Bills Digest no. 110 2014–15
PDF version [653KB]
WARNING: This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as introduced and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest does not have any official legal status. Other sources should be consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the Bill.
Tarek Dale, Daniel Weight and Dinty Mather
Economics Section
3 June 2015
Contents
The Bills Digest at a
glance
Purpose
of the Bill
Structure
of the Bill
Background
Financial
implications
Statement
of Compatibility with Human Rights
Key
issues and provisions
Date introduced: 12
May 2015
House: House of
Representatives
Portfolio: Finance
Commencement: Royal
Assent.
Links: The links to the Bills, their
Explanatory Memoranda and second reading speeches can be found on the Bills’
home pages for the Appropriation
Bill (No. 5) 2014–2015 and the Appropriation
Bill (No. 6) 2014–2015, or through the Australian
Parliament website.
When Bills have been passed and have received Royal Assent, they
become Acts, which can be found at the ComLaw
website.
Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2014–2015
and Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2014–2015 underpin the Government’s decisions
relating to the 2014–15 financial year, taken since the 2014–15 Mid-Year
Economic and Fiscal Outlook. Additional Appropriation Bills tabled late in
the year allow the Government to fund new programs announced in the Budget, but
which commence before the start of the next financial year, and make other
technical adjustments in anticipation of the 2015–16 Budget.
This Bills Digest contains background material including
the constitutional and other requirements for Appropriation Bills, and a
summary of the information available on the purpose of the appropriations.
The Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2014–2015 (the No. 5 Bill)
seeks to appropriate $376,690,000 out of the consolidated revenue fund (CRF)
for the ordinary annual services of the Government.
The Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2014–2015 (the No. 6 Bill)
seeks to appropriate $422,679,000 out of the CRF for the other services of the
Government that are not the ordinary annual services of the Government.
Part 1 of each Bill deals with preliminary matters,
including when the Acts commence, and how to interpret them.
Part 2 of each Bill outlines the quantum and types
of appropriation from the CRF.
Part 3 of each Bill replenishes the relevant
Advance to the Finance Minister (AFM).[1]
Part 4 of each Bill deals with several technical
matters, including details relating to special accounts and formally appropriates
the amounts required from the CRF.
Schedule 1 of each Bill provides the amounts of the
appropriations to be made to the departments and other Commonwealth bodies
listed.
An appropriation is the legal release of moneys from the
CRF.[2]
The annual Appropriation Acts are the authoritative source for details of
annual appropriations provided to agencies. The Acts take precedence over
budget papers, portfolio budget statements and other associated materials.
There are certain unique constitutional requirements that
a Bill proposing to appropriate moneys must satisfy. An appropriation Bill must
also comply with certain presentational requirements.
Section 81 of the Constitution provides that:
All revenues or moneys raised or received by the Executive
Government of the Commonwealth shall form one Consolidated Revenue Fund, to be
appropriated for the purposes of the Commonwealth ...[3]
Section 83 of the Constitution provides that no
money may be withdrawn from the CRF ‘except under appropriation made by law’.[4]
The effect of these two sections is that all moneys
received by the Commonwealth must be paid into the CRF, and must not be spent
before there is an appropriation authorising specific expenditure.
Appropriation Acts do not create a source of power for the
Commonwealth to spend money; they merely release that money from the CRF. The
Commonwealth’s power to spend money must be found either in an authority in the
Constitution (other than the appropriation provision) or under a valid law of
the Commonwealth.[5]
Proposed laws appropriating moneys may not originate in the
Senate.[6]
Further, under section 56 of the Constitution, all proposed laws for the
appropriation of money may only be introduced following a recommendation by the
Governor-General.[7]
By convention the Governor–General acts only upon the advice of the Executive,
so section 56 prevents non–government members of the House of Representatives
introducing Bills that would propose to appropriate money from the CRF.[8]
Section 54 of the Constitution requires that there
be a separate law appropriating funds for the ‘ordinary annual services of
government’, and that other matters must not be dealt with in the same Bill.[9]
However, what constitutes the ‘ordinary annual services of the Government’ and
‘other’ services of the Government is not defined in the Constitution.
A working distinction between ordinary and other annual
services was agreed in a ‘Compact’ between the Senate and the Government in
1965.[10]
Several amendments have been made to the Compact since 1965, and in 2010 the
Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations and Staffing recommended the Senate
restate the Compact in a consolidated form.[11]
On 22 June 2010, the Senate resolved as follows:
(1) To
reaffirm its constitutional right to amend proposed laws appropriating revenue
or moneys for expenditure on all matters not involving the ordinary annual
services of the Government.
(2) That appropriations for expenditure on:
(a) the
construction of public works and buildings;
(b) the
acquisition of sites and buildings;
(c) items of plant and
equipment which are clearly definable as capital expenditure (but not including
the acquisition of computers or the fitting out of buildings);
(d) grants to the
states under section 96 of the Constitution;
(e) new policies
not previously authorised by special legislation;
(f) items
regarded as equity injections and loans; and
(g) existing asset
replacement (which is to be regarded as depreciation),
are not appropriations for the ordinary annual services of
the Government and that proposed laws for the appropriation of revenue or
moneys for expenditure on the said matters shall be presented to the Senate in
a separate appropriation bill subject to amendment by the Senate.
(3) That, in respect of payments to international
organisations:
(a) the initial payment
in effect represents a new policy decision and therefore should be in
Appropriation Bill (No. 2); and
(b) subsequent payments
represent a continuing government activity of supporting the international
organisation and therefore represent an ordinary annual service and should be
in Appropriation Bill (No. 1).
(4) That
all appropriation items for continuing activities for which appropriations have
been made in the past be regarded as part of ordinary annual services.[12]
Adherence to the Compact has not always been strict, and
the High Court has held that any disagreements between the Houses are not
justiciable.[13]
Any disputes are to be determined between the Houses themselves.
Section 53 of the Constitution provides, among
other things, that the Senate may not amend proposed laws appropriating revenue
or moneys for the ordinary annual services of the Government. The Senate may,
however, return to the House of Representatives any such proposed laws
requesting, by message, the omission or amendment of any items or provisions.
The Senate may amend proposed laws appropriating revenue
for purposes other than for the ordinary annual services of the Government, as
long as it does not ‘increase any proposed charge or burden on the people.’[14]
Conceivably, the Senate could amend an appropriation Bill for the other
services of government so as to, for example, redirect the proposed
appropriation to another purpose, or reduce the proposed appropriation to nil.
The Senate may also request that, if new measures are included in a Bill for the
‘ordinary annual services of government’, the Bill be returned to the House
with a message requesting those new measures be omitted from the Bill.
Each year, Appropriation Bill (No. 1) is introduced with
the Budget and appropriates funds for the ‘ordinary annual services of the
Government’. Appropriation Bill (No. 2)—which is also introduced with the
Budget—appropriates funds for other annual services. A third Appropriation
Bill—Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1)—funds the
parliamentary departments.
Funding requirements usually change after the Budget is
brought down. The Government may require additional funding if the amounts in
the three budget Appropriation Acts are inadequate. If so, the Government has
to seek parliamentary approval for the additional expenditure. The process
whereby additional funds are provided is called ‘additional estimates’ and
usually begins around November of the budget year. The approved additional
funding is incorporated into Appropriation Bills (No. 3) and (No. 4) and
Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 2). These Bills are the
counterparts of Appropriation Bills (No. 1) and (No. 2) and Appropriation
(Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) respectively.
In some years, the Government may decide to introduce
further Appropriation Bills following the additional estimates process. When
this occurs, it is often done at the same time that the next year’s budget
Bills are tabled. Additional Appropriation Bills tabled late in the year allow
the Government to fund new programs announced in the Budget, but which commence
before the start of the next financial year, and make other technical
adjustments in anticipation of the next year’s budget.
In addition to the annual appropriation Bills, a number of
other pieces of legislation contain appropriations (special or ‘standing’
appropriations) that enable payments to be made in relation to a variety of
programs and purposes. Payments enabled by special appropriations are not
affected by the passage of either of the annual Appropriation Bills. Some
examples include:
- welfare
payments and pensions are enabled by a special appropriation in the Social
Security Act 1999
- Medicare
payments are enabled by a special appropriation in the Health Insurance Act
1973
- payments
of the interest and principal on Australia’s debt are provided for by standing
appropriations in sections 13AA, 13A, and 13B of the Commonwealth Inscribed
Stock Act 1911 and
- payments
to the states and territories are provided for by a special appropriation in
the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009.
The 2015–16 Budget estimates an expenditure of $340,273,905,000
from special appropriations in 2015–16, compared to a total of $95,971,772,000
through the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2015–2016 and Appropriation
Bill (No. 2) 2015–16, and $233,415,000 through the Appropriation
(Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2015–2016.[15]
Australian Accounting Standard 1050 Administered Items
requires that government agencies distinguish between revenues and expenses
that they administer for the Government, and those over which they have some
control.[16]
Generally, administered expenses are the costs of programs that agencies run
for the Government, while departmental expenses are the costs incurred in
running agencies.[17]
Appropriation Bills, therefore, distinguish between ‘administered’
expenses and ‘departmental’ expenses. An administered appropriation may be used
only for the program or outcome that it is appropriated for, while a
departmental appropriation may be moved between different departmental
activities.[18]
Purposes
While the level of detail necessary for an Appropriation
Act to be valid is generally low,[19]
in the Pharmaceutical Benefits case the High Court held that:
... there cannot be appropriations in blank, appropriations for
no designated purpose, merely authorising expenditure ... [20]
The Appropriation Bills must, therefore, also describe—in
general terms—what the moneys are to be utilised for. The Bills use four
methods for describing the purposes of the proposed appropriations.
Appropriations for ‘outcomes’ of
non-corporate Commonwealth entities
For non-corporate Commonwealth entities, the purposes of
operating appropriations (both departmental and administered) are specified
with references to the ‘outcomes’ of those entities. Outcomes are the ‘results,
consequences or impacts of Government actions’.[21]
Appropriations for corporate
Commonwealth entities
As corporate Commonwealth entities are legally distinct from
the Commonwealth itself,[22]
monies cannot be appropriated directly to those entities. Instead, amounts are
appropriated to relevant Departments for on‑payment to corporate
Commonwealth entities within Departments’ portfolios.
Non-operating appropriations
Non-operating appropriations are amounts designated for the
capital needs of entities. Typically, these amounts are equity injections into
entities, or monies for the purchase or development of the assets of entities. Under
the Compact, they can only ever be proposed in a Bill dealing with the ‘other’
annual services of Government.
Appropriations for payments to the
states
Under section 96 of the Constitution, the
Commonwealth may make payments to the states with or without conditions, and
amounts intended for payments to the states are identified separately. Again,
because of the Compact, amounts to the states can only ever be proposed in a
Bill dealing with the ‘other’ annual services of Government. Amounts to the
Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory are also included with
the amounts for the states.
The Advance to the Finance Minister (AFM) is the
appropriation of moneys to the Finance Minister without any particular outcome
or purpose specified. The AFM is established in the first two Appropriation
Acts each year,[23]
and is subsequently replenished whenever supplementary Appropriation Acts are
passed. The Finance Minister may allocate the moneys appropriated as AFM to
outcomes already provided for in that same Appropriation Act where the Finance Minister
is satisfied that there is an urgent need for expenditure, in the current year,
that is not provided for, or is insufficiently provided for, in the existing
Appropriation Act:
- because
of an erroneous omission or understatement or
- because
the expenditure was unforeseen until after the last day on which it was
practicable to provide for it in the Bill for the Act before it was introduced
into the House of Representatives.
The amount of appropriation allocated to the AFM each year
has typically been limited to
$295 million for the ordinary annual services of government, and $380 million
for the other annual services of government. The Finance Minister tables an
annual report in Parliament on the use of the AFM.[24]
The No. 5 Bill seeks to appropriate $376,690,000 from the
CRF.[25]
The No. 6 Bill seeks to appropriate $422,679,000 from the CRF.[26]
The total amount of money the two Bills seek to appropriate is $799,369,000.
The Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights can be
found at page four of each of the Explanatory Memoranda to the Bills. As
required under Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
(Cth), the Government has assessed the Bills’ compatibility with the human
rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments
listed in section 3 of that Act. The Government considers that the Bills are compatible.
In relation to previous appropriation Bills, the
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights has stated:
The committee notes that it does not anticipate it will
generally be necessary for it to make substantive comments on appropriation
bills... Nonetheless, the committee considers that there may be cases in which
the committee considers it appropriate to comment on such bills. These might
include specific appropriation bills or specific appropriations where there is
an evident and substantial link to the carrying out of policy or programs under
legislation that gives rise to human rights concerns and where the issues have
not been adequately addressed in its examination of the substantive legislation
or there has not been an opportunity for such examination.
The committee, however, notes that appropriation bills are
highly technical in nature and it is likely to be difficult for the committee
to identify particular human rights concerns in the time available. The
committee would therefore find it helpful if the statements of compatibility
accompanying these bills identified any proposed cuts in expenditure which may
amount to retrogression or limitations on human rights, in particular economic,
social and cultural rights.[27]
Part 1 of each of the No. 5 and No. 6 Bills deals
with preliminary matters, including when the Acts commence, and how to
interpret the Acts. Clause 4 of each of the No. 5 and No. 6 Bills
provides that the accompanying Portfolio Statements may be used as extrinsic
materials to interpret the Acts.[28]
Part 2 of each of the No. 5 and No. 6 Bills
outlines the quantum and types of appropriation from the consolidated revenue
fund.[29]
In the No. 5 Bill, the money is appropriated to
departments as departmental or administered appropriation for outcomes, or
payments for corporate Commonwealth entities within the meaning of the Public
Governance, Performance and Accountability Act. The details of
appropriations are outlined in Schedule 1 of that Bill.[30]
In the No. 6 Bill, the money is appropriated to
departments as appropriations for:
- grants
to the states, territories and local governments
- new
programs
- non-operating
(or ‘capital’) appropriations
- payments
to departments for on-payment to corporate Commonwealth entities under the Public
Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
In both Bills, the ‘Note’ to clause 6 indicates
that some sections of the former Financial Management and Accountability Act
1997 continue to apply due to the Public Governance, Performance and
Accountability Act (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2014.[31]
Part 3 of the each of the No. 5 and No. 6 Bills
replenishes the AFM. The replenishment of the AFM established under Appropriation
Act (No. 1) 2014–15 and Appropriation Act (No. 2) 2014–15 means that
the Finance Minister, after the passage of the two Bills, will have the same
amount of discretionary appropriation available as at the start of the financial
year.
Part 4 of each of the No. 5 and No. 6 Bills ensures
that if an appropriation is made for purposes that are covered by a Special
Account, then the Special Account is replenished by the same amount as the
appropriation: clause 11 in the No. 5 Bill and clause 13 in
the No. 6 Bill.[32]
Part 4 also contains the provisions formally appropriating moneys from
the CRF, subject to the effect of certain provisions of the Public
Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2014 and the Financial
Management Act (as it continues to apply due to the Public Governance,
Performance and Accountability Act (Consequential and Transitional Provisions)
Act 2014): clause 12 in the No. 5 Bill and clause 14 in the
No. 6 Bill.
Schedule 1 in each of the No. 5 and No. 6 Bills
specifies the amounts to be appropriated for individual departments, and
payments for Commonwealth entities.
Funding amounts in the No. 5 and
No. 6 (2014–15) Bills
The Portfolio Supplementary Additional Estimates Statements
(PSAESs) provide some information on the additional appropriations included in
Appropriation Bills No. 5 and No. 6. However the level of detail provided
varies between portfolios. The following list summarises some of the key
information available from the PSAESs, the Appropriation Bills and the second
reading speeches.
The appropriation amounts do not directly reflect the
funding attached to particular measures—rather, the appropriation to a
particular agency or department reflects the net appropriation requirement in
2014–15 after the interaction of a number of policy changes and other factors.
Attorney-General’s Portfolio
- $1.362
million in the No. 5 Bill to fund redundancy payments in the Office of the
Director of Public Prosecutions.[33]
Defence Portfolio
- In
the No. 6 Bill, ‘... just under $412 million’ for the Department of Defence,
‘reflecting funding for supplementation for foreign exchange movements and the
net effect of the reallocation of funds between running costs and capital’.[34]
Immigration and Border Protection Portfolio
- In
the No. 5 Bill, ‘... just under $248 million in 2014–15 to fund resettlement
activities and costs’.[35]
Industry and Science Portfolio
- $1.829
million in the No. 5 Bill, to fund redundancy payments in Geoscience Australia.[36]
Infrastructure and Regional Development Portfolio
- $29.577
million in Bill No. 5 in additional appropriations for the Australian Transport
Safety Bureau, ‘for government assistance in relation to the search for
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370’.[37]
Social Services Portfolio
- In
the No. 5 Bill, ‘... just under $48 million. This includes funding to allow the
Government to make payments under the Zero Real Interest Loans programme’.[38]
- In
the No. 6 Bill, ‘$10 million to continue the development of My Aged Care
Gateway which provides a single entry point to access information on ageing and
aged care including to locate and access aged care services’.[39]
Treasury Portfolio
- $36.2
million in Bill No. 5 for the Treasury to ‘engage with the community on
economic challenges— particularly those highlighted in the 2015
Intergenerational Report’.[40]
- $0.8
million in Bill No. 6 for the Inspector General of Taxation ‘for additional
capital funding to support the establishing of the complaints handling
function’.[41]
Funding for public service
redundancies
As noted above, a small portion of the funds appropriated
through the No. 5 Bill relate to funding for public service redundancies. The
Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2014–15 is the final appropriation Bill which appropriates
amounts for a measure initially announced in the 2013–14 Mid-Year Economic
and Fiscal Outlook to provide funding for public service redundancies (‘the
measure’).[42]
While the initial budget measure did not specify amounts, subsequent
appropriation bills and associated portfolio budget statements have in some
cases identified appropriations associated with the measure.[43]
The table below summarises the amounts provided to different
agencies under the measures in the 2013–14 and 2014–15 financial years, as
identified in various budget papers. Based on the various budget papers, the
total amount identifiable in relation to the measure from various budget papers
is $164.761 million, provided to 33 agencies.
In the 2015–16 Budget, Budget Paper No. 4 stated that
‘The Government has provided $212 million to 38 agencies to assist with
redundancies’, which suggests that the $164.761 million
to 33 agencies has been supplemented by additional funding of approximately $47
million to a further five agencies.[44]
However, the five agencies and associated appropriations are not explicitly
identified in the budget papers.
Table 1 Redundancy funding
|
Portfolio
|
Agency
|
Redundancy funding ($m)
|
|
|
|
2013–14
|
2014–15
|
|
Agriculture
|
Department of Agriculture
|
19.114[45]
|
6.821[46]
|
|
Attorney-General’s
|
Australian Crime Commission
|
0.795[47]
|
1.15[48]
|
|
|
Australian Federal Police
|
-
|
9.93[49]
|
|
|
Australian Human Rights
Commission
|
-
|
1.05[50]
|
|
|
Australian National Maritime
Museum
|
1.137[51]
|
-
|
|
|
Australian Transaction
Reports and Analysis Centre
|
-
|
0.216[52]
|
|
|
National Film and Sound
Archive of Australia
|
1.260[53]
|
-
|
|
|
National Gallery of
Australia
|
-
|
0.519[54]
|
|
|
National Museum of Australia
|
0.27[55]
|
-
|
|
|
Office of the Director of
Public Prosecutions
|
-
|
0.98 + 1.362 = 2.342[56]
|
|
|
Old Parliament House
|
0.168[57]
|
0.210[58]
|
|
Communications
|
Australian Communications
and Media Authority
|
-
|
1.982[59]
|
|
|
Department of Communications
|
-
|
4.431[60]
|
|
Environment
|
Department of the
Environment
|
9[61]
|
-
|
|
|
Great Barrier Reef Marine
Park Authority
|
0.42[62]
|
0.449[63]
|
|
Foreign Affairs and Trade
|
Australian Trade Commission
|
0.76[64]
|
-
|
|
Health
|
Australian Radiation
Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency
|
0.48[65]
|
|
|
|
Australian Sports
Anti-Doping Authority
|
0.671[66]
|
|
|
|
Australian Sports Commission
|
-
|
2.478[67]
|
|
|
Department of Health
|
0.75[68]
|
4.127[69]
|
|
|
Food Standards Australia New
Zealand
|
0.75[70]
|
|
|
|
National Health and Medical Research
Council
|
-
|
0.54[71]
|
|
Immigration and Border
Protection
|
Australian and Customs
Border Protection Service
|
10.5[72]
|
-
|
|
|
Migration Review Tribunal
and Refugee Review Tribunal
|
-
|
0.53[73]
|
|
Industry and Science
|
Australian Nuclear Science
and Technology Organisation
|
0.26[74]
|
1.05[75]
|
|
|
Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organisation
|
32.2[76]
|
-
|
|
|
Geoscience Australia
|
4.464[77]
|
1.829[78]
|
|
Infrastructure and Regional
Development
|
Australian Transport Safety
Bureau
|
0.795[79]
|
0.545[80]
|
|
Parliamentary Services
|
Department of Parliamentary
Services
|
-
|
1.6[81]
|
|
Prime Minister and Cabinet
|
Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet
|
25[82]
|
-
|
|
|
Office of the Commonwealth
Ombudsman
|
-
|
0.7[83]
|
|
|
Office of the Official
Secretary to the Governor-General
|
-
|
0.168[84]
|
|
Social Services
|
Department of Social
Services
|
13.3[85]
|
-
|
|
Financial year totals
|
122.094
|
42.667
|
|
Total amounts identified
in various budget papers
|
164.761
|
Members, Senators and Parliamentary staff can obtain
further information from the Parliamentary Library on (02) 6277 2500.
[1]. The
AFM is, broadly speaking, the appropriation of moneys to the Finance Minister
without any particular outcome or purpose specified, to enable the Finance
Minister to allocate moneys where there is an urgent need for expenditure, in
the current year, that is not provided for, or is insufficiently provided for,
in the existing Appropriation Act, subject to certain conditions. The framework
for the AFM is discussed in more detail below.
[2]. Department of Finance, ‘
Summary of annual appropriations’, Department
of Finance website, accessed 1 June 2015.
[3]. The Constitution,
section 81, accessed 1 June 2015.
[4]. The Constitution,
section 83, accessed 1 June 2015.
[5]. Pape
v Commissioner of Taxation (2009) 238 CLR 1, [2009] HCA 23,
accessed 1 June 2015.
[6]. The Constitution,
section 53, accessed 26 May 2015.
[7]. The Constitution,
section 56, accessed 26 May 2015.
[8]. IC
Harris, ed., House
of Representatives practice, fifth edn, Department of the House
of Representatives, Canberra, 2005, p. 410, accessed 26 May 2015.
[9]. The Constitution,
section 53, accessed 26 May 2015.
[10]. H
Evans and R Laing, eds, Odgers’
Australian Senate practice, thirteenth edn, The
Senate,
Canberra, 2012, chapter 13, accessed
26 May 2015.
[11]. Senate
Standing Committee on Appropriations and Staffing, 50th
report: ordinary annual services of the government, The Senate,
Canberra, June 2010, p. 3, accessed 23 February 2015.
[12]. Australia,
Senate, Journals,
127, 2008–10, pp. 3642–3, accessed 26 May 2015.
[13]. Osborne
v Commonwealth (1911) 12
CLR 321, per Griffith CJ at 336, accessed 26 May 2015.
[14]. The
Constitution, section 53.
[15]. Australian
Government, Agency
resourcing: budget paper no. 4: 2015–16, 12 May 2015, p. 87; Appropriation
Bill (No. 1) 2015–2016, clause 6; Appropriation
Bill (No. 2) 2015–2016, clause 6; Appropriation
(Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2015–2016, clause
6, all accessed 2 June 2015.
[16].
Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB), Administered
items, AASB 1050, December 2007, accessed 26 May 2015.
[17]. The
Department of Finance describes administered appropriation items as ‘normally
related to activities governed by eligibility rules and conditions established
by the Government or parliament such as grants, subsidies and benefit payments’
(Department of Finance, ‘Introduction
to appropriations’, Department of Finance website, accessed 2 June 2015).
[18]. Combet v
Commonwealth (2005) 224 CLR 494, [2005]
HCA 61 at paragraph 123, accessed 26 May 2015.
[19]. See
generally, Combet v Commonwealth, op. cit.
[20]. Attorney-General
(Vic); Ex rel Dale v Commonwealth (‘Pharmaceutical Benefits case’) (1945) 71
CLR 237, per Latham CJ at 253, accessed 27 May 2015.
[21]. Department
of Finance, ‘Outcome
statements policy and approval process’, Department of
Finance website, June 2009, accessed 27 May 2015.
[22]. 2015 Public Governance,
Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (Cth), section 11, ‘Note’,
accessed 2 June 2015.
[23]. Department
of Finance, ‘Advance
to the Finance Minister’, Department of Finance website, accessed 1 June
2015.
[24]. Ibid.
[25]. Appropriation
Bill (No. 5) 2014–2015, clause 6.
[26]. Appropriation
Bill (No. 6) 2014–2015, clause 6.
[27]. Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights, Third
report of 2013, Canberra, 2013, p. 66, accessed 1 June 2015.
[28]. The
portfolio statements are relevant documents for the purposes of section 15AB of
the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth).
[29]. In
particular clause 6 of each Bill.
[30]. Appropriation
Bill (No. 5) 2014–2015, Schedule 1—Services for which money is appropriated.
[31]. The
Financial Management
and Accountability Act 1997 (Cth) was renamed the Financial Framework
(Supplementary Powers) Act 1997 (Cth) by the Public Governance,
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[32]. For
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[33]. Australian
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[41]. Ibid.,
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[42]. The
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[43]. See
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[44]. Australian
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[46]. Australian
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[47]. Australian
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[48]. Australian
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[49]. Ibid.,
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[50]. Ibid.,
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[51]. Australian
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[52]. Australian
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[58]. Australian
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[60]. Ibid.,
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[61]. Australian
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[62]. Ibid.,
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[63]. Australian
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[66]. Ibid.,
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[67]. Australian
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[68]. Australian
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[69]. Australian
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[70]. Australian
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[71]. Australian
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[72]. Australian
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[75]. Australian
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[76]. Australian
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[77]. Ibid.,
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[78]. Australian
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[79]. Australian
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[80]. Ibid.,
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[81]. Australian
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[82]. Australian
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[83]. Australian
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[84]. Australian
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[85]. Australian
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