Statement 9: Budget Financial Statements

The budget financial statements consist of a separate operating statement, including other economic flows, a balance sheet, and a cash flow statement for the Australian Government general government sector (GGS), the public non‑financial corporations (PNFC) sector, and the total non‑financial public sector (NFPS). This statement also contains notes showing disaggregated information for the GGS.

The Charter of Budget Honesty Act 1998 (the Charter) requires that the budget be based on external reporting standards and for departures from these standards to be disclosed. Budgets in previous years contained three sets of financial statements, prepared according to both the Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) accrual Government Finance Statistics (GFS) and Australian Accounting Standards (AAS). The Australian Accounting Standards Board released Whole of Government and General Government Sector Financial Reporting (AASB 1049) aiming to harmonise ABS GFS and AAS in a single set of financial statements.

For the first time, the Government has produced a single set of financial statements based on both ABS GFS and AAS, meeting the requirements of the Charter, with departures disclosed at Note 2.

The Australian, State and Territory governments have an agreed framework — the Accrual Uniform Presentation Framework (UPF) — for the presentation of government financial information on a basis broadly consistent with AASB 1049. The budget financial statements are consistent with the requirements of the UPF.

In accordance with the UPF requirements, this statement also contains an update of the Australian Government's Loan Council Allocation.