Financial Management and Accountability (Variation of the Return of Indigenous Cultural Property Special Account) Determination 2011/16

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 Return of Indigenous Cultural Property Special Account) Determination 2011/16

Purpose of the Determination

The instrument is made under subsection 20(2) of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act) and varies Determination 2005/45, which established the Return of Indigenous Cultural Property 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 the Special Account 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 such 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.
 

Operation of this Determination

Determination 2011/16 varies the Return of Indigenous Cultural Property Special Account to (a) remove an explicit reference to the Cultural Ministers’ Council, because the Council no longer exists; (b) rename the Special Account to Indigenous Repatriation Special Account; and (c) change the reference to “indigenous cultural material” to “Indigenous ancestral remains and secret sacred objects”.  Variations (b) and (c) aim to provide more clarity on the types of cultural material involved, and to better align the text with cultural sensitivities.
 

Consultation

The Office for the Arts, within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PMC), is affected by this instrument.  The Office and PMC were provided with drafts of the instrument and agree with the form of the instrument.  PMC has supplied data for the “Table of Balances and Transactions” (below). 

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).

Table of Balances and Transactions

The table below outlines the estimated financial implications of the determination on the balance of the Special Account.

In the table above:

• In 2011-12, the Special Account is expected to receive $836,000 from PMC departmental appropriations to cover domestic repatriation of Indigenous remains and objects, and $587,000 from PMC administered appropriations to cover international repatriation of Indigenous remains.

• The international repatriation function was previously the responsibility of the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA)