Bills Digest No. 219 1997-98
Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill 1998-99
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as introduced
and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest does not have
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the subsequent official status of the Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Endnotes
Contact Officer and Copyright Details
Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill 1998-99
Date Introduced: 12 May
1998
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Finance and
Administration
Commencement: On Royal
Assent.
To appropriate $138 090 000 from
the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) for the recurrent and capital expenditure
of the five parliamentary departments for the 1998-99 financial year.
This Bill forms part of a three-part package relating
to government finance and covers expenditure for the five parliamentary
departments. The other parts of the package are:
- Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 1998-99 which covers expenditure for the
ordinary annual services of the government; and
- Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 1998-99 which covers expenditure on:
- capital works and services
- payments to the States and Territories
- expenditure on any new programs not covered by other legislation.
(a) Glossary of Terms
Appropriation - is the setting apart, assigning
or applying to a particular use or to a particular person a sum of money.
In the budget context an appropriation usually refers to an authorisation
by Parliament to draw on funds from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).
Budget Outlays - refer to the net cost to the
taxpayer of providing government services. Appropriations/payments out
of the CRF are adjusted to take account (for example) of many government
receipts. Hence a hypothetical government program 'XYZ' may have a total
appropriation of $600 million but this may only represent budget outlays
of $500 million if the 'XYZ' receives income of $100 million from other
(non budget) sources.
Running costs - are the full current and minor
capital costs incurred by a department or agency in providing government
services for which the department or agency is responsible. For many departments,
staff salaries will represent the largest proportion of such costs.
(b) Overview
Since 1982, the appropriations for the Parliamentary
Departments have been effected by a separate Bill. This followed the Fraser
Government's consideration of the Report of the Senate Select Committee
(the Select Committee) on Parliamentary Appropriations and Staffing tabled
on 18 August 1981.
Under current arrangements, the executive government
maintains control over the contents of the Bill as introduced. In theory
however, as the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill is not
for the ordinary annual services of the government, it may be amended
by the Senate.
The Public Service Act 1922 provides that the
administration of the Parliament is undertaken by five Parliamentary Departments
- the Department of the Senate, the Department of the House of Representatives,
the Joint House Department, the Department of the Parliamentary Reporting
Staff (DPRS) and the Department of the Parliamentary Library.
The Department of the House of Representatives and the
Department of the Senate are responsible for the provision of procedural,
information and administrative services to Members and Senators respectively.
The Joint House Department performs building management, maintenance and
catering functions associated with Parliament House. DPRS provides reporting,
information technology, telecommunications and broadcasting services to
the Parliament through Hansard, the Parliamentary Information Systems
Office (PISO) and the Sound and Vision Office (SAVO). The Department of
the Parliamentary Library is responsible for the provision of library,
reference and research services to the Parliament.
This Bill appropriates a total of $138 090 000 for all
five departments for the 1998-99 financial year.
The Schedule in the Bill deals with the allocation of
expenditure for each department.(1) Expenditure for each department is
then divided into running costs and other services.
(c) Impact on Departments
House of Representatives
Total underlying outlays fall from $42.673m in 1997-98
to an estimated $42.187m in the current year and are estimated to fall
to $41.489m by 1999-2000.(2)
The Department notes in its 1998-99 Portfolio Budget
Statement that:
The Department's running costs appropriation for 1998-99 will be $23.994m
which reflects a decrease of $0.128m from last year's net appropriation
of $24.122m. The decrease reflects the effect of continuation of the 1%
efficiency dividend, application of a price parameter adjustment, a variation
in the level of carryover, supplementation for the cost of competitive
neutrality charges for the Australian Protective Service and user charges,
and a reduction reflecting a transfer of the Members' travelling allowance
function to the Department of Finance and Administration.
Priority will continue to be accorded to the department's procedural and
advisory services in support of the Chamber and the Main Committee and
to procedural, research, analytical and drafting services to support committees
established by the House of Representatives and certain joint committees.
Priority will also be accorded to services to Members, and to Parliamentary
security.(3)
Department of the Senate
Total underlying outlays rise from $32.982m in 1997-98
to an estimated $35.792m in the current year but are estimated to fall
to $33.376m by 1999-2000.(4)
The Department notes in its 1998-99 Portfolio Budget
Statement that:
The proposed appropriation of $26.365m for running costs and other services
should be adequate for all anticipated departmental purposes. This figure
comprises $25.950m in running costs and $0.415m in other services funding
for the Parliament's Citizenship Visit Program (CVP). While the figure
reflects a 1% efficiency dividend deduction applicable to all Commonwealth
departments, there has been no other budget cut as such and no new policy
proposals requiring additional funding.
The proposed appropriation of $26.365m is $0.351m higher than the estimated
appropriation for 1997-98. In general terms, this reflects deductions
for the efficiency dividend ($0.240m), transfer to the Department of Finance
and Administration of the Senate department's previous function in administering
senators' travelling allowance ($0.054m, $0.030m in future years), and
recovery of superannuation supplementation ($0.185m). Additions include
adjustments and supplementation for the cost of living ($0.361m), CVP
($0.029m), new Australian Protective Service imposts ($0.147m) an increased
carry-over between 1997-98 and 1998-99 ($0.270m) and minor items ($0.023m).(5)
Joint House Department
Total underlying outlays rise from $33.105m in 1997-98
to an estimated $35.958m in the current year but are estimated to fall
to $32.590m by 1999-2000.(6)
Department of Parliamentary Reporting Staff
Total underlying outlays rise from $32.872m in 1997-98
to an estimated $33.273m in the current year but are estimated to fall
to $32.512m by 1999-2000.(7)
The Department notes in its 1998-99 Portfolio Budget
Statement that:
The principal Budget adjustments for 1998-99 are a 1% reduction in running
costs by means of the annual efficiency dividend imposed by government
on the majority of budget funded departments and agencies and a reduction
of $0.444m in telecommunications funds as a result of the whole of the
government savings hypothecated to individual departments and agencies.
A permanent reduction of $0.470m in the Forward Estimates from 1999-2000
reflects savings in telecommunications costs flowing from 'whole of government'
telecommunications arrangements announced in the 1996-97 Budget. The Forward
Estimates for 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 are also reduced by $0.100m and
$0.791m respectively to reflect information technology infrastructure
savings also flowing from 'whole of government' information technology
measures.(8)
Department of the Parliamentary Library
Total underlying outlays rise from $14.810m in 1997-98
to an estimated $15.255m in the current year but are estimated to fall
to $14.753m by 1999-2000.(9)
The Department notes in its 1998-99 Portfolio Budget
Statement that:
DPL's running costs base for 1998-99 has fallen slightly from $15.034m
in 1997-98 to $15.004m in 1998-99, but the only significant variation
has been the normal 1% efficiency dividend.
Salaries will absorb 72.4% of DPL's running costs in 1998-99, with collection
development accounting for 10% of running costs. A further 5.8% is allocated
for information technology, which is crucial to the Library's capacity
to deliver quality services in the time frames required by Senators and
Members. The remaining 11.8% while notionally discretionary expenditure,
is committed to mandatory charges (such as compensation premiums) and
essential service support (such as training and development of staff)
fundamental to DPL's future effectiveness.
The implementation of the single client service program was finalised
in 1997-98 and improvements in client service continued to be made through
integrated and flexible use of the combined skills of both the information
and research specialists.(10)
Clause 4 provides that the Minister for Finance is authorised
to appropriate a total of $138 090 000 from the CRF for the purposes listed
in the Schedule of the Bill. These funds amount to the estimated
cost of the services provided by all five parliamentary departments for
the 1998-99 financial year.
Clause 6 allows the Minister, based on determinations
of the Presiding Officers, to draw additional funds from the CRF for increases
in salaries and payments during the year ending 30 June 1999. Any additional
amounts drawn must be reported to the Parliament.
Clauses 4 and 6 must be read with Clause 12.
This provides that amounts appropriated are not to be debited
from the CRF after 30 June 1999.
Clause 11 allows both the President and the Speaker
to make advances of up to $300 000 each to cover unforseen, erroneously
omitted or understated appropriations proposed by the Bill in relation
to the Senate or the House of Representatives.
In addition, the President and the Speaker can make a
joint advance totalling $1 000 000 to cover urgent and unforeseen circumstances
in relation to the Parliamentary Reporting Staff, the Parliamentary Library
and the Joint House Department.
- Budget Paper No. 4 1998-99, 83.
- Department of the House of Representatives, Portfolio Budget Statements
1998-99, 9.
- Ibid., 4.
- Department of the Senate, Portfolio Budget Statements 1998-99,
8.
- Ibid., 4.
- Joint House Department, Portfolio Budget Statements 1998-99,
17.
- Department of the Parliamentary Reporting Staff, Portfolio Budget
Statements 1998-99, 8.
- Ibid: Opening Statement to President and Speaker.
- Department of the Parliamentary Library, Portfolio Budget Statements
1998-99, 14
- Ibid., 5
Ross Kilmurray
25 May 1998
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
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ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 1998
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library, 1998.
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