The instrument to which this explanatory statement relates

Determination to Reduce Appropriations Upon Request (No. 4 of 2011-2012)

Date instrument was made

25 August 2011

The legislative authority under which the instrument is made

Subsection 10(2) of Appropriation Act (No. 1)
2010-2011 enables the Minister for Finance and Deregulation to make a written determination reducing a departmental item for an agency by the amount specified in the Determination, upon receipt of a written request from the Minister responsible for that agency.

Determinations made under subsection 10(2) are legislative instruments and are disallowable.

Purpose and effect of the instrument

The purpose of the instrument is to reduce the appropriation item that the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities has advised the Minister for Finance and Deregulation is surplus to the requirements of the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPaC).

Schedule 1 of the Instrument determines that the departmental item for the former Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) in Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2010-2011 be reduced by $496,000.

Background

In the Administrative Arrangements Order of
14 September 2010 the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts was renamed the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.  

The Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities wrote to the Minister for Finance and Deregulation on 15 August 2011 requesting a determination to reduce DSEWPaC’s departmental item in Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2010-2011.

The reduction in the departmental appropriation represents the adjustment required from a recalculation of the interest equivalency payment applied to the balance in the National Portrait Gallery Special Account when the Arts and Culture functions were within the portfolio’s responsibilities.

Notes on the Instrument

The Schedule to the Instrument contains a table listing the affected agency in column 1, the appropriation Act and appropriation item in column 2, which through the request by the responsible Minister in column 3, is reduced by the amount in column 4.

In accordance with the Legislative Instruments Act 2003, the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities was consulted in the preparation of this Instrument.