Report 15: 2017–18
Report type

Audit Objective

This report summarises the results of our financial audits of the education sector entities.

Overview

Entities within the Queensland public education sector intend to deliver world class education and training services. Collectively, the sector aims to help individuals make positive transitions from early childhood through to all stages of schooling, providing them with the knowledge and skills to prepare them for future education, training, or the workforce. This sector provides a variety of services and uses substantial resources to deliver these services.

The education sector, for the purposes of this report, includes the Department of Education, TAFE Queensland, the seven Queensland public universities and the entities they control, the eight Queensland grammar schools, and other statutory bodies and controlled entities that provide specific and specialised education services.

Entities within the Queensland public education sector intend to deliver world class education and training services.

Audit results

In the education sector, we issued unmodified opinions for all 35 reporting entities by their statutory deadlines. We were satisfied that entities prepared financial statements in accordance with the relevant legislative requirements and standards, and that readers can rely on the results in the financial statements.

Education entities generally use good financial reporting practices and produce their financial statements in a timely manner. However, there were some delays in the provision of draft financial statements.

The quality of the financial statements varied across the sector, with some adjustments being made in relation to the valuation of property, plant and equipment, and the capitalisation of expenses. This indicates there is room for some entities to improve their quality assurance processes over the review of their financial statements.