Bills Digest No. 78 2000-01
Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 2) 2000-2001
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
Endnotes
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No.
2) 2000-2001
Date Introduced: 29 November
2000
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Finance and
Administration
Commencement: Royal
Assent
To authorise the Minister for Finance
to issue $500,000 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), in addition
to funds appropriated by the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments)
Act (No. 1) 2000-2001, for the operation of the Parliamentary Departments
during 2000-2001.
The 2000-2001 budgets for the parliamentary departments
have been prepared using an accrual basis and provide funding for departmental
outcomes, administered expenses and capital items.
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 and maintenance
services, and provides a range of commercial support services and facilities
in Parliament House. The Department of the Parliamentary Reporting Staff
provides broadcasting, transcription and information technology services
to the Parliament, and the Department of the Parliamentary Library is
responsible for the provision of information services, research and policy
analysis.
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, known as the additional estimates.
The Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act
(No. 1) 2000-2001 appropriated a total of $154.492 million for all
five departments for the 2000-2001 financial year. The Schedule to the
Act deals with the allocation of expenditure for each Department. Appropriations
for 2000-2001, with the previous year's figures in brackets, are as follows:
House of Representatives $27.165 m ($27.841
m)
Senate $29.185 m ($31.471 m)
Joint House Department $39.245 m ($41.009
m)
Parliamentary Reporting Staff $42.398 m ($42.222
m)
Parliamentary Library $16.499 m ($16.553
m)
Total $154.492 m ($159.096
m)
In addition to appropriations from the Consolidated Revenue
Fund, certain money receipts may be credited to a Parliamentary department's
operating expenses. That is, these receipts are deemed to have been appropriated.
Departments are able to credit receipts from, for example, proceeds of
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.
The additional appropriations sought by this Bill for
the Parliamentary Departments for 2000 - 2001 are:
House of Representatives $433,000
Senate $67,000
Total $500,000
The rationale given by the Government in the Second Reading
Speech for seeking the additional appropriations is that the increases
sought are required for:
- Funding for the Departments of the Senate and the House of Representatives
for the Citizenship Visits program, and
- The House of Representatives for holders of public office, and to
refund the new secretariat role for matters raised by the Auditor-General
and the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit.
The Citizenship Visits program is a subsidy scheme to
assist school groups, located more than 1,000 kilometres by road from
Canberra, to visit the Houses of Parliament and to participate in a parliamentary
eduction program. The total funding for this program is $1.0 million in
2000-2001.(1) The additional estimates will provide an additional
$67,000 for each of the Departments of the House of Representatives and
the Senate in respect to the Citizenship Visits program. The Government
states that the increase in funding is due, in part, to increasing community
awareness of, and interest in, parliamentary processes along with promotion
of the Centenary of Federation.(2)
In respect to the House of Representatives, the additional
estimates will provide an additional $138,000 for holders of public office
and $228,000 for the transfer of functions from the Department of Finance
and Administration (DoFA). The Government has stated that the additional
amount for holders of public office is required to meet the cost of additional
non-current liabilities relating to accrued long service leave and other
leave entitlements of staff of certain office holders.(3)
In respect to the transfer of functions from DoFA, the
Government has stated that the additional amounts is required to fund
the functions transferred to the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and
Audit which occurred in 1999 and that the $228,000 represents reimbursement
of expenditure of $117,000 in 1999-2000 and an ongoing provision of $111,000
per year.(4)
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 Parliamentary
Department. 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 the amount.
For administered expenses, clause 8 provides that
the Finance Minister may issue the lesser of the amount specified in the
Schedule to the Bill in relation to a Parliamentary Department.
For administered capital items, clause 9 provides
that the Finance Minister may issue amounts that do not exceed, in total,
the amount specified in the Schedule to the Bill in relation to a Parliamentary
Department .
For departmental capital items, clause 10 provides
that the Finance Minister may issue amounts that do not exceed in total
that specified in the Schedule to the Bill in relation to a Parliamentary
Department.
The responsible Presiding Officer/s will be able to increase
the amount allocated to an item to a total maximum of $200 000 for both
the House of Representatives and 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 total maximum of $200 000 for
all the remaining Departments combined (exercisable jointly by the Speaker
and President)(clause 12).
Clause 13 is similar to clause 12 but deals with
increases in items due to unforeseen circumstances. The maximum increase
under clause 13 is a total of $300 000 for the Senate; $300 000 for the
House of Representatives; and a total of $1 million for the other Departments
combined.
Clause 16 will formally appropriate the funds
for the Bill
-
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/dept/PAES2000.pdf
-
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/dept/PAES2000.pdf
-
Department of the House of Representatives, Portfolio
Additional Estimates Statement 2000-2001, November 2000, p. 14.
-
Department of the House of Representatives, Portfolio
Additional Estimates Statement 2000-2001, November 2000, p. 14.
Ian Ireland
16 January 2001
Bills Digest Service
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ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 2000
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library, 2000.
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