Bills Digest No. 154 2002-03
Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1)
2003-2004
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.
CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Concluding Comments
Endnotes
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Passage History
Appropriation
(Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1)
2003-2004
Date Introduced: 13 May 2003
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Finance
and Administration
Commencement: Royal Assent
To appropriate
$167 279 000 for the recurrent and capital expenditure of
the five parliamentary departments for the 2003-2004 financial
year.
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 on Parliamentary Appropriations and
Staffing which was 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 Parliamentary Service Act 1999
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,
and the Department of the Parliamentary Library. The Department of
the House of Representatives and the Department of the Senate are
responsible for providing procedural advice, information and
administrative support to Members and Senators respectively. The
Joint House Department performs building management, security and
maintenance services, and provides a range of commercial support
services and facilities in Parliament House. The Department of the
Parliamentary Reporting Staff (DPRS) provides broadcasting,
transcription and information technology services to the
Parliament, and the Department of the Parliamentary Library (the
Library) is responsible for the provision of information services,
research and policy analysis.
The 2003-2004 budgets for the parliamentary
departments have been prepared on an accrual basis and provide
funding for departmental expenses, administered expenses and
capital items. The primary source of funds for each of the
parliamentary departments is the annual Appropriation
(Parliamentary Departments) Bill, supplemented as required by a
second bill introduced with the Government s supplementary
appropriation bills.
The Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments)
Bill (No. 1) 2003-2004 appropriates a total of
$167 279 000 for all five parliamentary departments for
the 2003-2004 financial year. The Schedule in the Bill deals with
the allocation of expenditure for each Department. Appropriations
for 2003-2004, with the previous year s actual available
appropriation, are as follows:
|
Parliamentary Department
|
2003-2004
|
2002-2003
|
Variation +/-
|
|
House of
Representatives
|
$32.841m
|
$29.938m
|
+$3.461m
|
|
Senate
|
$31.586m
|
$29.369m
|
+$2.217m
|
|
Joint
House Department
|
$44.852m
|
$44.895m
|
-$0.043m
|
|
Parliamentary Reporting Staff
|
$40.613m
|
$44.456m
|
-$3.843m
|
|
Parliamentary Library
|
$17.387m
|
$17.522m
|
-$0.135m
|
|
Total
|
$167.279m
|
$166.180m
|
+$1.099m
|
In addition to appropriations from the
Consolidated Revenue Fund, revenue from other sources may be
credited to a parliamentary department. These revenues are deemed
to have been appropriated. Departments are able to credit revenues
from, for example, proceeds from the sale of parliamentary and
educational materials, and resources received free of charge, such
as from the National Library of Australia or the Australian
National Audit Office.
A major additional area of spending is
security. In April 2002, the former President of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives asked the Parliamentary
Service Commissioner, Mr Andrew Podger, to review and report on the
administration of security within Parliament House, and to examine
other aspects of the administration of the Parliament with a view
to greater cost effectiveness and practicability. A report entitled
Review by the Parliamentary Service Commissioner of aspects of
the administration of the Parliament was tabled in October
2002. The recommendations relating to security at Parliament House
have been adopted by the President and the Speaker, endorsed by the
Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations and Staffing, and are
being implemented. The recommendations include centralising the
security function in Joint House Department, establishing the
Security Management Board as a permanent body, and strengthening
arrangements for controlling access to the
building.(1)
The remaining recommendations of the
Parliamentary Service Commissioner address options for the
restructure of the parliamentary departments. The options range
from the creation of a shared services centre to provide
administrative services to the five parliamentary departments, to
the creation of one large services department through the
amalgamation of the Library, DPRS and Joint House Department. These
recommendations are presently being considered by the Senate
Standing Committee on Appropriations and
Staffing.(2)
The Government is providing additional funding
of $25.5 million over four years, starting in 2003-2004, to upgrade
physical security in Parliament House, to employ more security
staff, and to enhance security-related management and the
professional capacity of security staff in Parliament
House.(3) In 2003-2004 the cost of security for the
whole of Parliament House and its environs is to be shared equally
by the two chamber departments,(4) and the Government is
providing funds totalling $6.8 million for this
purpose.(5) However, in the forward years 2004-2005 to
2006-2007, the expenses for increased security at Parliament House
are to be offset by savings against the appropriation for the five
parliamentary departments. According to the Budget papers, these
savings are to be achieved through the introduction of
efficiencies, gained either by implementing the remaining
recommendations of the Review by the Parliamentary Service
Commissioner, or by alternative means.(6)
Clause 4 provides that
Portfolio Budget Statements are to be considered as relevant
extrinsic material which may assist in the interpretation of the
Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) legislation. Portfolio
Budget Statements are statements prepared by portfolios (or by
departments in the case of parliamentary departments) to explain
the Budget appropriations in terms of outcomes. Their purpose is to
assist in explaining the proposed appropriations in the
Appropriation Bills.
Clause 6 lists the total
amount appropriated by the Bill that is $167 279 000.
Clause 7 provides that for
departmental items, the Finance Minister may issue from the
Consolidated Revenue Fund amounts that do not exceed that listed in
the Schedule to the Bill, and that such funds must be used for the
departmental expenses of the relevant parliamentary department.
Departmental expenses are incurred by parliamentary departments in
providing the programs and services indicated in the Portfolio
Budget Statements. Subclause 7(3) provides that
where the amount is for remuneration or allowances payable under
the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973 or the Remuneration
and Allowances Act 1990, the Minister for Finance must issue
that amount.
For administered expenses, clause
8 provides that the Finance Minister may issue the lesser
of two amounts; either the amount specified in the item or the
amount the Minister determines to be the administered expenses
incurred by the parliamentary department during the current year.
Administered expenses are funds administered by the parliamentary
department on behalf of the Commonwealth for its purposes. An
example is the Citizenship Visits Program funded jointly by the
Department of the House of Representatives and the Department of
the Senate and managed by the Department of the House of
Representatives.
Under section 31 of the Financial
Management and Accountability Act 1997 departments have access
to certain monies received in payment for services. Services
provided by parliamentary departments which may attract receipts
include contributions from participants towards the cost of
conferences and seminars conducted by the departments, asset sales,
monies for accrued leave entitlements of transferred employees and
interest earned on fixed term deposits with the Reserve Bank of
Australia. It should be noted that resources received free of
charge are not covered by section 31 receipts but are part of the
price of outputs. Revenues from other sources are applied to the
department s operating expenses (clause 11).
The responsible Presiding Officer/s will be
able to increase the amount allocated to an item to a maximum of
$200 000 for each of the Department of the House of
Representatives and the Department of the Senate (for these
departments this power is exercisable by the Speaker for the House
of Representatives, and by the President for the Senate), and to a
maximum of $200 000 for all the remaining departments combined
(exercisable jointly by the Speaker and the President)
(clause 12).
Clause 13 is similar to
clause 12 but deals with increases in items due to unforseen and
urgent circumstances. The maximum increase under clause
13 is a total of $300 000 for the Department of the
Senate, $300 000 for the Department of the House of
Representatives, and a total of $1 million for the other
departments combined.
Clause 16 will appropriate
the funds for the Bill from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
- The Speaker, Hon Neil Andrew MP, House of
Representatives, Debates, 11 December 2002, p. 10146.
- Senator the Hon Robert Ray, Senate,
Debates, 18 November 2002, p. 6613.
- Budget Measures 2003-04, Budget Paper No.
2, p. 80.
- Department of the Senate, Portfolio Budget
statements 2003-04 , Budget Related Paper No. 1.17B, p.
10.
- Budget Measures 2003-04, Budget Paper No.
2,p. 80.
- ibid., p. 209.
Rosemary Bell
22 May 2003
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
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ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 2003
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