Net Appropriation Agreement for the Department of Finance and Administration (26/09/2005) (Cth)

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT 1997, Section 31

NET APPROPRIATION AGREEMENT

For THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

This Agreement is made between:

THE MINISTER FOR FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

AND

THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1.      This net appropriation agreement is made under section 31 of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (the FMA Act).

1.2.      Under this agreement, if the agency receives any amounts covered by the agreement, the appropriation to the agency in the annual appropriation Act will be increased.

Note 1  Section 31 of the FMA Act, together with certain standard provisions of the annual appropriation Acts, allows a departmental item (or in some rare instances, an administered item) to be increased by an amount up to the amount of eligible receipts where the Finance Minister (or his or her delegate) and the responsible Minister have entered into a net appropriation agreement.

Note 2   This agreement is given effect by specific provisions within the annual appropriation Acts. Therefore, the agreement only has effect while the relevant specific provisions exist in the annual appropriation Acts.

1.3.      This agreement will commence on signature by the second party.

1. DEFINITIONS

2.1.      In this agreement:

2.1.1.    'the agency' means the Department of Finance and Administration.

2.1.2.    ‘eligible receipts’ means the receipts set out in clause 5.1 of this agreement.

1. PURPOSE

3.1.      This net appropriation agreement records the extent to which the amount specified in an item in an annual appropriation Act may be taken to be increased by reference to eligible receipts of the agency.

Note:     In most cases the item in the annual appropriation Act will be taken to be increased by the whole amount received by the agency.  However, in some cases, the item in the annual appropriation Act will only be taken to be increased by a proportion of the whole amount received by the agency - see clause 6.

1. DURATION OF THE AGREEMENT

4.1.      This agreement replaces any previous net appropriation agreement between the Finance Minister and the responsible Minister in respect of any of the appropriation items identified in this agreement.

4.2.      This agreement continues until a new net appropriation agreement covering the appropriation item identified in this agreement is executed by both parties to the agreement.

Note:   Under section 31(4) of the FMA Act, the Finance Minister may at any time cancel or vary this agreement, without the consent of the other party.

1. NATURE OF ELIGIBLE RECEIPTS

5.1.      The following receipts are eligible receipts for the purposes of this agreement:

5.1.1.    Receipts from the sale, leasing, hiring out of, or other dealing with goods;

5.1.2.    Receipts from the provision of staff and other services;

5.1.3.    Receipts of royalties and licensing fees;

5.1.4.    Receipts from a person (whether employed, appointed, or performing services for, the Commonwealth) as payment for any associated benefit provided or incidental to that benefit (whether to that person or another person);

5.1.5.    Receipts from the sale of minor assets that are departmental in nature;

5.1.6.    Receipts from the transfer of annual and long-service leave entitlements between agencies;

5.1.7.    Receipts from the recovery of administration costs, including direct and indirect costs (both recurrent and capital) incurred on behalf of activities undertaken within the purposes of the special accounts administered by the Department, namely:

a.   Business Services Trust Account;

b.   Comcover Account;

c.   Property Special Account.

5.1.8.    Subsidy and grant moneys received as a result of participation in employment subsidy schemes or programs;

5.1.9.    Court awarded costs to the extent to which they reflect legal costs incurred in litigating the matter;

5.1.10.     Amounts received from the Australian Taxation Office as interest on a late repayment;

5.1.11.     Sponsorships, grants, subsidies and contributions received to fund departmental activities;

5.1.12.     Donations received, expressed to be for the performance of specific departmental activities;

5.1.13.     Financial incentives to enter into leasing arrangements;

5.1.14.Amounts received in relation to the ADF Reserves Employer Support Payment Scheme;

5.1.15.Receipts from the sub-leasing of real property, or the resale of goods used in fitting out property;

5.1.16.Receipts from the recovery of actuarial costs met on behalf of other agencies; and

5.1.17.Receipts from the recovery of costs from providing VIP transport services.

5.2.      For the avoidance of doubt, receipts under item 5.1 do not include:

5.2.1.    Court awarded fines and damages, etc (other than to the extent covered by paragraph 5.1.9); and

5.2.2.    Receipts from taxes, levies or specific cost recovered activities where the receipts are raised under legislation and where the activities are budget funded.

Note:    User charging activities should comply with the Government’s cost recovery policy as set out in the Commonwealth Cost Recovery Guidelines for Information and Regulatory Agencies.

1. INCREASE IN APPROPRIATION ITEMS

6.1.      Subject to the net appropriation provisions of the annual appropriation Acts, the Departmental item for the agency is taken to be increased by the following amounts:

6.1.1.    All receipts listed in 5.1, 100% of the receipts.

Note 1 In order to comply with the appropriation requirements of sections 81 and 83 of the Constitution and with sections 19 and 48 of the FMA Act, agencies must keep proper accounts and records of all appropriations to ensure that they do not spend above their appropriation limits.

Note 2 The agency must be able to identify, quantify and, if requested, produce information to show the amounts attributable to net appropriation receipts. This information should be available within the agency’s Financial Management Information System or in other supporting systems or documentation.

Note 3  The agency must report the net appropriations referred to above, as required, in the relevant Budget documents, agency financial statements and the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Note 4   It is the agency’s responsibility to be aware of any changes to reporting requirements which affect net appropriation reporting requirements.

Note 5  The Efficiency Dividend will not apply to any amounts deemed to be appropriated under this agreement.

Peter Saunders
Delegate of the Minister for Finance and Administration

Dominic Staun
As delegate of the Secretary, Department of Finance and Administration

Peter Saunders
Division Manager
Government and Defence Division
Budget Group

Dated  26 September 2005

Dominic Staun
Chief Financial Officer

Department of Finance and Administration

Dated   26 September 2005