Chapter 5—Financial statements

Summary of financial management and performance

A detailed agency resource statement and a summary of resources by outcome are in Appendix I (page 150).

How the agency is funded

Parliament, via the Appropriation Acts, provides Old Parliament House with two types of funding: departmental and administered.

Departmental resources are used to deliver the objectives of conserving Old Parliament House as a significant national heritage site and delivering the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House.

The agency also administers revenues and payments on behalf of the government, which controls how they are used and requires the agency to account for them separately. The payments relate to the capital works on the heritage building and the development of the exhibitions for the Museum of Australian Democracy.

Outputs and administered items for 2008–09 and 2009–10 are in the formal financial statements. A shaded background indicates that information relates to an administered resource.

How performance is measured

The agency publishes detailed financial forecasts during the year as part of the Budget Papers for the Prime Minister and Cabinet portfolio. Key reference points include the:

  • Portfolio Budget Statements, released on budget night
  • Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements.

The agency’s overall focus is on providing accurate estimates and achieving a balanced financial outcome.

Key results in 2009–10

In 2009–10:

  • an operating surplus of $0.127 million was achieved, which compares favourably to the budgeted deficit of $0.390 million
  • net equity increased by $0.443 million due to the surplus of $0.127 million; an equity injection of $0.259 million for capital projects; and a $0.057 million transfer of funds from the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts for unfunded leave liabilities assumed by the agency when it ceased to be part of that department on 1 July 2008.

The agency’s 2009–10 financial statements received an unqualified audit report from the Australian National Audit Office, with only one Category C finding for a procedural issue in human resources.

Departmental finances

In revenue, the agency originally expected appropriations of $14.263 million. This was reduced to $13.823 million following a return of prior-year funds to the Official Public Account as required by the government’s Operation Sunlight initiative. The agency had access to an approved loss of $0.390 million to reflect this reduction. In addition, own-source income was generated as the agency recognised other gains, for audit services received free of charge of $0.044 million and service income of $0.017 million.

Expenses equated to $13.757 million, which resulted in the surplus of $0.127 million. Total expenses were 4 per cent under budget, mainly due to employee expenses that were not incurred because of delays in recruiting staff to complete the new structure after the opening of the museum, and lower than anticipated expenses for information technology. This was partly offset by above-budget depreciation expenses. See Figure 7.

The agency received $0.259 million for capital expenses and had carried over funds of $0.272 million relating to the establishment of Old Parliament House as an Executive Agency. The cash utilised for capital works in 2009–10 equated to $0.386 million. A delay in a planned telephone upgrade until August 2010 was the primary reason for the under-spend.

Departmental cash and receivables at 30 June 2010 equated to $3.704 million, which is adequate to cover liabilities of $2.207 million.

Figure 7 Expenses, 2009–10

Bar graph

Text description of Figure 7

Administered finances

The agency budget for income equated to $1.339 million and depreciation expenses were $3.597 million. Actual administered revenue equated to $1.356 million, which was $0.017 million above the budget, primarily due to higher visitor numbers. Expenses were $0.062 million above budget, which is within 1 per cent of the budget.

The agency received a net $3.083 million in funding after returning prior-year funds of $3.131 million to the Official Public Account as part of Operation Sunlight. These funds were received to complete the museum exhibitions from the prior year and undertake heritage and building capital projects.

The agency’s non-financial assets are primarily the heritage building and furniture collection, and the exhibition assets of the museum.

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