EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1983 NO 96
ISSUED ON THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER FOR FINANCE
The attached Statutory Rules amend the Finance Regulations made under section 71(1) of the Audit Act 1901. Details of the amendments are as follows:
Regulation 8
Regulation 8 required that the Secretary to the Department of Finance perform certain functions in relation to Receivers and Collectors of Public Moneys. This created administrative problems. As Receivers and Collectors are now appointed, on an ex-officio basis, by Permanent Heads under delegation from the Minister for Finance, the Regulation should more appropriately be directed at Permanent Heads.
In addition, the Regulation dealt with what are essentially administrative matters which are usually covered in directions given by either the Minister or the Secretary.
Accordingly, regulation 8 has been repealed and these matters will be dealt with, in future, by directions.
Regulations 9, 11, 14, 15 and 16
These regulations have been repealed because they were invalidated by section 22 of the Audit Act as amended by the Audit Amendment Act 1979. In future, accounting officers will be required to deal with public moneys they receive in accordance with directions given by the Minister for Finance pursuant to section 22.
Regulations 19 and 22
These regulations have been repealed. Both regulations related to matters dealt with in section 28 of the Audit Act. When section 28 was repealed by the Audit Amendment Act 1979 the regulations became redundant.
Regulation 45A
Paragraph (a) of sub-regulation 45A(3) has been repealed. This will ensure that the checks of a limited nature permitted under regulation 45A will not apply to salaries (including payments in the nature of salaries) which are prepared manually. In future, the more detailed checks required by regulation 45 will apply to such payments.
Regulations 46, 47 and 48
Formerly these regulations set out the procedures which applied where the Department of Housing and Construction obtained supplies on behalf of other Departments and paid for those supplies out of an appropriation under its control. The amended regulations apply those procedures to all Departments which, under similar conditions to Housing and Construction, obtain supplies for other Departments.
Regulation 53
Paragraph (a) of sub-regulation 53(2) provides, inter alia, that supplies, that are obtained by the Commonwealth under certain contracts with authorities or bodies established by or under State Acts, are exempt from the requirement that details of the contracts be published in the Gazette.
Regulation 53 has been amended to ensure that the exemption applies only to supplies obtained under contract from State authorities or bodies established for public purposes, and not, as the previous wording implied, from those established for private purposes also.
Regulations 55 and 70
These regulations have been amended to take into account the definition of “officer” introduced into the Audit Act by the Audit Amendment Act 1979. In each case the amendments are of a minor drafting nature and do not effect the intention of the relevant regulation.
Regulations 67 and 74
Regulation 67 duplicated a provision which is contained in section 34 of the Audit Act; this section provides, inter alia, that an Authorising Officer shall not authorise an account unless it has been certified. Regulation 67 therefore served no purpose and has been repealed. A consequential amendment, the omission of a reference to regulation 67, has been made to regulation 74.
Regulation 74A
A new regulation has been made which prescribes, for the purposes of section 36 of the Audit Act, the types of advances to which that section applies. The practical effect of the amendment will be to enable the types of advances which have been prescribed to be treated as final expenditure if they are still held by the officer to whom they were advanced, at the end of the financial year.
Sub-section 36(2) of the Audit Act and thus regulation 74A will come into operation on a date to be fixed by Proclamation.
Regulation 78
Regulation 78 has been amended by removing the previous reference to the Money Order Account. That reference became redundant when sections 26 and 26A of the Audit Act, which dealt with the Money Order Account, were repealed by section 38 of the Postal and Telecommunications Commissions (Transitional Provisions) Act 1975.
In addition, the prescribed period for the repayment of an advance given to an officer to enable him to make payments of salaries and wages and payments in the nature of salaries and wages, has been increased from 7 to 14 days. This is in line with a practice approved by the Secretary to the Department of Finance under sub-regulation 78(1).
This regulation has been amended to provide that an officer appointed by the Permanent Head shall conduct a check of paid claims required under the regulation. Formerly, this check was carried out by the Authorising Officer. This had proved to be unworkable, particularly in those Departments where the Authorising Officer dealt with a large number of claims; in these situations Authorising Officers had not found it practicable to perform the check.
Regulation 127B
A new regulation has been made, pursuant to sub-section 71(1) paragraph (g) of the Audit Act, which makes provision for the disposal of unclaimed property. The regulation provides that unclaimed property may be disposed of, where appropriate, by sale; for the payment into Consolidated Revenue Fund of the proceeds of any sale and for the reimbursement of the former owner if he later makes a claim in respect of the property sold. It also protects the purchaser of the property by extinguishing any rights that, immediately before the sale, were vested in any other person.