Purpose
Long-term financial management is everybody’s business.
It is the product of ongoing and rigorous financial management practices at all organisational levels, combined with strategic actions for both immediate and longer-term improvement. Sound long-term financial management helps to provide the certainty and flexibility needed to deliver a quality early childhood sector, a high performing education system and supporting a vibrant arts and cultural sector for Queensland.
Financial objectives
Sustainable and effective systems and infrastructure
Financial resilience
Effective resource management
Our principles
Accountability—taking responsibility for decisions at all levels of the organisation to maximise the impact of our resources to deliver improved outcomes
Fit-for-future investment—planning, innovating and using resources in sustainable and future focused ways
Fiscal agility—ensuring financial resilience and flexibility to respond to new or changing needs
Making it happen
How we apply the principles of the framework.
Governance and leadership
- The right people with the right delegations provide oversight, and make decisions at the right time
- Governance groups are fit for purpose, drive our strategic direction, manage risk and accountability
- Our corporate services functions work together to support schools and business areas
Planning
- Our systems and processes support responsible resource and financial management
- Our processes give flexibility to respond to changing circumstances
Risk management
- Controls mitigate the risk of deficits and unauthorised expenditure
- Risk mitigation is balanced with opportunity to achieve our priorities and objectives
Evidence based
- Our decisions are informed by data and evidence
- We integrate our financial systems and data to enhance decision-making
Accountability and transparency
- Our financial decisions are ethical and appropriate and consider the best use of public resources
- We regularly evaluate and review, taking corrective action where needed
- We build financial capability to empower our people
Cost drivers
- Regulatory and legislative changes
- Enrolment growth
- Increasing complexity of student needs
- Wage growth policy and staffing allocations
- Projected price inflation
- Projected Building Price Index inflation
- Changes in curriculum and education delivery
- Policy and resourcing model changes
Roles and responsibilities
All staff
- Reduce waste and improve efficiency
- Be aware of responsibilities to prevent, detect and report fraud
- Adopt and share best practice in resource management
- Adhere to financial management policies, procurement guidelines and budgetary controls
- Take a fiscally responsible approach to discretionary expenditure decisions
- Use equipment and facilities effectively
- Ensure appropriate and ethical use of official resources, public property and facilities
- Seek opportunities to improve processes and contribute to innovative practices that enhance financial sustainability, accountability and transparency
Schools
- Fully utilise funding and resources to support outcomes for students
- Align the school budget to local and system priorities
- Undertake proactive infrastructure and ICT asset planning
- Collaborate and co-invest with central business units and providers to make effective investment decisions
- Incorporate workplace health and safety into decision-making
Central and Regional Offices’ function
Human resources
- Enhance strategic workforce planning, and strengthen leadership opportunities and pathways
- Optimise our workforce choices to drive productivity
- Manage systems and build capability in schools to manage workforce
Grants management
- Align funding and grants to government and stakeholder priorities
- Manage risks and ensure controls are in place
- Ensure fit for purpose grant management systems are in place
Policy and planning
- Identify and manage funding model risks and work with central agencies to ensure certainty of future funding
- Ensure allocation of funding is aligned with current and emerging government priorities
- Lead and effectively position Queensland in intergovernmental funding and policy negotiations
- Monitor and report on strategic financial risks
Infrastructure management
- Optimise whole-of-life costs for infrastructure and systems to ensure value for money
- Establish clear financial investment criteria and strategies for effective asset resource allocation
- Develop financial summaries for major asset categories as part of asset management planning
- A range of sustainability initiatives including green energy, design standards and funding school projects, saving resources and costs
Information technology
- Improve organisational productivity by ensuring ICT systems are robust, safe, secure, and delivering digital services responsive to new and emerging technology
Procurement
- Establish strategic procurement and policy arrangements that reduce cyclic costs
- Optimise procurement processes to meet service delivery needs
Finance
- Facilitate / manage allocation of funding and resourcing, including coordination with other Queensland Government agencies
- Lead and contribute to sound financial management practice including transparent reporting, ethical standards, internal controls, budgeting, long-term planning, forecasting and risk management
- Build capability and support schools to align their budgets to local and system priorities
- Lead departmental response to whole-of-government saving and debt reduction plans
- Pursue additional revenue opportunities through ethical funding sources and stakeholder partnerships
- Maintain key resourcing policies and drive financial capability across the department to enable accountability and efficiency
- Ensure framework is in place to manage financial fraud risk
Indicators of success
Performance and compliance
- Departmental operating result ($m)
- Meet the agency’s reprioritisation targets ($m)
- Average cost of service per student—school education ($) (State Budget service performance measure)
- Government expenditure per child—kindergarten ($) (State Budget service performance measure)
- Annual procurement savings ($m)
- Completion of internal Management Foundations Training—Finance module (%)
Infrastructure and assets
- Asset Consumption Ratio (educational infrastructure) (%)
- Asset Sustainability Ratio (educational infrastructure) (%)
- Asset Renewal Funding Ratio (%)
- Capital Renewal Backlog ($m)
- Building Maintenance Expenditure Ratio (%)
- School Utilisation Rate (%)
- School Asset Life Cycle Assessment (ALCA) building condition ratings (%)
- Staff, student and parent/caregiver perceptions that their school is well maintained (% agree)
Resources efficiency
- Departmental proportion of frontline staff (%)
- Electricity grid consumption (kWh hours per annum per student)
- Green energy generation (kWh hours per annum per student)
- Government funding provided directly to arts and cultural sector as a proportion of Arts Queensland total investment program budget (%)
We are governed and guided by
Business Solutions and Advice Team
Finance, Procurement and Facilities Branch
Phone: (07) 3513 5344
Email:
solutions@qed.qld.gov.au