Contribution revenue increased by $30.4 million to $188.9 million.
Investment revenue increased by $91 million to $190.4 million.
Section 8 of the Southern State Superannuation Act 1994 provides for the Auditor-General to audit the accounts and financial statements of the Southern State Superannuation Scheme in respect of each financial year.
The audit program covered all major financial systems and was directed primarily towards obtaining sufficient evidence to enable an audit opinion to be formed with respect to the financial statements and internal control.
During 1999-2000 specific areas of audit attention included:
receipting and banking of employer and employee contributions
processing of contributions data to the system
completeness and accuracy of interest amounts credited to member accounts
maintenance of member accounts
benefit payments
liability for accrued benefits.
The audit did not include a review of the investment and management activities undertaken by Funds SA in respect of the assets of the Scheme; these areas were reviewed in the course of the audit of Funds SA.
Issues arising from the audit of the Scheme will be the subject of a letter to be forwarded to the presiding Member, South Australian Superannuation Board in October 2000. Further comments relating to these issues are contained in ‘Audit Findings and Comments’ hereunder.
The review of the specific auditable areas of coverage included an assessment of the adequacy of accounting, record keeping and control, and the test verification of financial transactions processed and recorded during the year. The review identified some instances where internal control procedures either required improvement or were not applied consistently over the year. Notwithstanding, substantive testing of transactions processed did not reveal any material errors in the sample tested.
As required by subsection 36(1)(a)(iii) of the Public Finance and Audit Act 1987, the audit of the Southern State Superannuation Scheme included an assessment of the controls exercised in relation to the receipt, expenditure and investment of money, the acquisition and disposal of property and the incurring of liabilities. The assessment also considered whether those controls were consistent with the prescribed elements of the Financial Management Framework as required by Treasurer’s Instruction 2 ‘Financial Management Policies’.
Audit formed the opinion that the controls exercised by the Southern State Superannuation Scheme in relation to the receipt, expenditure and investment of money; the acquisition and disposal of property; and the incurring of liabilities, were sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that the financial transactions of the organisation were conducted properly and in accordance with the law.
The total assets of the Scheme increased by $324.2 million to $1 492.7 million. As the Scheme is still in its infancy (fifth full year of operation), contribution revenue significantly exceeds benefit payments made. Consequently it is reasonable to expect the asset base to increase by a significant amount as more funds become available for investment.