Finance Regulations (Amendment) (Cth)

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Statutory Rules

1980 No. 115

REGULATIONS UNDER THE AUDIT ACT 1901*

I, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the Audit Act 1901.

Dated this  day of  1980.

Governor-General

By His Excellency’s Command,

Minister of State for Finance

_________

AMENDMENTS OF THE FINANCE REGULATIONS 

Commencement Interpretation

1. These Regulations shall come into operation on 1 July 1980.

2. Regulation 4 of the Finance Regulations is amended—

(a) by omitting from sub-regulation (1) the definition of “ Chief Officer ”;

(b) by inserting after the definition of “ Collector ” in sub-regulation (1) the following definition:

“ ‘ Department ’ means—

(a) a Department of State;

(b) a Department of the Parliament;

(c) a prescribed authority the staff of which consists of persons employed under the Public Service Act 1922; or

(d) a branch of the Australian Public Service in relation to which the person who holds, or is performing the duties of, the office of—

(i) Auditor-General;

(ii) Commissioner of Taxation;

 

* Notified in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on  1980.

  Statutory Rules 1942 No. 523 as amended by Statutory Rules 1943 No. 32; 1953 No. 3; 1959 No. 9; 1961 Nos. 77 and 1962; 196; No. 21; 1965 Nos. 32 and 169; 1966 No. 176; 1968 No. 87; 1972 No. 31; 1974 No. 129; 1975 No. 156; 197$Nos. 91 and 260; 1977 No. 111; and 1979 No. 282.

10697/80 Cat. No.  - Recommended retail price 40c 11/16.4.1980

 

(iii) Commonwealth Ombudsman; or

(iv) Supervising Scientist for the Alligator Rivers Region,

has, under an Act, the powers of, or exercisable by, the Permanent Head of a Department of the Australian Public Service;”;

(c) by inserting after the definition of “ licence ” in sub-regulation (1) the following definition:

“ ‘ Permanent Head ’, in relation to a Department, means.—

(a) where the Department is a Department of State or a Department of the Parliament— the person who, under the Public Service Act 1922,holds, or is performing the duties of, the office of Permanent Head of that Department;

(b) where the Department is a prescribed authority the staff of which consists of persons employed under the Public Service Act 1922—the person who has, under an Act, in relation to the branch or part of the Australian Public Service comprising the staff of the prescribed authority, the powers of, or exercisable by, the Permanent Head of a Department of the Australian Public Service so far as those powers relate to that branch or part of that Service; or

(c) where the Department is a branch of the Australian Public Service referred to in paragraph (d) of the definition of ‘ Department ’—the person who, in relation to that branch, has, under an Act, the powers of, or exercisable by, the Permanent Head of a Department of the Australian Public Service so far as those powers relate to that branch of that Service;”;

(d) by omitting from sub-regulation (1) the definition of “ The Commonwealth Public Account ”; and

(e) by adding at the end thereof the following sub-regulations:

“ (4) A reference in a provision of these Regulations to the Permanent Head shall, in the application of that provision to, or in relation to, matters arising in a Department, be read as a reference to the Permanent Head of that Department.

 

 “ (5) A reference in a provision or part of a provision of these Regulations to an authorized officer shall, in the application of that provision or part of a provision to, or in relation to, matters arising in a Department, be read as a reference to an officer who is authorized for the purposes of that provision or part of a provision1 by the Permanent Head of that Department.”.

Repeal of regulation 5aa

3. Regulation 5aa of the Finance Regulations is repealed.

Repeal of regulation 5b

4. Regulation 5b of the Finance Regulations is repealed.

5. After regulation 6 of the Finance Regulations the following regulation is inserted in Part I:

Prescribed authorities

“ 6a. Each of the following bodies is declared to be a prescribed authority for the purposes of the Act:

Australian Bureau of Statistics

Australian Science and Technology Council

Commonwealth Legal Aid Commission

Industrial Relations Bureau

Industries Assistance Commission

Office of National Assessments

Public Service Board

Schools Commission

Tertiary Education Commission

Trade Practices Commission.”.

Receivers and Collectors relieved of duty

6. Regulation 9 of the Finance Regulations is amended by omitting from sub-regulation (3) “ Chief Accounting Officer ” and substituting “ Permanent Head or an authorized officer ”.

Procedure where cheque paid into public account is dishonoured

7. Regulation 18 of the Finance Regulations is amended by omitting from sub-regulation (1) “ and shall report the circumstances to the Chief Accounting Officer ”.

Method of drawing cheques on certain accounts

8. Regulation 20 of the Finance Regulations is amended —

(a) by omitting from sub-regulation (3) “ Chief Accounting Officer ” and substituting “ Permanent Head of a Department or an officer authorized by him for the purposes of this sub-regulation ”; and

(b) by inserting in sub-regulation (1) “ a person who so appoints an officer for that purpose ” after “ and ”.

 

Responsibility for safe custody of securities

9. Regulation 23 of the Finance Regulations is amended by omitting “ Chief Accounting Officer, or an officer authorized by him in that behalf,” and substituting “ Permanent Head of a Department ”.

Receipts

10. Regulation 39 of the Finance Regulations is amended by omitting from sub-regulation (2) “ accordance with the directions of the Chief Officer ” and substituting “ a manner approved by the Permanent Head or an authorized officer ”.

Where certain forms may be obtained

11. Regulation 42 of the Finance Regulations is amended—

(a) by omitting from sub-regulation (2) “ Chief Accounting Officer ” and substituting “ Permanent Head or an authorized officer ”; and

(b) by omitting from sub-regulation (3) “ Chief Accounting Officer ” and substituting “ Permanent Head or an authorized officer ”.

Method of obtaining licence and receipt forms by officers

12. Regulation 43 of the Finance. Regulations is amended—

(a) by omitting from sub-regulation (1) “ Chief Accounting Officer ” and substituting “ Permanent Head of a Department ”; and

(b) by omitting from sub-regulation (2) “ A record shall be kept by each Chief Accounting Officer ” and substituting “ The Permanent Head of a Department shall cause to be kept a record ”.

Repeal of regulation 52b

13. Regulation 52b of the Finance Regulations is repealed.

Publication of provisions of certain contracts

14. Regulation 53 of the Finance Regulations is amended—

(a) by omitting from sub-regulation (1) “ Chief Officer ” and substituting “ Permanent Head ”;

(b) by omitting from paragraph (d) of sub-regulation (2) “ Chief Officer ” and substituting “ Permanent Head ”;

(c) by omitting from sub-regulation (3) “ Chief Officer ” (wherever occurring) and substituting “ Permanent Head ”; and

(d) by adding at the end thereof the following sub-regulation:

“ (5) A reference in paragraph (2) (d) or sub-regulation (3) to the Permanent Head shall be read as including a reference to an authorized officer.”.

 

15. Regulation 56 of the Finance Regulations is repealed and the following regulation substituted:

Claims for periodic or progress payments under contract

“ 56. An officer shall not submit a claim for a periodic or progress payment under a contract to a Certifying Officer for certifying under sub-section 34 (2) of the Act unless the Permanent Head or an authorized officer has certified that the sum of—

(a) the amount payable in respect of the claim; and

(b) the total amount payable under the contract in respect of which certificates have previously been given under that sub-section,

does not exceed the total amount to be paid under the contract or the value of the supplies that have been executed, furnished or performed under the contract on the date to which the claim relates.”.

Preparation of statement of variations in pay, &c., and the reasons therefor

16. Regulation 56aa of the Finance Regulations is amended—

(a) by omitting from sub-regulation (1) “ A Chief Officer, or an officer authorized by him to act under this regulation,” and substituting “ The Permanent Head of a Department or, where the Permanent Head authorizes an officer for the purposes of this sub-regulation, that officer ”; and

(b) by omitting from paragraph (a) of sub-regulation (1) “ Chief Officer ” and substituting “ Permanent Head ”.

Preparation of certificates of statements of variations in pay, &c.

17. Regulation 56b of the Finance Regulations is amended—

(a) by omitting from sub-regulation (1) “ A Chief Officer, or an officer authorized by him to act under this regulation,” and substituting “ The Permanent Head of a Department or, where the Permanent Head authorizes an officer for the purposes of this sub-regulation, that officer ”;

(b) by omitting from sub-regulation (1) “ the Chief Officer ” and substituting “ the Permanent Head ”; and

(c) by omitting from sub-regulation (2) “ Chief Officer or the officer so authorized by him ” and substituting “ Permanent Head or authorized officer, as the case may be,”.

Petty cash expenditure

18. Regulation 60 of the Finance Regulations is amended by omitting from sub-regulation (2) “ Chief Officer or of an officer authorized by him in that behalf ” and substituting “ Permanent Head or an authorized officer ”.

Preparation of accounts for refunds of revenue and payments from Trust Fund

19. Regulation 61of the Finance Regulations is amended by omitting from sub-regulation (3) “ Chief Accounting Officer ” and substituting “ Permanent Head ”.

 

Review of advances

20. Regulation 79 of the Finance Regulations is amended—

(a) by omitting from sub-regulation (1) “ the appropriate Chief Officer ” and substituting “ an authorized officer ”;

(b) by omitting from sub-regulation (2) “ the appropriate Chief Officer ” and substituting “ an authorized officer ”;

(c) by omitting from sub-regulation (3) “ The appropriate Chief Officer ” and substituting “ The authorized officer ”; and

(d) by omitting from sub-regulation (4) the definition of “ the appropriate Chief Officer ”.

Appropriation ledger

21. Regulation 84 of the Finance Regulations is amended by omitting from sub-regulation (3) “ an appropriate Chief Officer so to do, the Chief Officer shall submit ” and substituting “ the Permanent Head so to do, the Permanent Head shall cause to be submitted ”.

Statement of probable requirements for expenditure to be prepared

22. Regulation 85 of the Finance Regulations is amended by omitting “ Every Permanent Head ” and substituting “ The Permanent Head of a Department ”.

Expenditure not to be authorized until Warrant Authority obtained

23. Regulation 90 of the Finance Regulations is amended by omitting from sub-regulation (1) “ obtained from the Secretary ” and substituting “ issued by the Secretary to the Permanent Head ”.

Repeal of regulation 91

24. Regulation 91 of the Finance Regulations is repealed.

Officers to exercise due economy

25. Regulation 93 of the Finance Regulations is amended by omitting from sub-regulation (2) “ Chief Officer or an officer appointed by him for the purposes of this regulation ” and substituting “ Permanent Head or an authorized officer ”.

Authorizing Officer to secure prompt return of paid accounts

26. Regulation 94 of the Finance Regulations is amended by omitting from sub-regulation (2) “ and shall then forward the accounts to the Certifying Officer, who shall file them in their numerical order ”.

27. Regulation 98 of the Finance Regulations is repealed and the following regulation substituted:

Exanimation of public moneys and accounts

“ 98. The Permanent Head of a Department shall cause the public moneys field by, and the accounts of, each accounting officer under his control to be examined from time to time in order to ensure that public moneys collected or received by the accounting officer—

(a) are held by the accounting officer; or

 

(b) have properly been paid by the accounting officer to another person or to the credit of a bank account.”.

Reconciliation of bank accounts

28. Regulation 99 of the Finance Regulations is amended—

(a) by omitting from sub-regulation (1) “ The Chief Accounting Officer for a Department or an officer authorized by him for the purposes of this regulation ” and substituting “ The Permanent Head of a Department or, where the Permanent Head authorizes an officer for the purposes of this regulation, that officer ”; and

(b) by omitting from sub-regulation (2) “ The Chief Accounting Officer for a Department or an officer authorized by him for the purposes of this regulation ” and substituting “ The Permanent Head of a Department or, where the Permanent Head authorizes an officer for the purposes of this regulation, that officer ”.

Repeal of regulation 107

29. Regulation 107 of the Finance Regulations is repealed.

Arrangements for payment of salaries

30. Regulation 107a of the Finance Regulations is amended—

(a) by omitting from sub-regulation (1) “ Chief Officer” and substituting “ Permanent Head of a Department or, where the Permanent Head authorizes an officer for the purposes of this sub-regulation, that officer ”; and

(b) by omitting from sub-regulation (2) “ Chief Officer ” and substituting “ Permanent Head or authorized officer, as the case may be,”.

Cheques to be countersigned

31. Regulation 110 of the Finance Regulations is amended by omitting “ by the Chief Accounting Officer, who shall ” and substituting “ either by the Permanent Head or an authorized officer who shall, upon making the appointment,”.

Payment of accounts

32. Regulation 111 of the Finance Regulations is amended by omitting from sub-regulation (2) “ The appropriate Chief Officer, or an officer authorized by him by instrument in writing for the purposes of this regulation,” and substituting “ The Permanent Head or an authorized officer ”.

33. Regulation 116 of the Finance Regulations is repealed and the following regulation substituted:

Accounting officer to obtain receipt when paying certain amounts

“ 116. (1) Subject to sub-regulation (2), an accounting officer shall, at the time of paying an amount, obtain a receipt for the amount from the person to whom the amount is payable or from a person authorized in writing by that person to give such a receipt.

 

 “ (2) Sub-regulation (1) does not apply where—

(a) an accounting officer pays an amount by means of a cheque that—

(i) is crossed;

(ii) is made payable to order; and

(iii) is marked ‘ Not Negotiable ’; or

(b) an accounting officer, in the presence of another accounting officer, pays in cash—

(i) an amount of salary; or

(ii) an amount in the nature of salary,

and those officers give, in respect of that payment, a certificate in accordance with Form 15.”.

34. Regulation 127aof the Finance Regulations is repealed and the following regulation substituted:

Power of certain persons to give directions

“ 127a. (1) The Minister or the Secretary may give to officers, or to any other persons who are subject to the provisions of the Act, directions for or in relation to any of the matters referred to in paragraphs 71 (1) (a) to (g) (inclusive) of the Act.

“ (2) The Permanent Head of a Department referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of the definition of ‘ Department ’ in sub-regulation 4 (1) may give to officers of, or persons employed in, that Department directions for or in relation to any of the matters referred to in paragraphs 71 (1 ) (a) to (g) (inclusive) of the Act.

“ (3) The Permanent Head of a Department referred to in paragraph (d) of the definition of ‘ Department ’ in sub-regulation 4 (1) may give to persons employed in the branch of the Australian Public Service in relation to which that person has, under an Act, the powers of, or exercisable by, the Permanent Head of a Department of the Australian Public Service directions for or in relation to any of the matters referred to in paragraphs 71 (1) (a) to (g) (inclusive) of the Act.

“ (4) Where, by virtue of a direction or approval given or a determination or requirement made under a provision of these Regulations, that provision does not apply in the circumstances specified in the direction, approval, determination or requirement, as the case may be, the power conferred by sub-regulation (1), (2) or (3) extends to the giving of directions for and in relation to the matter dealt with by that provision in the circumstances so specified.

“ (5) A contravention of, or failure to comply with, a direction given under this regulation shall be deemed to be a contravention of these Regulations.”.

 

Act, Regulations directions to be accessible to certain officers

35. Regulation 131a of the Finance Regulations is amended—

(a) by omitting “ A Chief Officer ” and substituting “ The Permanent Head of a Department ”; and

(b) by omitting from paragraph (b) “ produce those copies ” and substituting “ cause those copies to be produced ”.

Repeal of regulations 132

36. Regulation 132 of the Finance Regulations is repealed.

The Schedule

37. The Schedule to the Finance Regulations is amended—

(a) by omitting from Form 7 “ Chief Officer orAuthorized Officer ” and substituting “ Permanent Head ”;

(b) by omitting from Form 12:

………………………….…../………../……….

Person incurring expense

“ Icertify the correctness of this account for the purposes of sub-section (5) of section 34 of the Audit Act 1901-1969

 

………………………….…../………../……….

Certifying Officer ”;

I certify that this account is correct within the meaning of section 34 of the Audit Act 1901-1969.

(c) by omitting from Form 12a:

………………………….…../………../……….

Person incurring expense

“ I certify the correctness of this account for the purposes of sub-section (5,) of section 34 of the Audit Act 1901-1969

 

………………………….…../………../……….

Certifying Officer ”;

I certify that this account is correct within the meaning of section 34 of the Audit Act 1901-1969.

 

(d) by omitting Form 15 and substituting the following form:

                                                                                                  Form 15    Regulation 116

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Finance Regulations

CERTIFICATE AS TO THE PAYMENT OF SALARIES

Department..................................................... Fortnight ending............................................................

Pay Centre.......................................................

NAME

Identity Number

Amount Paid

We certify that the several persons whose names appear on this pay sheet have this day been duly paid in our presence with the exception of those persons whose names and amounts are shown below:

$

c

$

c

Paying Officer:

Witnessing Officer:

TOTAL—

dollars

cents

Date.......................................................................................................................................................................................

 

(e) by omitting from Form 16 “ Chief Officer ” and substituting “ authorized officer ”;

………………………….…../………../……….

Certifying Officer”;

(f) by omitting from Form 17:

“ I certify that this account is correct within the meaning of section 34 of the Audit Act 1901-1969

(g) by omitting from Form 17 “ Chief Accounting Officer ” and substituting “ Permanent Head ”; and

(h) by omitting from Form 28 “ Chief Officer ” and substituting “ Permanent Head or authorized officer ”.

Transitional

38. (1) In this regulation —

“ authorized officer ” means an officer who is authorized by the Permanent Head of a Department for the purposes of a provision, or the part of a provision, of the Finance Regulations;

“ Chief Officer ” and “ Chief Accounting Officer ” have the same respective meanings as in the Finance Regulations as in force immediately before the commencing day;

“ commencing day ” means the day on which these Regulations come into operation;

“ Permanent Head of a Department ” has the same meaning that that expression would have if this regulation were a provision of the Finance Regulations as in force upon the commencing day.

(2) In this regulation—

(a) a reference to a prescribed provision of the Finance Regulations shall be read as a reference to sub-regulation 20 (1), regulation 23, sub-regulations 42 (2) or (3), 43 (1), 52a (1), 56aa (1), 56b (1) or (2), 60 (2), 61 (3), 79(1), (2) or (3) or 93 (2), regulation 99, 107a or 110 or sub-regulation 111 (2) of those Regulations as in force immediately before the commencing day; and

(b) a reference to taking any action shall be read as a reference to doing any act or thing.

(3) Where—

(a) before the commencing day, a Chief Officer or Chief Accounting Officer took any action in pursuance of a power or function exercisable by him under a prescribed provision of the Finance Regulations;

(b) on that day the power to take, or the function of taking, such action under that provision becomes exercisable by the Permanent Head of a Department or an authorized

 

officer instead of the Chief Officer or Chief Accounting Officer, as the case may be; and

(c) the action taken by the Chief Officer or Chief Accounting Officer would, but for that power or function having ceased to be exercisable by him, have had consequences or effects on or after that day,

then, subject to any action taken on or after that day by the Permanent Head of a Department or an authorized officer in pursuance of the relevant power or function, the action taken by the Chief Officer or Chief Accounting Officer, as the case may be, before that day shall have, and shall be deemed to have had, such consequences or effects on and after that day as it would have, or would have had, if it were taken by the Permanent Head of a Department or authorized officer.

                         

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