Public sector corporate governance disclosures: An examination of annual reporting practices in queensland

In the public secret; corporate governance is an expression that is yet to be explicitly defined. This paper examines the existing public sector liter ature in order to derive a set of broad principles of corporate governance in the public secret: These principles are then applied through a content a nalysis of corporate governance disclosures in a group of government-owned corporations, state government departments, local governments and statutory bodies. The results indicate the set of principles derived is generally ap plicable to various forms of public entities. However due to a lack of an e stablished public sector corporate governance framework, the disclosure of corporate governance is piecemeal. Government-owned corporations achieved b etter disclosure practices in most principles than other public sector bodi es. The paper aims to stimulate debate on public sector corporate governanc e and provides a basis for a more extensive survey on corporate governance disclosures.