Part 3: Australian Accounting Standards Financial Statements

This Part presents financial statements prepared in accordance with applicable Australian Accounting Standards (AAS), including AAS 31 Financial Reporting by Governments, except where departures from the standard are identified in Note 1. This Part also provides month of June figures.

A reconciliation between the Australian Government’s general government AAS financial statements and Government Finance Statistics (GFS) revenue, expenses and operating result is provided in Appendix A.

Table 28: Statement of financial performance for the Australian Government general government sector

Table 28: Statement of financial performance for the Australian Government general government sector

The month of June is derived by deducting May year-to-date published data from the annual outcome. Statistically, June movements in some series relate to earlier published months that are not reissued.

Table 29: Statement of financial position for the Australian Government general government sector as at 30 June

Table 29: Statement of financial position for the Australian Government general government sector as at 30 June

Heritage and cultural assets were previously included in infrastructure.

Table 30: Statement of cash flows for the Australian Government general government sector

Table 30: Statement of cash flows for the Australian Government general government sector

The month of June is derived by deducting May year-to-date published data from the annual outcome. Statistically, June movements in some series relate to earlier published months that are not reissued.

Notes to the financial statements

Note 1: External reporting standards and accounting policies

The Charter of Budget Honesty Act 1998 requires that the Final Budget Outcome be based on external reporting standards and that departures from applicable external reporting standards be identified.

The financial statements included in this section of the Final Budget Outcome have been prepared on an accrual basis in accordance with applicable Australian Accounting Standards (AAS), including AAS 31 Financial Reporting by Governments except as noted below.

AAS requires governments to prepare accrual-based general purpose financial reports. This means that assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses are recorded in financial statements when transactions have an economic impact on the government, rather than when the cash flow associated with these transactions occurs. Consistent with AAS, a statement of financial performance, a statement of financial position and a statement of cash flows have been prepared using results for 2003-04.

The accounting policies in this Part are generally consistent with the requirements of AAS. While the scope for financial reporting recommended in AAS 31 is the whole of government (that is, the Australian Government public sector), in accordance with the Charter of Budget Honesty Act 1998, the presentation of financial outcomes in Part 3 covers the general government sector only.

AAS would suggest the gross amount of goods and services tax (GST) be included in the Australian Government’s financial statements. However, under the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Reform of Commonwealth-State Financial Relations, GST is collected by the Australian Taxation Office as an agent for the states and territories, and appropriated to the states and territories. Therefore, accrued GST revenues and associated payments to the states and territories are not recorded in the financial statements.

Note 2: Reconciliation of cash

Note 2: Reconciliation of cash

Note 2(a): Consolidated Revenue Fund

The cash balance reflected in the statement of financial position for the Australian Government general government sector (Table 29) includes the reported cash balances controlled and administered by Australian Government agencies subject to the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 and the reported cash balances controlled and administered by entities, subject to the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (CAC Act), that implement public policy through the provision of primarily non-market services.

Revenues or monies raised by the Executive Government automatically form part of the Consolidated Revenue Fund by force of section 81 of the Australian Constitution. For practical purposes, total Australian Government general government sector cash, less cash controlled and administered by CAC Act entities, plus special public monies, represents the Consolidated Revenue Fund referred to in section 81 of the Australian Constitution. On this basis, the balance of the Consolidated Revenue Fund is shown below.

Note 2(a): Consolidated Revenue Fund