Go to top of page

Australian Electoral Commission Annual Report 2018–19

Overview

Basis of preparation

The financial statements are general purpose financial statements and are required by section 42 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with:

(a) Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Financial Reporting) Rule 2015 (FRR); and

(b) Australian Accounting Standards and Interpretations – Reduced Disclosure Requirements issued by the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) that apply for the reporting period.

The financial statements have been prepared on an accrual basis and in accordance with the historical cost convention, except for certain assets at fair value. Except where stated, no allowance is made for the effect of changing prices on the results or the financial position. The financial statements are presented in Australian dollars and values are rounded to the nearest thousand dollars unless otherwise specified.

New accounting standards

All new/revised/amending standards and/or interpretations were issued by the Australian Accounting Standards Board prior to the signing of the statement by the accountable authority and chief finance officer and are applicable to the current reporting period did not have a material effect on the entity's financial statements.

Future Australian Accounting Standard Requirements

The following new/revised/amending standards and/or interpretations were issued by the Australian Accounting Standards Board prior to the signing of the statement by the accountable authority and chief finance officer, which are expected to have an impact on the entity’s financial statements for future reporting period(s):

Accounting Standards	Effective date¹	Nature of impending change/s in accounting policy and likely impact on initial application	Possible impact
AASB 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers	Reporting periods beginning on or after 1 Jan 2019	AASB 15 contains a single model that applies to contracts with customers and two approaches to recognising revenue: at a point in time or over time. The model features a contract-based five-step analysis of transactions to determine whether, how much and when revenue is recognised. AEC will first apply AASB 15 in the 2019-20 financial reporting period. The likely quantitative impact on initial application is nil.	Minimal-Moderate



AASB 16 Leases	Reporting periods beginning on or after 1 Jan 2019	AASB 16 removes the classification of leases as either operating leases or finance leases – for the lessee – and requires a lessee to recognise assets and liabilities for all leases with a term of more than 12 months, unless the underlying asset is of low value. A lessee is required to recognise a right-of-use asset representing its right to use the underlying leased asset and a lease liability representing its obligations to make lease payments. AASB 16 requires enhanced disclosures for both lessees and lessors to improve information disclosed about an entity’s exposure to leases. AEC will first apply AASB 16 in the 2019-20 financial reporting period. As outlined by the Department of Finance, AEC will transition to AASB 16 using the cumulative catch up approach which will not require a restatement of comparative figures. A preliminary assessment of the transition to AASB 16 indicates that the AEC will have an increase to assets and liabilities in the Statement of Financial Postion. Further assessment will be undertaken in 2019-20 to finalise the impact.	Moderate - High
AASB 1058 Income of Not-for-Profit Entities	Reporting periods beginning on or after 1 Jan 2019	AASB 1058 replaces the income recognition requirements relating to private sector not-for-profit (NFP) entities, as well as the majority of income recognition requirements relating to public sector NFP entities previously reflected in AASB 1004 Contributions. AEC will first apply AASB 1058 in the 2019-20 financial reporting period. The likely quantitative impact on initial application is nil.	Minimal-Moderate
	Reporting periods beginning on or after 1 Jan 2019
1. The entity’s expected initial application date is when the accounting standard becomes operative at the beginning of the entity’s reporting period.

All other new/revised/amending standards and/or interpretations that were issued prior to the sign-off date and are applicable to future reporting period(s) are not expected to have a future material impact on the entity’s financial statements.

Accounting judgements and estimates

No accounting assumptions or estimates have been identified that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of any assets or liabilities within the next reporting period.

Taxation

The AEC is exempt from all forms of taxation except Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Reporting of Administered activities

Administered revenues, expenses, assets, liabilities and cash flows are disclosed in the administered schedules and related notes.

Except where otherwise stated, administered items are accounted for on the same basis and using the same policies as for departmental items, including the application of Australian Accounting Standards.

In accordance with the FRR Special Account balances that are held in trust are disclosed as a footnote to the special account notes, not included in AEC's financial position and not included in any statements or notes required by AASB 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures or AASB 9 Financial Instruments.

Events after the reporting period

Departmental

There are no events after the reporting date that will materially affect the financial statements.

Administered