Financial performance, 2017–18

This section summarises the Commission’s financial performance during 2017–18. More detail is available in Part 4, which contains the independent auditor’s report and the Commission’s audited financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2018.

Departmental activities

The Commission’s departmental activities involve the use of assets, liabilities, income and expenses controlled or incurred by the Commission in its own right.

The Commission’s total income for 2017–18 was $43.7 million. Government appropriation accounted for 52 per cent of this; non-appropriation income accounted for the remainder. Table 3 shows the Commission’s income since 2015–16; Table 4 details income sources since 2015–16.

Appropriation funding increased from $20.3 million in 2016–17 to $22.8 million in 2017–18. This increase was the result of temporary budget funding for building digital capability in partnership with the Digital Transformation Agency; the amount was $2.8 million in 2017–18.

Table 5 shows the non-appropriation income the Commission received from sales of goods and the rendering of services in 2016–17 and 2017–18; Table 6 shows the proportion of non-appropriation income the Commission received from sales of goods and services in 2016–17 and 2017–18.

Income from learning and development programs amounted to $12.4 million in 2017–18 and accounted for 28 per cent of the Commission’s total income from all sources. This compares with $12.9 million in 2016–17.

The majority of the Commission’s income is earned in a competitive market, in which entities can choose service providers and determine the level of service they require. Demand can fluctuate, so the Commission has management strategies to ensure that resources devoted to this area are in keeping with the revenue earned.

The year 2017–18 was the second year of a three-year funding agreement to support leadership and learning services and the remuneration survey. The Commission received $3.4 million from 48 government entities, accounting for 14 per cent of non-appropriation income. This compares with $3.3 million from 49 government entities in 2016–17, accounting for 15 per cent of non- appropriation income for that year.

The Commission recorded an operating deficit of $1.2 million in 2017–18. A surplus of $0.5 million was recorded in 2016–17. Excluding the impact of unfunded depreciation expenses, the Commission’s underlying operating surplus in 2017–18 was $0.3 million.

The Commission incurred restructuring costs of $0.7 million in 2017–18; this compares with $0.6 million in 2016–17. The 2017–18 costs were incurred as part of our strategy to accommodate tightening budgetary requirements in future years.

The administered program

The Commission’s administered program facilitates the payment of parliamentarians’ and judicial office holders’ remuneration, allowances and entitlements. We receive special appropriations for the program, and the Department of the Senate, the Department of the House of Representatives and the Attorney-General’s Department make all payments.

Payments for 2017–18 amounted to $33.3 million, compared with $63.2 million in 2016–17. The decrease in payments was a result of the Program no longer funding the remuneration of parliamentarians, who from 1 January 2018 have been funded by the Parliamentary Business Resources Act 2017, reported on by the Department of Finance.

Payments made are reported in note 4.1c to the Commission’s financial statements (see Part 4).