Our financial structure

We are required to maintain a strong financial position and to meet shareholder return obligations, including the payment of dividends to the Australian Government (based on 60 per cent of NPAT).

Our funding model

We do not receive funding directly from the Federal Budget. We have access to a government-provided debt facility and fund our operations through:

• the receipt of fees and charges from Defence for our services
• generating revenue from:
  • selling and leasing back properties through our SLB program
  • the disposal of excess land and completed properties from our developments
  • the disposal of properties that no longer meet minimum Defence standards or requirements.

We are a full tax-paying entity in relation to federal taxes (e.g. corporate income tax, goods and services tax [GST] and fringe benefit tax [FBT]). We also pay state- and territory-based taxes (e.g. stamp duty and land tax) or an equivalent in accordance with competitive neutrality requirements.

Our credit rating

Standard & Poor's Rating Services conducts an annual credit rating assessment of DHA.

Their report issued on 17 December 2015 confirmed a corporate credit rating for DHA of AA+/Stable/A-1+. This rating is reflective of their assessment of the effect of government ownership and the level of support implied by that ownership.

Standard & Poor's also provided a stand-alone credit profile of DHA as BBB+. The rating is one notch above the BBB target credit rating for GBEs specified in the GBE guidelines.