Queensland Audit Office flags $2m error in Prince Charles Foundation’s financial statement
An extra $2 million has been added on paper to the line accounts for one of the state’s busiest hospital foundations in a blunder spotted by the Queensland Audit Office.
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The state government has overseen a correction to a $2 million financial error which understated expenses at the Prince Charles Hospital Foundation.
The blunder, flagged by the Queensland Audit Office, prompted the foundation to issue a correction to its 2023-2024 financial statements, increasing reported expenses by $2 million for the foundation to the publicly funded Brisbane hospital.
The mistake, originally published in the foundation’s financial statements on August 29, 2024, understated total expenses from continuing operations by $2 million.
The incorrect figure of $17,797,263 has now been revised to $19,797,263.
The error, described as a typographical miscalculation, was only uncovered after the QAO’s review and was not attributed to an administrative oversight.
In a bid to rectify the misstep, the foundation amended multiple pages of its financial report, replacing pages 34, 46, 56, 57, and 58 and including a new explanatory note, “Basis for Reissue of Financial Statements”.
The revised documents were signed by chairperson Christopher Morton and chief executive Steve Francia on November 20, 2024 and published publicly this week.
Despite the revision, the hospital’s foundation stressed that the correction did not impact individual financial statement line items or the reported total surplus.
The operating result from continuing operations remains unchanged at $2,717,614, according to the revised report.
The Queensland Audit Office detected the discrepancy during its routine review of the hospital foundation’s finances last year.
In response, senior officials acted swiftly to issue a revised Management Certificate, re-signed by the Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer on November 20, 2024.
The QAO released the updated Independent Auditor’s Report on December 4, 2024, emphasising the corrected total expenses figure.
The original financial statement certified on August 27, 2024, and the corresponding audit report dated August 29, 2024, have now been officially superseded.
Despite the correction, the QAO confirmed that its overall audit opinion remained unchanged.
State officials were quick to reassure the public that the foundation remained financially stable and that all reporting obligations were met.
New Health Minister Tim Nicholls visited the hospital this month to address false information regarding mould remediation at the hospital and budget cuts made by the LNP.
But at the time, he did not address the financial mistake in the hospital foundation’s financial figures.
The Prince Charles Hospital employs approximately 3200 staff and serves more than 420,000 patients annually, and insisted the financial reporting adjustment had no bearing on its operational effectiveness.
The state Opposition Health Minister Mark Bailey was also contacted for comment.
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