Since 1973, Senate committees have examined these reports, although not all committees were equally active.
In 1989 the work of Senate committees was extended to include the systematic examination of annual reports, with committees reporting to the Senate on the timeliness and quality of annual reports.
The consideration of annual reports, combined with estimates hearings, is a vital mechanism by which the Senate holds the government to account for its public administration.
The Canberra Times, 9 February 2017, p.4
Disclosure of senior executive remuneration
A number of improvements to annual reports have been made as a result of examination by Senate committees. In 2016 and 2017, after the introduction of new reporting requirements, the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee reported to the Senate on the reduced level of information on remuneration for senior executives provided in the Australia Post annual report.
The government agreed with the Senate committee’s view that the provision of such information was in the public interest and amended reporting rules to require government agencies and business enterprises to disclose executive remuneration in annual reports from 2019.
The Canberra Times, 9 February 2017, p.4
Image courtesy of Christmas Island Tourism
Protecting the Abbott’s Booby
Resolutions of the Senate on the scrutiny of annual reports by committees in the 1970s and 80s allowed committees to pursue inquiries arising from annual reports. In 1982 the Science and the Environment Committee examined the 1980–81 annual report of the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service. The committee inquired further into the preservation of the Abbott’s Booby, an endangered seabird only found on the Australian territory of Christmas Island, producing a 50-page report.
Image courtesy of Christmas Island Tourism
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Donald Scott Jessop, committee chair 1976-83, Interview with Bruce Edwards on the Science and Environment Committee's examination of annual reports, 1990-91 National Library of Australia, Oral TRC 4900/91, Session 9, 00:47:49–00:50:30. |