CEI 6.1 Care and Custody of Public Property

1. Scope of these instructions

These Chief Executive's Instructions (CEI) outline the policy for the care and custody of public property including non-financial assets, portable and attractive items and inventory. Additional information on this CEI is available in the document All about Care and Custody of Public Property.

2. Policy principles

• In accordance with the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act) all officials are responsible for the efficient, effective, economical and ethical use of all public property in their care and custody.
• Public property is to be sourced, purchased, managed and disposed of in accordance with legal and legislative requirements.
• Officials must not misapply or improperly dispose of, including gifting, or improperly use, public property.
• All public property must be recorded and accounted for in the department's financial management information system, QSP.
• Responsibility for planning, acquisition, management, disposal and reporting of departmental and administered assets lies with each division/region.

3. Target audience

This CEI is applicable to all officials in the department.

4. Departmental instructions

4.1. Responsibilities

Officials must:

• take all reasonable steps to prevent the loss of or damage to public property and not improperly use public property
• seek authorisation from their Branch Head / General Manager / Regional Manager prior to the disposal of public property and ensure Corporate Finance Division are advised in writing of the disposal, to maintain the asset register in QSP
• seek approval from a FMA s43(b) delegate prior to the gifting of public property and ensure Corporate Finance Division are advised in writing of the disposal to maintain the asset register in QSP
• return all portable and attractive assets under their custody when they leave the department.

Division Heads / Executive Managers / Regional Managers must:

• maintain a register of all gifts of public property for their business area (refer CEI 1.3 – Gifts)
• maintain a register of portable and attractive items within the custody of their business area
• conduct an annual stocktake of portable and attractive items for their business area and provide the results to Corporate Finance Division
• conduct stocktakes of non-financial assets for financial reporting purposes for their business area and provide the results to Corporate Finance Division.

Chief Finance Officer must:

• ensure stocktakes, impairment testing and revaluations of all non-financial assets and inventory are undertaken on a regular basis
• provide advice on timing and conduct of stocktakes of all non-financial assets to Division Heads / Executive Managers / Regional Managers.

4.2. Record keeping

• Accounts and records relating to debts to the Commonwealth are to be maintained in accordance with section 48 of the FMA Act and retained by the department in accordance with the requirements of the Archives Act 1983, generally this is for a period of seven years.

5. Breaches

• Officials are bound by the APS Code of Conduct set out in section 13 of the Public Service Act 1999, section 44 of the FMA Act and Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines to use Commonwealth resources in an efficient, effective, economical and ethical manner. Officials who do not comply with this CEI may be found to be in breach of these requirements and sanctions may apply.
• Breaches of the FMA Act are reportable to the Department of Finance and Deregulation in the FMA Certificate of Compliance.

6. References

6.1 Legislation

• Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (sections 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 48)
• Public Service Act 1999 (section 13)
• Financial Management and Accountability Regulations 1997 (Regulation 23)
• Financial Management and Accountability (Finance Minister to Chief Executives) Delegation (as amended)

6.2 External guidance/instruction

• Finance Circular 2011/05 – Chief Executive's Instructions
• Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines
• Australian Accounting Standards (AAS 29, 31, AASB 5, 102, 116, 117, 136, 138, 1031)

6.3 Internal guidance/instruction

• Fixed Assets page under Finance Policies on Mylink
• Corporate Finance training
• DAFF Finance Policy 5/2007 - Management of Physical and Intangible Assets
• DAFF Finance Policy - Accounting for Purchased and Internally Developed Software
• DAFF Finance Manual - Disposal of Assets

6.4 Related CEIs

• CEI 1.2 – Fraud control
• CEI 1.3 – Gifts
• CEI 1.6 – Recordkeeping
• CEI 2.1 – Risk management
• CEI 3.1 – Procurement
• CEI 3.2 – Payment of accounts
• CEI 4.2 – Receipting and custody of public money
• CEI 4.3 – Debt and loan management

7. Definitions and Acronyms

Change History