Financial Management Act standing directions

The Financial Management Act 1994 (FMA) is Victorian Government legislation designed to improve the financial administration of the public sector. The FMA Standing Directions are provided by the Minister for Finance and outline responsibilities for government agencies, including TAFEs, to achieve a high standard of public financial management and accountability. The FMA Instructions are issued by the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF) and provide mandatory and more specific provisions under the FMA Standing Directions.

Section 4 of the FMA Standing Directions and specifically Instruction 4.2.1 of the FMA Instructions, outline the responsibilities of the accountable officer (COO or equivalent) in ensuring that the procurement of assets, goods and services is compliant with the FMA.

In addition to project-specific requirements, Instruction 5.1 - Financial management compliance provides an overview of accountable officer compliance and annual reporting requirements in order to comply with the FMA.

In order to help the accountable officer meet their compliance requirements under the FMA, it is important to ensure that the appropriate project reporting is undertaken for TAFE projects.

Under the FMA, the accountable officer (COO or equivalent) must ensure that the TAFE approaches the procurement and delivery phases of the project consistent with the requirements of Instruction 4.2.1 – Acquisition of assets, goods and services, which is based upon Direction 4.2.1.

Instruction 4.2.1 specifically covers the acquisition of assets, goods and services, the acquisition process and contract management and performance. For further guidance on how to comply with Instruction 4.2.1 refer to guidance 4.2.1 under DTF’s non-mandatory FMA Standing Directions guidance.
Under the FMA, the accountable officer (COO or equivalent) must ensure that the TAFE approaches the financial management reporting for the project in line with Instruction 5.1 – Financial management compliance. General financial reporting and compliance requirements related to the TAFE’s portfolio of construction projects include:
- providing relevant information to the Department of Treasury and Finance to support targeted assurance programs regarding financial management compliance, and
- ensuring information provided to your portfolio Department (Office of TAFE Coordination and Delivery (OTCD), Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions, will appropriately support OTCD’s compliance reporting to the Department of Treasury and Finance.
Further to this, the accountable officer must provide an annual compliance report to your portfolio Department (OTCD) in line with Instruction 5.1. This will include providing documentation to prove compliance with the FMA and can be further understood by referring to guidance 5.1 under the Department of Treasury and Finance’s non-mandatory FMA Standing Directions guidance.

To ensure that the accountable officer is equipped to complete this annual compliance report and associated declarations, it is important to maintain project reporting standards throughout each project. This may include maintaining a report of compliance requirements and attestation of how compliance has been achieved for the project that can be aggregated across all the TAFE's infrastructure projects.

Education

Updated 5 July 2023