Bills Digest 164 1996-97
Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill 1997-98
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
Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill 1997-98
Date Introduced: 13 May 1997
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Finance
Commencement: Royal Assent
To appropriate $138 450 000 for the recurrent and capital expenditure
of the five Parliamentary Departments for 1997-98.
The appropriation represents less than 50% of total outlays for all
services provided to Members and Senators. The figure for total outlays
for 1997-98 (excluding superannuation benefits for Members and Senators)
is estimated at $336.9 million.(1)
(a) Glossary of Terms
Appropriation - is the setting apart, assigning or applying to
a particular use or to a particular person a sum of money. In the budget
context an appropriation usually refers to an authorisation by Parliament
to draw on funds from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).
Budget Outlays - refer to the net cost to the taxpayer of providing
government services. Appropriations/payments out of the CRF are adjusted
to take account (for example) of many government receipts. Hence a hypothetical
government program 'XYZ' may have a total appropriation of $600 million
but this may only represent budget outlays of $500 million if the 'XYZ'
receives income of $100 million from other (non budget) sources.
Running costs - are the full current and minor capital costs
incurred by a department or agency in providing government services for
which the department or agency is responsible. For many departments, staff
salaries will represent the largest proportion of such costs.
Borrowings - Borrowings allow agencies to bring forward some
future years appropriation to be spent in an earlier year. This is intended
to provide agencies with the flexibility to respond to changing spending
priorities; and a mechanism to meet unforeseen costs.
Borrowings are arranged either through annual appropriation or additional
estimates bills, such as is the case with this Bill, with a consequent
reduction in a future appropriation, or through the Provision for Running
Costs Borrowing (PRCB) where the borrowing does not coincide with an appropriation
Bill.
Agencies are allowed to borrow up to 10% of the total running costs
budget from any one year.
Running Costs Borrowings (PRCB) - The PRCB is a reserve that
agencies can draw on to borrow running costs funds from future appropriation
where it is not viable to wait until the passage of the next Appropriation
Bill. Agencies can borrow from the PRCB if: there is a legitimate reason
to borrow running costs; the agency has a running costs appropriation;
the borrowings are repaid in full from some future appropriation; and
sufficient funds are available.
(b) Overview
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 (the Select
Committee) on Parliamentary Appropriations and Staffing 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 Public Service Act 1922 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 (DPRS) and the Department of the Parliamentary Library.
The Department of the House of Representatives and the Department of
the Senate are responsible for the provision of procedural, information
and administrative services to Members and Senators respectively. The
Joint House Department performs building management and maintenance functions
associated with Parliament House. DPRS provides reporting, information
technology, telecommunications and broadcasting services to the Parliament
through Hansard, the Parliamentary Information Systems Office (PISO) and
the Sound and Vision Office (SAVO). The Department of the Parliamentary
Library is responsible for the provision of library, reference and research
services to the Parliament.
(c) Impact on Major Departments
House of Representatives
The department's running cost appropriation for 1997-98 will be $23
826 000. Total appropriations, for running costs and appropriations, will
be $24 227 000. The running cost appropriation represents an increase
of $1 570 000 (+4.4%) over the 1996-97 figure. The rationale given in
the department's Portfolio Budget Statement for the increase is
a decision of the Presiding Officers to transfer $1 999 000 from the Joint
House Department to the Department of the House of Representatives and
the Department of the Senate.(2)
The areas of expenditure to be covered by the funding transfer are the
replacement of security systems within the Parliament, new statutory responsibilities
for the Joint Committee of Public Accounts as the Audit Committee of Parliament,
and the introduction of desk top access to the Internet for Parliamentarians
and their staff in Parliament House.
Department of the Senate
The department's appropriation for 1997-98 will be $25 687 000. This
total represents an increase of $1 528 000 on the 1996-97 figure. The
department's Portfolio Budget Statement's state that the increase of $1
528 000 represents monies for new policy proposals funded by a reallocation
of funds from the Joint House Department (see above).
The new policy proposals comprise:
- $0 605 000 for a security asset replacement program;
- $0 144 000 for desk top internet access for Senators;
- $0 138 000 for 12 extra sitting days in the 1996 budget session; and
- $0 108 000 to upgrade one of the positions in the office of Deputy
President.
Clause 3 provides that the Minister for Finance is authorised
to appropriate a total of $138 450 000 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund
for the purposes listed in the Schedule to the Bill. These funds equate
to the anticipated cost of the services provided by the Parliamentary
Departments in 1997-98.
Clause 5 allows the Minister, based on the determinations of
the Presiding Officers, to draw additional funds from the CRF for increases
in salaries and payments during the year ending 30 June 1998. Amounts
issued must be reported to the Parliament.
Clause 8 allows the President or Speaker, separately, to make
advances up to $300 000 for expenditure to cover unforseen, erroneously
omitted or understated circumstances in the appropriations proposed by
the Bill in relation to the Senate or the House of Representatives. The
President and Speaker can also make a joint advance, up to $1 million,
to cover urgent and unforeseen circumstances in relation to the Department
of the Parliamentary Reporting Staff, the Parliamentary Library or the
Joint House Department.
Part 2 of the Bill (Clauses 10-17) provides for the application
of certain provisions of the proposed Financial Management and Accountability
Actrelating to appropriations. The Financial Management and Accountability
Bill 1996 is currently before the Senate.
- Budget Paper No. 1, 1997-98, p. 3-48
- Department of the House of Representatives, Portfolio Budget Statement
1997-98, p. 4.
Ian Ireland
26 June 1997
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
This Digest does not have any official legal status. Other sources should
be consulted to determine whether the Bill has been enacted and, if so,
whether the subsequent Act reflects further amendments.
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and Members and their staff but not with members of the public.
ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 1997
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library, 1997.
This page was prepared by the Parliamentary Library, Commonwealth of
Australia
Last updated: 14 July 1997
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