Bills Digest No. 103 2001-02
Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 2) 2001-2002
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
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Passage History
Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments)
Bill (No. 2) 2001-2002
Date Introduced:
14 February 2002
House: House
of Representatives
Portfolio: Finance
and Administration
Commencement: Royal
Assent
Purpose
To authorise the Minister for Finance
to issue $474 000 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), in addition
to funds appropriated by the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments)
Act (No. 1) 2001-2002, for the operation of the Parliamentary Departments
during 2001-2002.
The 2001-2002 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) 2001-2002 appropriated a total of $164 761 000.00
for all five departments for the 2001-2002 financial year. The Schedule
to the Act dealt with the allocation of expenditure for each Department.
Appropriations for 2001-2002, with the previous year's figures in brackets,
are as follows:
House of Representatives - $29 111 000 ($27 598 000)
Senate - $29 748 000 - ($29 252 000)
Joint House Department - $44 927 000 ($38 581 000)
Parliamentary Reporting Staff - $44 146 000
($42 239 000)
Parliamentary Library - $16 829 000 ($16 499 000)
Total - $164 761 000 ($154 328 000)
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 2001 - 2002 is:
Department of the Parliamentary Library – $474 000
The rationale given by the Government in the Second Reading
Speech to the Bill for seeking the additional appropriation is that the
increase sought "…relates solely to increased depreciation and capital
use charge expenses arising from a revaluation of the library collection
in the Department of the Parliamentary Library."
The following explanation is given by the Department
of the Parliamentary Library in its Portfolio Additional Estimates
Statement 2001-2002 for the additional appropriation:
"The additional appropriation
of $0.474m in 2001-2002 is for Output 2. This amount includes;
- $0.260m supplementation for depreciation expenses resulting from revaluation
of Library Collection undertaken at 30 June 2001: and
- $0.214m increase in the capital use charge following changes to the
net assets resulting from the revaluation undertaken at 30 June 2001
and a reduction in the capital use charge rate from 12% to 11%."
http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/corp/pbs/paes.pdf
Accrual budgeting allows for the incorporation of all
assets, liabilities, expenses and revenues, including cash receipts and
expenditures. Under accrual budgeting, agencies are funded for the full
cost of their functions, including non-cash costs such as depreciation
or employee entitlements. Thus the amount an agency is appropriated under
accrual budgeting in any one year may exceed its cash costs. Any unspent
amount is accumulated for use in future years when required – for example
accumulated depreciation to replace assets and equipment.
Each agency is required to revalue its assets every three
years so that it has a true picture of their worth. On 30 June 2001 the
Department of the Parliamentary Library revalued its library collection
and found that the collection had increased in value over the preceding
three years. Depreciation on the collection at its new value over its
remaining life will now be at a higher rate. In other words, because it
will cost more to replace the collection at its increased value, more
must be set aside for depreciation. The amount sought in the additional
estimates for this purpose is $260 000.
The Department of Finance and Administration levies a
charge on each agency for its use of Commonwealth assets. The charge was
levied at a rate of 12 per cent of the value of an agency’s assets. This
rate was reduced to 11 per cent of the value of an agency’s assets. An
increase in the value for the Library’s collection has resulted in a higher
capital use charge. It is for this reason that the Department of the Parliamentary
Library is seeking additional funding of $214 000.
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 $474 000.
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 used to purchase programs and services
provided by the Parliamentary Department as indicated in the Portfolio
Budget Statement. 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 the 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 credit 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. The Department's
operating expenses are reduced by the expected earnings (clause 11).
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 and urgent 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 appropriate formally from the Consolidated
Revenue Fund the funds for the Bill.
Ian Ireland
13 March 2002
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
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ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 2002
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library, 2002.
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