Page 588 - Week 02 - Thursday, 20 March 2014
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The reports of committee inquiries into annual and financial reports are a very important part of the process of scrutiny, and I am very pleased to speak to report No 4 of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on annual and financial reports 2012-13. Let me start by thanking the committee members and the committee secretary, Dr Cullen, for the way in which we went through the report and the quality of the report that we have delivered.
Annual reports are the principal and most authoritative way in which directors-general and chairpersons account to the Legislative Assembly and other stakeholders, including the public, for the way in which they have discharged their statutory and other responsibilities and utilised public funds over the preceding 12 months. They also provide an opportunity for agencies to advise all major stakeholders of the major plans and themes for the immediate future. The provision of meaningful operational and financial information by government to the parliament and the public is a fundamental component of the accountability process.
On 19 September 2013, the Assembly resolved to refer annual and financial reports of all government agencies for the calendar year 2013 and the financial year 2012-13 to the relevant standing committees. The annual and financial reports for 2012-13 or parts thereof considered by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts as part of its inquiry were: ACT Auditor-General’s Office; ACT Gambling and Racing Commission; ACT Insurance Authority and Office of the Nominal Defendant; Office of the Legislative Assembly; ACT Ombudsman; ACTEW Corporation Ltd; ACTTAB Ltd; Chief Minister and Treasury Directorate, with the ACT executive annexed in this report; Commerce and Works Directorate, which included ACT Government Procurement Board and Director of Territory Records; Commissioner for Public Administration; Economic Development Directorate; Exhibition Park Corporation; Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission; National Arboretum as part of the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate; and Treasury Directorate from 1 July 2012 to 9 November 2012.
The committee had public hearings on 4 November and 2, 3, 13, 17 and 19 December last year. At these public hearings the committee heard from ministers, accompanying directorate and agency officers and members of governing boards. The committee thanks directorates and agencies for providing responses to questions taken on notice and supplementary questions following its public hearings. The information assisted the committee in its understanding of the many issues it considered during the inquiry.
The committee examined the annual and financial reports in relation to their compliance, where relevant, with the following legislation: Annual Reports (Government Agencies) Act 2004; annual report directions 2012-13; Financial Management Act 1996; Territory-Owned Corporations Act 1990; and other requirements as raised in individual agency reports.
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