Overview

The Determination to Reduce Appropriations Upon Request (No. 1 of 2012-2013), made under the authority of the Minister for Finance and Deregulation on 19 July 2012, was enacted to reduce appropriations for the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) for the financial year 2009-2010, in line with a government decision previously announced in the context of the 2011-12 Budget. The purpose of this instrument was to implement a reduction in funding for ASIO, as requested by the Attorney-General and approved by the government, to facilitate the re-appropriation of funds for operating costs associated with ASIO's new central headquarters. The relevant legislative authority for this determination is provided by subsections 10(2) and 13(2) of the Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2009-2010 and Appropriation Act (No. 2) 2009-2010, respectively. The policy objective is to ensure fiscal responsibility and the efficient allocation of government resources in accordance with the government's budgetary priorities.

Scope and Application

The Determination to Reduce Appropriations Upon Request (No. 1 of 2012-2013) is a legislative instrument issued under the authority of the Minister for Finance and Deregulation, and applies to the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). This instrument reduces appropriations for ASIO in the Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2009-2010 and Appropriation Act (No. 2) 2009-2010 by specified amounts following a request from the Minister responsible for ASIO. The primary purpose of the instrument is to implement a reduction in expenditure for ASIO that was agreed by the Government, as advised by the Attorney-General. Specifically, the departmental item for ASIO is reduced by $25,260,000.00 and the other departmental item (Equity Injections) is reduced by $5,760,000.00, with these funds to be re-appropriated over four years for operating costs related to ASIO’s new central headquarters. The instrument applies within the Commonwealth jurisdiction and is subject to disallowance under the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. Notably, ASIO was consulted during the preparation of this instrument, and it does not engage any applicable human rights or freedoms as outlined in the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

Key Provisions

The primary operative sections of this legislation are Schedule 1 and Schedule 2. These sections outline the specific reductions in appropriations for the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) in the Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2009-2010 and Appropriation Act (No. 2) 2009-2010, respectively. Schedule 1 reduces the departmental item for ASIO by $25,260,000.00, while Schedule 2 reduces the other departmental item (Equity Injections) for ASIO by $5,760,000.00. These reductions reflect a decision by the government to reallocate funds from ASIO's 2009-10 budget for operating costs related to its new central headquarters. These appropriations will be re-appropriated over a period of four years. The legislation imposes specific obligations and requirements on the Minister for Finance and Deregulation. Upon receiving a written request from the Minister responsible for the affected agency, the Finance Minister is mandated to make a determination to reduce the specified appropriation items by the amounts specified in the request (subsections 10(2) and 13(2) of the Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2009-2010 and Appropriation Act (No. 2) 2009-2010, respectively). This process ensures that the appropriations are adjusted in accordance with the government's budgetary decisions. The legislation also requires that the affected agency, in this case ASIO, be consulted during the preparation of the instrument, as mandated by the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. The legislation does not explicitly state any offences, penalties, or consequences for breaches of its provisions. However, as a legislative instrument, the determinations made under this legislation can be subject to disallowance. This means that Parliament has the power to review and potentially overturn the determinations if they find them to be invalid or contrary to law. There are no specific maximum penalties outlined in the legislation for breaches, as the primary consequence of non-compliance would be the disallowance of the determination by Parliament.