Appendix B -- Comparison of AASB 1051 with AASs 27, 29 and 31

This Appendix accompanies, but is not part of, AASB 1051.

The requirements of this Standard differ from the requirements contained in AASs 27 Financial Reporting by Local Governments, AAS 29 Financial Reporting by Government Departments and AAS 31 Financial Reporting by Governments (as amended), and expresses the requirements generically. The main differences between AASB 1051 and AASs 27, 29 and 31 (as amended) are:

(a)            this Standard extends indefinitely the relief from the requirement to recognise land under roads acquired before the end of the first reporting period ending on or after 31 December 2007. AASs 27, 29 and 31 provided recognition relief only for a transitional period;

(b)            AASs 27, 29 and 31 encouraged entities to recognise land under roads as an asset wherever it can be measured reliably. Consistent with the AASB’s policy of not including encouragements within Standards, this encouragement has not been included in this Standard;

(c)            this Standard notes that AASB 116 Property, Plant and Equipment applies to land under roads acquired after the end of the first reporting period ending on or after 31 December 2007. AASs 27, 29 and 31 would have required that AASB 116 be retrospectively applied to land under roads after the end of the transitional period;

(d)            in certain circumstances this Standard allows an entity, in relation to land under roads acquired before the end of the first reporting period ending on or after 31 December 2007, to elect to adopt the fair value (as at the date of that election) or a previous revaluation under the “fair value or revaluation as deemed cost” exemptions contained in AASB 1 First-time Adoption of Australian Equivalents to International Financial Reporting Standards, as if it were adopting Australian equivalents to IFRSs for the first time. AASs 27, 29 and 31 did not contain this relief;

(e)            AASs 29 and 31 did not explicitly require that, if the recognised amounts of land under roads acquired before the end of the first reporting period ending on or after 31 December 2007 are revised, up until the first day of the next reporting period, to reflect a reassessment of the factors used to determine those recognised amounts, the net amount of the resultant adjustments be made against accumulated surplus (deficiency) in the reporting periods in which the recognised amounts are revised; and

(f)            this Standard extends the requirements to General Government Sectors.