2.3 General contents of a departmental annual report
Statutory requirement: Section 45(1) of the PFA
A department's annual report must contain the following information in respect of the financial year to which it relates:
information on operations that complies with subsection (2); and
a statement of service performance in accordance with section 45A; and
the annual financial statements for the department in accordance with section 45B; and
the statement of responsibility in accordance with section 45C; and
the audit report provided under section 45D; and
any other matters that relate to or affect the department's operations that the department is required, has undertaken, or wishes to report on in its annual report.
Not all the information provided in the annual report requires a formal audit opinion, but the auditor will comment if the department has not met the legislative requirements, or if the information provided elsewhere in the report is not consistent with the audited financial statements and statement of service performance.
It is important for the effectiveness of an annual report that readers can see the links between the financial statements, the statement of service performance and the other information provided on the department's operations and performance, as well as the links between the financial and non-financial information in the audited statements.
