EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Issued by the authority of the Minister for Finance and Deregulation

Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997

Determination 2009/22 to vary a Special Account

Purposes of Determination 2009/22

The attached instrument makes a determination under subsection 20 (2) of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act) to vary the Other Trust Moneys – Office of the Workplace Ombudsman Special Account.  

Special Accounts generally

In accordance with the Constitution, all revenues or moneys raised or received by the Government of the Commonwealth form one Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) and may not be spent unless under an appropriation by the Parliament for the purposes of the Commonwealth.  A Special Account may be established by a determination that sets out the amounts that may be credited and the purposes for which it may be debited.  Special Accounts established by determination are supported by an appropriation under section 20 of the FMA Act.  In effect, Special Accounts allow amounts from the CRF to be spent on the purposes specified in the determination.

Determinations that establish Special Accounts, or vary determinations that establish Special Accounts, are subject to section 22 of the FMA Act.  Section 22 of the FMA Act requires the Finance Minister to table a copy of the establishing or varying determination in each House of the Parliament.  Either House may disallow a determination within five sitting days of tabling.  If the determination is not disallowed, it comes into effect on the calendar day after the last day on which it could have been disallowed.

Regulation 10 of the Legislative Instruments Regulations 2004 preserves the disallowance provisions under section 22 of the FMA Act by exempting Special Account determinations from subsections 57(2) and 57(5) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

Special Accounts can be abolished by a determination of the Finance Minister.  However, such a determination is not subject to parliamentary disallowance.

Operation of Determination 2009/22

Reasons for varying the Special Account

The Office of the Workplace Ombudsman will be abolished on 30 June 2009 and its functions incorporated into the Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman, established under the Fair Work Act 2009.  As the Office of the Workplace Ombudsman will cease to exist, the name of the Other Trust Moneys – Office of the Workplace Ombudsman Special Account is being varied so as to clearly attribute amounts held in the Special Account to the Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman.

There are no substantive changes to the Special Account and the purpose clauses remain the same.  One crediting clause has been removed; it allowed amounts from the Office of Workplace Services Special Account to be credited to the Office of the Workplace Ombudsman Special Account.  This has been removed because the Office of Workplace Services Special Account has been abolished.

Effect of this Determination

This Determination varies the name of the Other Trust Moneys – Office of the Workplace Ombudsman Special Account to the Other Trust Moneys – Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman Special Account.  This change reflects the abolition of the Office of the Workplace Ombudsman and the establishment of the Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman under the Fair Work Act 2009.

Consultation

The Office of the Workplace Ombudsman is the agency affected by this instrument.  The agency was provided with drafts of the instrument and agrees with the form of the instrument. As the instrument is for internal machinery of government purposes only, no consultation was considered necessary with other persons (see sections 17 and 18 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003).

Estimates of transactions on the Other Trust Moneys – Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman Special Account