Reserve Bank of Australia Annual Report – 1996 Financial Statements Independent Audit Report
INDEPENDENT AUDIT REPORT
TO THE RESERVE BANK BOARD
Scope
I have audited the financial statements of the Reserve Bank of Australia for the year ended 30 June 1996. The statements comprise:
- balance sheet,
- profit and loss appropriation statement, and
- notes to and forming part of the financial statements.
The Bank's Board is responsible for the preparation and presentation of the financial statements and the information they contain. I have conducted an independent audit of the financial statements in order to express an opinion on them to the Bank's Board.
The audit has been conducted in accordance with the Australian National Audit Office Auditing Standards, which incorporate the Australian Auditing Standards, to provide reasonable assurance as to whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. Audit procedures included examination, on a test basis, of evidence of accounting policies and significant accounting estimates. These procedures have been undertaken to form an opinion as to whether, in all material respects, the financial statements are presented fairly in accordance with statutory requirements so as to present a view which is consistent with my understanding of the Bank's financial position, the results of its operations and its cash flows, and are in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards and other mandatory professional reporting requirements.
The audit opinion expressed in this report has been formed on the above basis.
Qualification
The policies outlined in Note 1 to the accounts differ in some respects from Accounting Standard AAS 10 ‘Accounting for the Revaluation of Non-current Assets’ on the basis that certain portions of that Standard are not relevant to a central bank. Under longstanding policies, the Bank has recognised as operating earnings net transfers from Asset Revaluation Reserves amounting to $796 million. A detailed analysis of these transfers is outlined in Note 3. I agree that the policies adopted by the Reserve Bank are suitable to the operations of a central bank. The Bank's objectives, reflected in the financial statements, differ from those contemplated in the Accounting Standard, so that some parts of that Standard are not relevant to users of these statements.
This necessitates separate audit opinions on the fairness of the presentation of the financial statements in accordance with statutory requirements and on compliance with applicable Accounting Standards.
Audit Opinion
In accordance with section 81(2) of the Reserve Bank Act 1959, I now report that the financial statements are in agreement with the accounts and records of the Bank and in my opinion:
- the financial statements are based on proper accounts and records; and
- the financial statements show fairly in accordance with statutory requirements the financial operations and cash flows for the year ended 30 June 1996 and the state of affairs of the Bank at that date.
Qualified Audit Opinion
In my opinion, except for the effects on the financial statements of the matter referred to in the Qualification section, the financial statements present fairly, in accordance with applicable Accounting Standards and other mandatory professional reporting requirements, the financial position of the Bank at 30 June 1996 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended.
P.J. Barrett
Auditor-General
Sydney
6 August 1996