Public Accounts and Audit Committee Act 1951
8 Duties of the Committee
(1) The duties of the Committee are:
(a) to examine the accounts of the receipts and expenditure of the Commonwealth, including the financial statements given to the Auditor‑General under paragraphs 42(1)(b) and 48(1)(b) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013; and
(b) to examine the financial affairs of authorities of the Commonwealth to which this Act applies and of intergovernmental bodies to which this Act applies; and
(c) to examine all reports of the Auditor‑General (including reports of the results of performance audits) that are tabled in each House of the Parliament; and
(d) to report to both Houses of the Parliament, with any comment it thinks fit, on any items or matters in those accounts, statements and reports, or any circumstances connected with them, that the Committee thinks should be drawn to the attention of the Parliament; and
(e) to report to both Houses of the Parliament any alteration that the Committee thinks desirable in:
(i) the form of the public accounts or in the method of keeping them; or
(ii) the mode of receipt, control, issue or payment of public moneys; and
(f) to inquire into any question connected with the public accounts which is referred to the Committee by either House of the Parliament, and to report to that House on that question; and
(g) to consider:
(i) the operations of the Audit Office; and
(ii) the resources of the Audit Office, including funding, staff and information technology; and
(iii) reports of the Independent Auditor on operations of the Audit Office; and
(h) to report to both Houses of the Parliament on any matter arising out of the Committee’s consideration of the matters listed in paragraph (g), or on any other matter relating to the Auditor‑General’s functions and powers, that the Committee considers should be drawn to the attention of the Parliament; and
(i) to report to both Houses of the Parliament on the performance of the Audit Office at any time; and
(j) to consider draft estimates for the Audit Office submitted under section 53 of the Auditor‑General Act 1997; and
(k) to consider the level of fees determined by the Auditor‑General under subsection 14(1) of the Auditor‑General Act 1997; and
(ka) to consider the level of fees determined by the Auditor‑General under subsection 16(1) of the Auditor‑General Act 1997; and
(l) to make recommendations to both Houses of Parliament, and to the Minister who administers the Auditor‑General Act 1997, on draft estimates referred to in paragraph (j); and
(m) to determine the audit priorities of the Parliament and to advise the Auditor‑General of those priorities; and
(n) to determine the audit priorities of the Parliament for audits of the Audit Office and to advise the Independent Auditor of those priorities; and
(o) any other duties given to the Committee by this Act, by any other law or by Joint Standing Orders approved by both Houses of the Parliament.
(1A) Nothing in subsection (1) authorises the Committee to direct the activities of the Auditor‑General or the Independent Auditor.
(2) The duties of the Committee do not extend to:
(a) an examination of the financial affairs of the Australian Capital Territory or the Northern Territory or of the Administration of an External Territory (including the financial affairs of the Administration of an External Territory contained in any of the accounts and financial statements referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (1)); or
(b) an examination of a report of the Auditor‑General that relates to, or in so far as it relates to:
(i) the financial affairs of the Australian Capital Territory or the Northern Territory or of the Administration of an External Territory (including the financial affairs of the Administration of an External Territory contained in any of the accounts and financial statements referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (1)); or
(ii) the results of an efficiency audit of operations of the Administration of an External Territory.
(2A) For the purposes of subsection (2), an External Territory does not include the Territory of Christmas Island or the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
(3) For the purpose of this section, an authority of the Commonwealth to which this Act applies is:
(a) a body corporate or an unincorporated body established for a public purpose by, or in accordance with the provisions of, an enactment, not being an inter‑governmental body;
(b) a body established by the Governor‑General or by a Minister otherwise than in accordance with an enactment; or
(c) an incorporated company over which the Commonwealth is in a position to exercise control.
(4) Where the parties to an agreement relating to the establishment of an inter‑governmental body consent to the examination, by the Committee, of the financial affairs of that body, the Minister shall notify the fact that they have so consented in the Gazette and the body shall thereupon become an inter‑governmental body to which this Act applies.
(5) Where a party to an agreement relating to the establishment of an inter‑governmental body (being an inter‑governmental body which, by virtue of subsection (4), is an inter‑governmental body to which this Act applies) withdraws its consent to the examination, by the Committee, of the financial affairs of that body, the Minister shall notify the fact that that party has withdrawn its consent in the Gazette and the body shall thereupon cease to be an inter‑governmental body to which this Act applies.
(6) In this section, unless the contrary intention appears:
enactment means:
(a) an Act;
(b) an Ordinance of the Australian Capital Territory; or
(c) an instrument (including rules, regulations or by‑laws) made under an Act or under such an Ordinance.
inter‑governmental body means a body corporate or an unincorporated body established by, or in accordance with the provisions of, an agreement between the Commonwealth and a State or States or between the Commonwealth and the government of another country or the governments of other countries.
State includes the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.
8A Committee may approve or reject recommendation for appointment of Auditor‑General or Independent Auditor
(1) If the Audit Minister refers a proposed recommendation for an appointment of the Auditor‑General or Independent Auditor to the Committee for approval, the Committee must:
(a) approve or reject the proposal within 14 days after receiving it; or
(b) notify the Audit Minister as provided for in subsection (2).
Note: Clauses 2 of Schedule 1 and 2 of Schedule 2 of the Auditor‑General Act 1997 require proposed recommendations to be referred to the Committee for approval.
(2) The Committee may notify the Audit Minister within 14 days after receiving a proposal that it needs more time to consider the proposal. If the Committee does so, the Committee must approve or reject the proposal within 44 days after receiving it.
(3) The decision to approve or reject a proposal is to be by majority of the members of the Committee for the time being holding office.
(4) If the Committee does not make a decision on a proposal by the required time, the Committee is taken, at that time, to have approved the proposal.
(5) The Committee must notify the Audit Minister of its decision on a proposal as soon as practicable after making the decision.
(6) A notification under this section must be in writing.
(7) The Committee must report to both Houses of the Parliament on its decision on a proposal.
(8) In this section:
Audit Minister means the Minister administering the Auditor‑General Act 1997.
8B Annual report
(1) The Committee must, in relation to each financial year, prepare a report on the performance of its duties during the year.
(2) The Committee must table the report in each House of the Parliament.
Parliamentary Service Act 1999
64Q Annual work plan for Parliamentary Budget Office
(1) The Parliamentary Budget Officer must, in consultation with the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, prepare a work plan for the Parliamentary Budget Office for each financial year.
(2) The work plan must be prepared:
(a) for the financial year in which the first Parliamentary Budget Officer is appointed—before the end of 3 months after the appointment; and
(b) for each following financial year—before 1 October in the financial year.
(3) The work plan must set out:
(a) the priorities of the Parliamentary Budget Office for the financial year; and
(b) protocols for the allocation of the resources of the Parliamentary Budget Office during the financial year.
(4) The Parliamentary Budget Officer must ensure that the work plan is made publicly available.
(5) A work plan prepared under subsection (1) is not a legislative instrument.
64R Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit may request draft estimates
(1) The Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (the Committee) may request the Parliamentary Budget Officer to submit to the Committee draft estimates for the Parliamentary Budget Office for a financial year before the budget for that financial year.
(2) The Parliamentary Budget Officer must comply with the request in time to allow the Committee to consider the draft estimates and make recommendations on them before the budget.
64S Duties of Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit
(1) The Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (the Committee) has the following duties:
(a) to consider work plans for the Parliamentary Budget Office prepared under section 64Q;
(b) to consider draft estimates for the Parliamentary Budget Office submitted under section 64R;
(c) to make recommendations to both Houses of Parliament, and to the Presiding Officers, on draft estimates referred to in paragraph (b);
(d) to consider:
(i) the operations of the Parliamentary Budget Office; and
(ii) the resources of the Parliamentary Budget Office, including funding, staff and information technology;
(e) to report to both Houses of the Parliament on any matter arising out of the Committee’s consideration of the matters referred to in paragraph (d), or on any other matter relating to the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s functions and powers, that the Committee considers should be drawn to the attention of the Parliament.
Note: These duties are additional to the duties of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit under section 8 of the Public Accounts and Audit Committee Act 1951.
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) authorises the Committee to direct the activities of the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
64T Review of operations of Parliamentary Budget Office
(1) After a general election, the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (the Committee) may request the Parliamentary Budget Officer to cause an independent review of the operations of the Parliamentary Budget Office to be conducted in accordance with the request.
(2) The request must specify:
(a) the person or body who is to conduct the review; and
(b) the scope of the review; and
(c) the manner in which the review is to be conducted; and
(d) that a report of the review is to be provided to the Committee.
(3) In making the request, the Committee must have regard to the resources of the Parliamentary Budget Office.
(4) The review must be completed within 9 months after the end of the caretaker period for the election.
(5) The Committee must table the report of the review in each House of the Parliament as soon as practicable after receiving it.