Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013

2. 🧑‍💼 Duties for Officials

Anyone working within a government entity must:

• Act with care and diligence (like a reasonable person would)
• Be honest, act in good faith, and only use their powers for proper purposes
• Not misuse their position or information to gain personal benefits or harm others
• Disclose conflicts of interest (situations where their personal interests could influence their decisions)

If they break these rules, consequences can include termination of appointment and financial liability.

3. 💰 Controlling Public Money

The law tightly controls how public money (called "relevant money") can be used:

• Borrowing must be authorised by law — a government body can't just take out a loan
• Investments must follow strict rules
• Grants of indemnities (promises to cover someone else's losses), guarantees, and waivers of debts owed to the government all require Finance Minister approval
• "Act of grace payments" — one-off payments the government isn't legally required to make but chooses to in special circumstances — must also be authorised

4. 📊 Planning and Reporting

Every government entity must:

• Prepare a corporate plan (a strategic plan setting out what they aim to achieve)
• Prepare budget estimates
• Measure and report on their performance annually
• Prepare annual financial statements that are independently audited by the Auditor-General (the government's independent financial watchdog)
• Publish annual reports tabled in Parliament

The Finance Minister must also publish monthly financial reports and annual consolidated statements for the whole of government — giving Parliament and the public a regular picture of how government finances are tracking.

5. 🏢 Government Companies

Companies the government controls (like Australia Post) face extra obligations, including corporate plans, annual reports, and duties to keep Ministers informed. Wholly government-owned companies have additional requirements around audit committees and government policy compliance.

6. 🤝 Working with States and Territories

The Act allows information-sharing arrangements with state and territory governments and prevents the Commonwealth from blocking state Auditors-General from auditing money the Commonwealth has sent to the states.

Why does this matter to you?

This law is the backbone of federal financial accountability. It's what ensures:

• Government money isn't wasted or misused
• Parliament (and through it, the public) receives regular, honest reports on what government is doing with taxpayer funds
• Officials who misuse public money face real consequences
• Australians can trust that there's a system in place — with independent auditing — to check that public resources are being used properly