EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Finance and Deregulation
Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997
Financial Management and Accountability (Variation of the Energy Special Account) Determination 2012/01
Purpose of the Determination
The Determination is made under subsection 20(2) of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act) and varies the following Special Account:
Energy Special Account – Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism
Special Accounts generally
In accordance with the Constitution, all revenues or moneys raised or received by the Commonwealth form one Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) and may not be spent unless under an appropriation is made 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 under subsection 20(1) of the FMA Act or vary Special Accounts under subsection 20(2) of the FMA Act are subject to the tabling and disallowance procedures in section 22 of the FMA Act. Section 22 of the FMA Act requires the Finance Minister to table a copy of the determination in each House of the Parliament. Either House may pass a resolution disallowing a determination within five sitting days of tabling. If the determination is not disallowed, it comes into effect on the day immediately after the last day on which it could have been disallowed.
Subsection 20(6) of the FMA Act exempts determinations that establish Special Accounts under subsection 20(1) of the FMA Act or vary Special Accounts under subsection 20(2) of the FMA Act from the operation of Part 6 (sunsetting) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Subsection 20(7) of the FMA Act exempts determinations that abolish Special Accounts under subsection 20(3) of the FMA Act from the operation of section 42 (disallowance) and Part 6 (sunsetting) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Operation of this Determination
This Special Account is used to assist in implementing the agreed work plans of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Standing Council on Energy and Resources (SCER). The SCER’s terms of reference were revised in September 2011. Therefore the determination expands the purposes of the Special Account to include activities that contribute to policy development in the energy, resources, minerals and mining sectors.
Consultation
The Agency affected by this determination was given an opportunity to comment on the instrument.
As the instrument is for internal machinery of government purposes only, no consultation was necessary with other persons (see sections 17 and 18 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003).