Auditor-General's Report on the Annual Financial Report of the State of Victoria: 2019–20
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The purpose of this report is to inform Parliament about our audit of the state’s 2019–20 Annual Financial Report.
Appendix E. Audit analysis of selected advances
The Treasurer’s Advance was used to fund a wide range of services, initiatives and projects in 2019–20, including:
Appendix D. Treasurer’s Advance Approvals for 2019–20
Figure D1 itemises departments’ use of Treasurers Advances in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The most significant items in this list include:
Appendix C. About this assurance review
Review objectives, scope and approach
| Who we reviewed | What we assessed | What the review cost |
|---|---|---|
| DET, DELWP, DHHS, DJCS, DJPR, DoT, DPC, DTF | We assessed whether applications by accountable officers to use the Treasurer’s Advance and approvals to use the Treasurer’s Advance (regardless of the source of the request) complied |
Appendix B. Acronyms
| Acronyms | |
|---|---|
| AFR | Annual Financial Report (of the State of Victoria) |
| DET | Department of Education and Training |
| DELWP | Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning |
| DHHS | Department of Health and Human Services |
| DJCS |
Appendix A. Submissions and comments
We have consulted with DTF, Department of Education and Training (DET), DELWP, DHHS, DJCS, DJPR, Department of Transport (DoT), Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) and Victoria Police, and we considered their views when reaching our conclusions. As required by the Audit Act 1994, we gave a draft copy of this report, or relevant extracts, to those agencies and asked for their submissions and comments.
Responsibility for the accuracy, fairness and balance of those comments rests solely with the agency head.
3. Transparency and accountability
Conclusion
The Treasurer’s Advance disclosures in the state’s Annual Financial Report for 2019–20 are complete, accurate and fairly presented.
DTF enhanced transparency and accountability by disclosing if individual Treasurer’s Advance items for 2019–20 were attributable to government COVID-19 responses.
Agencies could further enhance transparency by disclosing the amounts they spend against each approval in their financial reports.
2. Application, assessment and approval
Conclusion
We found no evidence that the processes for accessing and allocating the Treasurer’s Advance in 2019–20 were inconsistent with legislation.
Most Treasurer’s Advances did not result from requests that specifically sought funding from the Treasurer’s Advance.
1. Context for this review
Appropriation Acts give the Treasurer the legal authority to make payments from the state's Consolidated Fund.
An amount for the Treasurer's Advance is authorised in each annual Appropriation Act. This advance gives the government the necessary flexibility to meet funding needs that were not (or not fully) provided for when departments’ annual appropriation authorities were set.
The unused balance of the advances approved for departments lapses at year end.
Accessing Emergency Funding to Meet Urgent Claims
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This assurance review assessed if government departments met their legislative obligations when accessing emergency funding.