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CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Endnotes
Contact Officer and Copyright Details
Appropriation (Parliamentary
Departments) Bill (No.2) 1998-99
Date Introduced: 3 December 1998
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Finance and Administration
Commencement: On Royal Assent
To authorise the
Minister for Finance and Administration to release $1 129 000 from
the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), in addition to funds
appropriated by the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments)
Act 1998-99, for the operation of the Parliamentary
Departments during 1998-99.
Glossary of Terms
Appropriation - is the setting apart,
assigning or applying of a sum of money to a particular use or to a
particular person. In the budget context, an appropriation usually
refers to an authorisation by Parliament to draw on funds from the
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' program receives income of $100 million from other
(non-budget) sources.
Running costs - are the full recurrent
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.
Carryovers - are the mechanism by which
funds appropriated for running costs in one year can be spent in
some future year. The rationale for carrying forward unspent
funding is based upon flexibility. Carryovers also reduce the
incentive for unnecessary end-of-year spending and allow managers
to plan spending without being restricted by cut-off dates. Up to
10 per cent of the total running costs budget can be carried
forward from any one year.
Overview
Since 1982 a separate Bill has effected the
appropriation for the Parliamentary Departments. 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, since the Appropriation
(Parliamentary Departments) Bill is not for the ordinary annual
services of the government, the Senate may amend it.
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 provides
building and facilities management, maintenance and visitor
services 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.
The additional appropriations sought by this
Bill relate to the running costs of the:
-
- Department of the Senate - $90 000
-
- Department of the House of Representatives - $539 000, and
-
- The Department of the Parliamentary Reporting Staff - $341
000.
An additional appropriation of $159 000 relates
to capital expenditure for the Department of the
Parliamentary Reporting Staff.(1)
The total appropriation of $1 129 000 is partly
offset by savings of $570 000 in the appropriations for the
running costs of the Department of the Parliamentary
Library and the Joint House Department made by the
Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act
1998-99.(2)
The Minister for Finance and Administration will
be authorised to issue $1 129 000 from the CRF for the purposes
specified in the Schedule of this Bill during 1998-99
(clause 4).
Clause 6 allows the Minister,
based on the determination of the Presiding Officers, to draw
additional funds from the CRF for increases in salaries and
payments during the year ended 30 June 1999. Amounts issued must be
reported to the Parliament.
- Appropriations (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No.2) 1998-99,
p.10.
- Appropriations (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No.2) 1998-99,
Second Reading
Speech by the Minister for Finance and Administration, the
Hon. John Fahey, MP, 3 December
1998.
Ross Kilmurray
6 January 1999
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ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 1999
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library,
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