes to that. It is important, it is expected, and it should occur. At page 9 of the report, at paragraph 2.31, the committee notes that the auditor seems to be going over the same old ground time and time again. Paragraph 2.31 states:
The Committee further notes that some of the 2008–09 audit findings refer to matters raised and recommendations framed in the Auditor-General’s 2007-08, 2006-07, and 2005-06 financial audit reports.
How over a period of five years you cannot get that right is beyond me. What the committee recommends in regard to this is that government agencies continually monitor their processes for addressing audit findings in a timely manner. Indeed, at recommendation 7, we suggest that the substantial majority of these recommendations be implemented within 12 months from the date of being reported.
Obviously, you cannot do it all. Some major re-engineering of computer systems or a change of policy sometimes takes time, but it is hard to believe that events that were reported in the 2005-06 financial audits still have not been fixed in this year’s report. It really does reflect poorly on the government and on the ministers that they cannot do this.
Paragraph 2.43 states:
The committee notes the … findings that, consistent with the trend … agency compliance with … reporting timetable continued to improve …
Well done on that. But the next paragraph states:
The proportion of agencies complying with the timetable has increased from 31 per cent in 2004-05 to 70 per cent in 2008-09.
It does say quite clearly in paragraph 2.46:
… 30 per cent of financial reporting entities are still not meeting the Department of Treasury’s reporting timetable.
However, if it is suggested that the timetable is too tough, which I do not believe is true, given 70 per cent of agencies do it, 30 per cent of agencies really need to lift their game. And that percentage is relatively unchanged. Paragraph 2.48 states:
The combined proportion of financial reports rated as ‘fair’ and ‘unsatisfactory’ was 30 per cent which is unchanged from 31 per cent in 2007-08.
Paragraph 2.50 states:
Further, the Committee notes that the Audit Office had also drawn these weaknesses in financial reporting to the attention of agencies in previous years.
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