The following is a brief summary of the overall financial position of the agency. The information is unaudited. Full audited financial statements are attached to this report.
Statement of comprehensive income | 2025-26 | 2025-26 | Variation $000
| Past year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Total income | 37 293 | 40 703 | 3 410 | 39 309 |
Total expenses | 29 661 | 32 107 | 2 446 | 31 590 |
Net result | 7 632 | 8 596 | 964 | 7 719 |
Income Tax Equivalent | 2 290 | 2 577 | 287 | 2 315 |
Total comprehensive result | 5 342 | 6 019 | 677 | 5 404 |
Statement of financial position | 2025-26 Budget | 2025-26 | Variation
| Past year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Current assets | 19 296 | 12 596 | 6 700 | 17 907 |
Non-current assets | 29 013 | 28 939 | 74 | 30 148 |
Total assets | 48 309 | 41 535 | 6 774 | 48 055 |
Current liabilities | 14 959 | 7 893 | 7 066 | 14 707 |
Non-current liabilities | 9 279 | 8 893 | 386 | 10 857 |
Total liabilities | 24 238 | 16 786 | 7 452 | 25 564 |
Net assets | 24 071 | 24 749 | 678 | 22 491 |
Equity | 24 071 | 24 749 | 678 | 22 491 |
The Public Trustee’s net result before distributions was a profit of $8.5 million in 2025-26. This was $1 million higher than budget as a result of:
- Revenue $3.41 million (9.1%) better than budget. This has been driven by strong real estate market performance and the continuation of improved investment market conditions resulting in favourable commission, fees and charges income, management fees and corporate investment income.
- Expenses $2.45 million (8.2%) higher than budget. This has primarily been driven by reduced employee expenses associated with staff vacancies that have been offset by spend on temporary agency staff to ensure continuity of service delivery. Additional project spend has supported the implementation of the customer financial management system.
The Public Trustee pays an annual dividend to the Department of Treasury and Finance equal to the net result after the income tax equivalent. The dividend for 2025-26 was $6 million (2024-25: $5.4 million).
The liability variation to budget, in the Statement of Financial Position, is primarily related to accruals for the interim Dividend payment to Department of Treasury and Finance in the prior year, 2024-25.
The following is a summary of external consultants that have been engaged by the agency, the nature of work undertaken, and the actual payments made for the work undertaken during the financial year.
Consultancies with a contract value below $10,000 each
Consultancies | Purpose | Actual payment |
|---|---|---|
Nil | Not Applicable | $ 0 |
Consultancies with a contract value above $10,000 each
Consultancies | Purpose | Actual payment |
|---|---|---|
Scyne Advisory | Strategic Review of Human resources function | $35 000 |
Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/organization/attorney-general-s-dept (external site)
See also the Consolidated Financial Report of the Department of Treasury and Finance (external site) published at the end of each calendar year for the total value of consultancy contracts across the South Australian public sector.
The following is a summary of external contractors that have been engaged by the agency, the nature of work undertaken, and the actual payments made for work undertaken during the financial year.
Contractors with a contract value below $10,000
Contractors | Purpose | Actual payment |
|---|---|---|
All contractors below $10,000 each (combined) | Various | $66 789 |
Contractors with a contract value above $10,000 each
Contractors | Purpose | Actual payment |
|---|---|---|
PTM EDV - System | ICT Support | $10 748 |
Scyne Advisory | Strategic Planning | $10 500 |
KPMG Australia Technology Services | Accounting Advice | $12 000 |
Action Market Research Pty Ltd | Customer Survey | $15 400 |
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu | ICT Support | $20 000 |
Hudson Global Resources | Temporary Staff | $21 158 |
Pinnacle Workplace Consultants | Workplace Assessments | $28 378 |
Blue Crystal Solutions | ICT Support | $35 857 |
McArthur Management Services | Temporary Staff | $39 200 |
| Stillwell Management | Recruitment | $42 725 |
The Information Group | Document Scanning Services | $44 510 |
Knowledge Corporation | ICT Support | $48 949 |
Dell Australia Pty Ltd | ICT Support | $97 416 |
Ernest & Young | Customer Investment Software Maintenance | $99 550 |
KPMG Australia Technology Services | Customer Financial System Replacement | $127 512 |
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu | Internal Audit Services | $142 116 |
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu | Business Support | $221 196 |
KPMG Australia Technology Services | Ongoing 3rd Party Software Support | $232 486 |
Halycon Knights Pty Ltd | Temporary Staff | $368 978 |
SS&C Solutions Pty Ltd | ICT Support | $412 295 |
Randstad Pty Ltd | Temporary Staff | $674 598 |
Hays Specialist Recruitment | Temporary Staff | $1 342 004 |
Total | $4 047 576 | |
Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/organization/attorney-general-s-dept (external site)
The SA Tenders and Contracts website (external site) displays details of Government of South Australia-awarded contracts (external site) for goods, services and works and across government contracts (external site).
The following reflects contracts entered into during the financial year as reported to the Department of Treasury and Finance pursuant to Treasurer’s Instructions 18 - Procurement. The information is unaudited.
Contracts entered into | 2025-26 Number of contracts | 2025-26 Contract value $000s |
|---|---|---|
With South Australian businesses | 23 | $ 3 641 |
With non-South Australian businesses | 15 | $ 3 257 |
Total | 38 | $6 898 |
Note: ‘South Australian business’ has the same meaning as in Treasurer’s Instructions 18 - Procurement.
Under the Public Corporations Act 1993, a Charter must be prepared for a Public Corporation and agreed between the Attorney-General and the Treasurer.
The Charter describes the reporting and accountability requirements and outlines objectives for invested customer funds, financial and other performance targets. It also sets out the responsibilities and the expectations of both the Public Trustee and the Government. The Charter is reviewed annually.
Customer investment returns were strong for the 2025-26 financial year. Despite the war in the Middle East, high oil prices and inflation concerns, global shares performed well.
Emerging markets was the best performing asset class, due it’s high weighting to semiconductor stocks, a key beneficiary of growing spending in the Artificial Intelligence technology industry. Public Trustee has exposure to these sectors, but adopts a somewhat defensive investment approach, focusing on active management, high-quality investments and avoiding speculative areas of the market. Public Trustee returns lagged the broad market for equities, due to some defensive positioning but still achieved attractive absolute returns for customers.
During the financial year, the Reserve Bank of Australia increased interest rates to 4.35%, in response to persistent inflation. This has been beneficial for our customers cash investments, which account for a large portion of funds under management.
For the financial year, investment returns ranged from 3.60% for Cash to 8.84% for High Growth, net of fees. Overall, the Public Trustee’s investment strategies continue to perform soundly over the long term, with a continued focus on quality and downside protection. Ten-year returns stand at 2.02% for Cash to 8.59% for High Growth, net of fees. Due to the recent high levels of inflation (CPI) some investments trail CPI based objectives over their suggested time frames. This may continue in the short term, until inflation comes down to normalised levels.
Investment Performance versus CPI Objectives as at 30 June 2026
Investment Strategy | CPI Objective | Investment Horizon | Target Return % pa | Actual Return % pa | Over (+)/ Under (-) | Over/Under performance % pa |
Capital Stable | CPI + 1.5% pa | 3 Years | 4.45% | 5.43% | + | 0.98% |
Balanced | CPI + 2.5% pa | 5 Years | 6.71% | 3.85% | - | -2.86% |
Growth | CPI + 3.5% pa | 7 Years | 6.99% | 5.22% | - | -1.77% |
High Growth | CPI + 4% pa | 10 Years | 6.99% | 8.59% | + | 1.60% |
*Net of fees.
2025–26 Standard Investment Strategies’ Performance
Last | Last | Last | Last | Last | |
Cash | +3.60% | +3.84% | +2.70% | +2.09% | +2.02% |
Benchmark | +2.83% | +3.21% | +2.11% | +1.34% | +1.20% |
Variance | +0.77% | +0.63% | +0.59% | +0.75% | +0.82% |
| |||||
Capital Stable | +4.86% | +5.43% | +3.07% | +3.06% | +3.33% |
Benchmark | +4.67% | +5.42% | +2.85% | +2.88% | +3.28% |
Variance | +0.19% | +0.01% | +0.22% | +0.18% | +0.05% |
| |||||
Balanced | +6.34% | +6.63% | +3.85% | +4.18% | +4.76% |
Benchmark | +6.86% | +7.22% | +4.31% | +4.42% | +5.12% |
Variance | -0.52% | -0.59% | -0.46% | -0.24% | -0.36% |
| |||||
Growth | +7.39% | +7.62% | +4.56% | +5.22% | +5.99% |
Benchmark | +8.48% | +8.76% | +5.57% | +5.95% | +6.71% |
Variance | -1.09% | -1.14% | -1.01% | -0.73% | -0.72% |
| |||||
High Growth | +8.84% | +10.16% | +5.90% | +7.48% | +8.59% |
Benchmark | +11.33% | +12.95% | +8.40% | +9.20% | +10.02% |
Variance | -2.49% | -2.79% | -2.50% | -1.72% | -1.43% |
2025–26 Asset Allocation
The cash objective is to provide customers with a very low risk strategy designed to achieve a return comparable to the 90-day bank bill rate and provide the advantage of having funds available at 24-hour call for amounts of up to $1 million.
2025–26 Capital Stable Standard Investment Strategy
Common Fund | Allocation (%) 2025-26 | Allocation (%) 2024-25 | ||||
Neutral | Period End | $m | Neutral | Period End | $m | |
Australian Shares | 12.0% | 11.3% | 22.81 | 12.0% | 10.2% | 19.35 |
Overseas Shares | 10.0% | 9.7% | 19.63 | 10.0% | 10.5% | 19.97 |
Property | 12.0% | 12.4% | 25.07 | 12.0% | 12.9% | 24.42 |
Long Term Fixed Interest | 16.0% | 16.3% | 33.07 | 16.0% | 15.8% | 29.92 |
Short Term Fixed Interest | 24.0% | 24.3% | 49.25 | 24.0% | 24.5% | 46.55 |
Overseas Fixed Interest | 14.0% | 13.8% | 27.90 | 14.0% | 13.8% | 26.21 |
Cash | 12.0% | 12.2% | 24.81 | 12.0% | 12.3% | 23.33 |
TOTAL | 100% | 100% | 202.54 | 100% | 100% | 189.75 |
2025–26 Balanced Standard Investment Strategy
Common Fund | Allocation (%) 2025-26 | Allocation (%) 2024-25 | ||||
Neutral | Period End | $m | Neutral | Period End | $m | |
Australian Shares | 21.0% | 19.9% | 62.00 | 21.0% | 19.8% | 59.70 |
Overseas Shares | 18.0% | 17.6% | 54.88 | 18.0% | 17.1% | 51.49 |
Property | 21.0% | 21.9% | 68.13 | 22.5% | 24.4% | 73.70 |
Long Term Fixed Interest | 16.0% | 16.5% | 51.36 | 16.0% | 15.9% | 48.14 |
Short Term Fixed Interest | 6.0% | 6.1% | 19.12 | 6.0% | 6.2% | 18.73 |
Overseas Fixed Interest | 14.0% | 13.9% | 43.32 | 13.0% | 13.0% | 39.18 |
Cash | 4.0% | 4.1% | 12.85 | 3.5% | 3.6% | 10.95 |
TOTAL | 100% | 100% | 311.66 | 100% | 100% | 301.89 |
2025–26 Growth Standard Investment Strategy
Common Fund | Allocation (%) 2025-26 | Allocation (%) 2024-25 | ||||
Neutral | Period End | $m | Neutral | Period End | $m | |
Australian Shares | 27.0% | 25.7% | 57.27 | 29.0% | 25.0% | 55.23 |
Overseas Shares | 26.0% | 25.6% | 56.95 | 24.0% | 25.7% | 56.71 |
Property | 22.0% | 23.1% | 51.28 | 24.0% | 26.1% | 57.71 |
Long Term Fixed Interest | 10.0% | 10.4% | 23.06 | 10.0% | 10.0% | 22.09 |
Short Term Fixed Interest | 4.0% | 4.1% | 9.16 | 4.0% | 4.1% | 9.17 |
Overseas Fixed Interest | 8.0% | 8.0% | 17.79 | 6.0% | 6.0% | 13.27 |
Cash | 3.0% | 3.1% | 6.92 | 3.0% | 3.1% | 6.89 |
TOTAL | 100% | 100% | 222.43 | 100% | 100% | 221.07 |
2025–26 High Growth Standard Investment Strategy
Common Fund | Allocation (%) 2025-26 | Allocation (%) 2024-25 | ||||
Neutral | Period End | $m | Neutral | Period End | $m | |
Australian Shares | 50.0% | 49.0% | 44.71 | 55.0% | 49.6% | 43.89 |
Overseas Shares | 45.0% | 45.6% | 41.54 | 45.0% | 50.4% | 44.56 |
Property | 5.0% | 5.4% | 4.91 | 100% | 100% | 88.45 |
TOTAL | 100% | 100% | 91.16 | 100% | 100% | 88.45 |