Annual Report 2015–2016

Overview Note
Objectives of the National Health and Medical Research Council
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is an Australian Government controlled entity. It is a not-forprofit
entity. The NHMRC is Australia’s peak body for supporting health and medical research. At the broadest level, the
aims of the NHMRC are to:
- raise the standard of individual and public health care throughout Australia;
- foster development of consistent health standards between the states and territories;
- foster medical research and training and public health research and training throughout Australia; and
- foster consideration of ethical issues relating to health.
The NHMRC is structured to meet one outcome:
PART 5 financial report
Outcome 1: Australia’s health system benefits from high quality health and medical research conducted at the highest ethical
standard, well-developed research capabilities and sound evidence-based advice that informs health policy and practice.
Agency activities contributing toward this outcome are classified as either departmental or administered. Departmental
activities involve the use of assets, liabilities, income and expenses controlled or incurred by the Agency in its own right.
Administered activities involve the management or oversight by the Agency, on behalf of the Government, of items
controlled or incurred by the Government.
NHMRC's Medical Research Endowment Account (MREA) is a special account established under the National Health and
Medical Research Council Act 1992. It is the mechanism through which Australian Government funding for health and
medical research is managed.
The continued existence of NHMRC in its present form, and with its present programs, is dependent on Government policy
and on continuing funding by Parliament for the NHMRC’s administration and programs.
The Basis of Preparation
The financial statements are general purpose financial statements and are required by section 42 of the Public Governance,
Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
The Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with:
a) Financial Reporting Rule (FRR) for reporting periods ending on or after 1 July 2015; and
b) Australian Accounting Standards and Interpretations issued by the Australian Accounting Standards Board
(AASB) that apply for the reporting period.
The financial statements have been prepared on an accrual basis and in accordance with the historical cost convention,
except for certain assets and liabilities at fair value. Except where stated, no allowance is made for the effect of changing
prices on the results or the financial position. The financial statements are presented in Australian dollars.
New Accounting Standards
Adoption of New Australian Accounting Standard Requirements
NHMRC has early adopted the following standard, in line with permissions from the Department of Finance:
AASB 2015-7 Amendments to Australian Accounting Standards – Fair Value Disclosures of Not-for-Profit Public Sector
Entities.
This standard relieves not-for-profit public sector entities following disclosures specified in AASB 13 for assets within the
scope of AASB 16 that are held primarily for their current service potential rather than to generate future net cash inflows:
(a) for recurring and non-recurring fair value measurements categorised within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy,
quantitative information about the significant unobservable inputs used in the fair value measurement; (b) for recurring fair
value measurements categorised within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy, the amount of the total gains and losses for the
period included in profit or loss that is attributable to the change in unrealised gains or losses relating to the assets held at the
end of the reporting period, and the line item(s) in profit or loss in which those unrealised gains or losses are recognised; and
(c) for recurring fair value measurements categorised within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy, a narrative description of the
sensitivity of the fair value measurement to changes in unobservable inputs if a change in those inputs to a different amount
might result in a significantly higher or lower fair value measurement. Where there are interrelationships between those
inputs and other unobservable inputs used in the fair value measurement, the disclosure of a description of those
interrelationships and of how they might magnify or mitigate the effect of changes in the unobservable inputs on the fair
value measurement will also not be required.
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Annual Report of the National Health and Medical Research Council 2015–2016