Bills Digest No. 114 2004–05
Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments)
Bill (No. 2) 2004
2005
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. 2) 2004
2005
Date Introduced: 10 February 2005
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Finance and
Administration
Commencement:
Royal
Assent
To appropriate an additional
$349 000 for the operation of the parliamentary departments
during 2004-2005.
Since 1982 the appropriations for the parliamentary departments
have been effected by a separate Bill. This follows the Fraser
Government s consideration of the Report of the Senate Select
Committee on Parliamentary Appropriations and Staff 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 Appropriations
(Parliamentary Departments) Bill is not for the ordinary annual
services of the Government, it may be amended by the Senate.
The Parliamentary Services Act 1999 provides that the
administration of the Parliament is undertaken by at least two
parliamentary departments. Only the Departments of the Senate and
the House of Representatives (the chamber departments) are created
by force of law. Other departments may be established or abolished
by resolutions passed by each House.(1) In August 2003
the Senate and the House of Representatives both resolved that
there would be a Department of Parliamentary Services to support
the work of the Parliament,(2) and that it would be
established by amalgamating the Joint House Department with the
Departments of the Parliamentary Reporting Staff and the
Parliamentary Library. The new Department of Parliamentary Services
commenced on 1 February 2004. The President of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives are joint Presiding
Officers responsible for the Department.
This Bill seeks additional funding for the two Chamber
departments for this financial year. According to the Parliamentary
Secretary to the Treasurer in his second reading speech on this
Bill, the largest component of these funds relates to increased
expenditure on the Citizenship Visits Program (CVP). The CVP is
funded jointly by the Department of the House of Representatives
and the Department of the Senate and is managed by the
Serjeant-at-Arms Office in the Department of the House of
Representatives.
The Citizenship Visits Program (CVP) provides a subsidy for
secondary students and final year primary students who travel more
than 1000 kilometres to visit Canberra on an organised school
excursion. Funds are made available on a per student basis at rates
varying according to distances travelled. The rates are $40 for
students travelling between 1000 and 2000 kilometres, $110 for
students travelling between 2000 and 3000 kilometres and $230 for
those students travelling more than 3000 kilometres. Tasmanian
students receive $110. This amount has regard to the additional
expenses of the sea/air crossing.
The subsidy is only available to students who participate in the
range of programs offered in Parliament House including a
parliamentary education program lasting one hour and a guided tour
that takes in a visit to both Chambers. Students whose principal
purpose for visiting Canberra is to engage in sporting or other
cultural activities are not eligible to receive funding under the
program.
The CVP has been running since 1988 and the number of students
visiting Parliament House each year under the program has been
growing. In the last calendar year (2004) more than 108 500
students visited the Parliament on organised school visits. So far
this financial year (2004-2005), 103 560 bookings have been
made.(3)
Clause 4 provides that Portfolio Budget
Statements (PBS) and Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements
(PAES) are to be considered as relevant extrinsic material which
may assist in the interpretation of the Appropriation
(Parliamentary Departments) legislation. PBS and PAES 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
this Bill that is $349 000.
The Bill distinguishes between the basic appropriations for
departmental items and administered expenses. Departmental items
are those over which an agency has control, for example, salaries
and operating expenses such as depreciation. Administered expenses
are funds administered by the parliamentary department on behalf of
the Commonwealth for its purposes. The Citizenship Visits Program
for which some additional funds are sought in this Bill, is an
example of administered expenses.
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 departments in providing programs and services.
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.
Clause 11 provides that the responsible
Presiding Officer may request the Finance Minister to make a
written determination reducing the appropriation for an item in the
budget of a parliamentary department by an amount specified in the
determination. The amount of reduction is to be no greater than the
amount requested, or, where payments have already been made from
the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the difference between the amount
appropriated to an item and the amount already paid
(proposed paragraph 11(4)(b).) Reductions can only
be made at the request of the responsible Presiding Officer
(proposed subclauses 11(1) and
99(3)). Proposed subclause 11(8)
provides that a determination made under this section may be
disallowed by either House of Parliament in accordance with section
42 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Under section 31 of the Financial Management and
Accountability Act 1997, departments have access to certain
monies received in payment for services (clause
12). Services provided by parliamentary departments that
may attract receipts include contributions from participants
towards the cost of conferences and seminars conducted by
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.
Under clause 13, the responsible Presiding
Officer/s will be able to increase the amount allocated to a
departmental item to a maximum of $200 000 for each of the
three departments.
Clause 14 is similar to clause
13 but deals with increases in items due to unforseen and
urgent circumstances. The maximum increase under clause
14 is a total of $300 000 each for the Departments of
the Senate and House of Representatives, and a total of $1 million
for the Department of Parliamentary Services.
Clause 17 appropriates the funds for services
specified in Schedule 1 from the Consolidated
Revenue Fund.
-
Parliamentary Services Act 1999, section 54.
-
The House of Representatives agreed to the resolution on 14
August 2003 and the Senate on 18 August 2003.
-
Information supplied by the Office of the Serjeant-at-Arms,
11/2/2005.
Rosemary Bell
16 February 2005
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
This paper has been prepared to support the work of the
Australian Parliament using information available at the time of
production. The views expressed do not reflect an official position
of the Information and Research Service, nor do they constitute
professional legal opinion.
IRS staff are available to discuss the paper's
contents with Senators and Members and their staff but not with
members of the public.
ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 2005
Except to the extent of the uses permitted under the
Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
information storage and retrieval systems, without the prior
written consent of the Parliamentary Library, other than by members
of the Australian Parliament in the course of their official
duties.
Published by the Parliamentary Library, 2005.
Back to top