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Compliance checklist

This check list outlines the governance, performance, reporting compliance and procedural requirements of the Financial Administration and Audit Act 1977 (FAA Act) (PDF, 839 KB) and the Financial Management Standard 1997 (FMS) (PDF, 711 KB).

Governance requirements
Performance requirements
Compliance requirements
Procedural requirements

Governance Requirements	Annual Report reference
Information concerning the constitution, goals and functions of the agency including:
The Act under which the agency is established and the date the agency was established	16, 87, 103
The agency's statutory objectives, function and powers	86-102
The agency's goals and outputs identified in its strategic plan	3, 16
Information concerning the administration and structure of the agency, including:
The location of the agency's principal place of business and regional offices	158
The agency's structure, including, a summary of the agency's organisational structure	17
Information concerning the agency's operations, including:
An outline of the nature and range of the agency's operations and a summary of significant operations	14-15
Changes in the law, the economic climate or other factors that have affected, or may affect, the agency	24-69
Human resourcing issues, including, for example, an organisation chart, staffing policies and establishment, management development, industrial relations and safety	15, 17, 70-74
Matters of interest to special interest groups served or regulated by the agency	26, 34, 44, 54, 60
Information concerning the agency's systems and committees including
A summary of the agency's systems for obtaining information about financial and operational performance	16-23
Details about the name, membership and activities of any committees established for the agency's risk management, including for example, the agency's audit committee and risk management committee	18
Information concerning entities controlled by the agency including: A list of entities controlled by the agency, together with: A statement of the functions of each entity Details of financial reporting arrangements for each entity If an entity has been exempted, under a regulation, from audit by the auditor-general, the way in which the regulation provides for the entity's audit
	N/A



Information concerning agency dealings with other bodies, including: A list of other bodies that: Have been formed or acquired by the agency to carry out functions in relation to the agency’s functions (excluding normal contractual arrangements); and Received funds from the agency to carry out the agency’s functions
	N/A

Information concerning statutory authorities or instrumentalities which were part of the agency, including: A department's annual report or an abolished department's final report must also include a schedule of statutory authorities or instrumentalities what were part of the department during the financial year or final period to which the report relates, together with details of: Legislation under which the authorities or instrumentalities were established Whether the transactions of the authorities or instrumentalities are accounted for in the department's financial statements
	N/A


Other Statutory Requirements
An agency's annual report is required to include an implementation statements giving details of the action taken during the reporting period to comply with section 23 and Schedule of the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994	74
Ministers must report upon public interest disclosures received by the department in compliance with the Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994, sections 30-31 and Schedule	74
Remuneration details of agency's Executives
Disclosure in the notes to a department's financial statements of the aggregate remuneration of all senior executive officers whose remuneration for the financial year is $100,000 or more and	122
The number of senior executives whose total remuneration for the financial year falls within each successive $20,000 band, commencing at $100,000	122
Information concerning the cost of boards and committees
Information on the costs associated with remunerating all government boards, committees and statutory bodies (and any committees or sub-committees of the parent body) under the portfolio to be included in the annual report	90-92
The annual financial statements of a statutory body must include details of the total remuneration paid to each member of the body	N/A
A description of the roles, functions, responsibilities and achievements of each board is also to be included in the annual report during the financial year	90-92
Functions and achievements of the board are to be disclosed in the relevant annual report	90-92
Information concerning audit committees
A summary of the role and achievements of audit committees should be included in the agency's annual report	76-80
A statement that the audit committee has observed the terms of its charter and had due regard to Queensland Treasury's Audit Committee Guidelines should also be included in the annual report	76-80
Information concerning record keeping
List compliance with the provisions of the Public Records Act 2002 and on the implementation of Information Standard 40: Recordkeeping	74
Optional reporting requirements
Agencies may choose to incorporate data regarding Freedom of Information activities	19
Agencies may choose to include activities and achievements regarding Indigenous persons and Native Title issues	30, 31, 72
Agencies may choose to incorporate information regarding the implementation of the Queensland Government's Privacy Policy within their agency to date	19
Machinery-of Government changes
Agencies are to include the standard text explaining machinery of government changes as explained in the Annual Report Guidelines for Queensland Government Agencies 2007-08 point 7	20

Performance requirements	Annual Report reference
Information concerning performance, goals, outputs and operations including:
A review of the progress in achieving the agency’s statutory obligations	24-69
A review of the agency’s progress towards achieving its goals and delivering its outputs for the year, including details about the agency’s actual performance in relation to its goals and outputs measured using the performance measures in the agency’s strategic plan	24-69
A review of the proposed forward operations of the agency, including:
Its forward plans, proposed changes to operations and the need to continue current operations and	24-69
The goals identified in the agency’s strategic plan for the next financial year	24-69
Information about how efficiently and effectively the agency has carried out its operations, including a review of the agency’s progress in benchmarking and achieving best practice and cost-effectiveness in carrying out its operations	24-69
Summary of the agency’s financial data
Public Accounts Committee Report 59 Annual Reporting in the Queensland Public Sector recommended that agencies include a succinct summary of agency financial performance and position in their annual report, particularly if the audited financial statements are included in electronic form only. There is no prescribed format, but the summary should be a useful snapshot of the agency’s financial position in an easy to read format	20-21
Details of the agency’s waste management plan
The Environmental Protection (Wast Management) Policy 2000, which is subordinate legislation to the Environmental Protection Act 1994, requires each department to prepare and implement a waste management plan, and to report on that plan in the annual report. The information to be reported by each government department will be dependent on the indicators that have been targeted to be measured by that department	75
Details of the agency’s initiatives for women
Department must report on activities that improve the quality of life of women. In particular, departments responsible for key initiatives under the government’s five year plan for Queensland women: Women in the Smart State Directions Statement 2003-2008 should report on progress in implementing relevant initiatives	N/A
The following information points shou8ld be provided for general reporting purposes, for example under ‘Staff Priorities’ or a department’s comparable section:
The representation of women at salary levels in the department/agency	72
The percentage of women on boards and statutory authorities	N/A
Activities in the department or agency that promote the balancing of work and family responsibilities	72
Initiatives to support women’s career development in the department or agency	72
Programs and opportunities for increasing women’s participation in information technology fields	73
An outline of other activities, new or continuing, which separately benefit women as internal and/or external clients	72
Details of the agency’s community engagement
As highlighted in the document, Engaging Queenslanders: Get Involved, Improving Community Engagement Across the Queensland Public Sector (July 2000), Queensland Government departments are required to report on community engagement activities in their annual reports, highlighting ways in which improved community engagement has delivered better outcomes for communities aligned with the government’s seven key priorities.	75

Compliance requirements	Annual Report reference
Details regarding travel and consultancies
Information about overseas travel undertaken by the agency's officers and, for a statutory body, members of the body, including for example -
The names of, and the offices or positions held by, the officers or members	88
The destination, purpose and cost of the travel	88
When reporting travel costs in the agency's annual report the agency should comply with the outline provided in the Annual Report Guidelines for Queensland Government Agencies 2007-08 point 5(k)) should be used in annual reports, indicating name of officers and position, destination, reason for travel, agency cost and contribution from other agencies or sources.	88
Information about the agency's expenditure on each category of consultancies, including a description of the category	88
Details regarding availability of the annual report
Details of the public availability of the annual report	2
Details regarding commercially sensitive issues
The Public Accounts Committee report recommended that where information is not disclosed because it is deemed to be commercially sensitive, a ministerial explanation should be provided at the time of tabling.	N/A
Details regarding voluntary early retirement (VER)
As detailed in the Minister for Employment, Training and Industrial Relations and the Public Service Commissioner Directive No. 11/05, each department shall state in its annual report the number of VER packages taken by employees in the previous financial year and the total monetary value of the severance benefits, including incentive payments	88
Details regarding shared services initiative
Standard text for agencies to include in their annual report regarding SSI is outlined in the Annual Report Guidelines for Queensland Government Agencies 2007-08 point 5(j)	22

Procedural requirements	Annual Report reference
The requirement to prepare an annual report, the financial statements and the tabling of the annual report is as follows:
The accountable officers of a department is required to prepare an annual report and general purpose financial statements about the operations of the department	135
Within 4 months after the end of each financial year, the accountable officer of a department, other than the official secretary and the Clerk of the Parliament, must prepare and give to the appropriate Minister a written report on the operations of the department during the financial year and give a copy of the report to the Treasurer	135
The accountable officers must include the following in the agency's annual report:
Information required by the appropriate Minister to enable the Minister to assess the efficiency, effectiveness and economy of the department	135
Information required under a financial management standard	135
A list of statutory bodies for which the appropriate Minister is responsible under the Minister's portfolio	17
The Minister must table a copy of the annual report in the Legislative Assembly within 14 days after receiving it.	tabled

Last updated 21 July 2009

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	Internal audit report (PDF, 126 KB)
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