Instrument to Reduce Appropriations (No. 1 of 2013-2014)

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Explanatory Statement for the Instrument to Reduce Appropriations (No. 1 of 2013‑2014)

 

Name of the Instrument

The Instrument is called the Instrument to Reduce Appropriations (No. 1 of 2013‑2014). It has been provided this name, rather than being called a “determination”, on the basis that it is a legislative instrument, for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003

Purpose of the Instrument

The Instrument is made to reduce appropriation items for the agencies and bodies listed in the Instrument, through determinations made under the following provisions:

  • section 10 of Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2012-2013;
  • section 12 of Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2012-2013;
  • section 13 of Appropriation Act (No. 2) 2012-2013;
  • section 11 of Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2012-2013;
  • section 13 of Appropriation Act (No. 4) 2012-2013;
  • section 10 of Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2011-2012;
  • section 11 of Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2011-2012;
  • section 13 of Appropriation Act (No. 2) 2011-2012;
  • section 10 of Appropriation Act (No. 5) 2011-2012.

Legislative authority

The Instrument to which this explanatory statement applies reduces a range of appropriations in annual Appropriation Acts, consistent with the statutory process set out in those Acts. The processes are common in requiring a request to reduce an appropriation to be made to the Finance Minister (the Minister for Finance and Deregulation). The request may be made by a Minister with responsibility for:

  • an agency, within the meaning of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (including the Departments of the Parliament); or
  • the High Court of Australia; or
  • a body within the meaning of the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (CAC Act).

The common statutory processes also allow a request to be made to the Finance Minister, by the Prime Minister (or by a Minister acting on behalf of the Prime Minister), which assists with the implementation of savings decisions made on a whole of Government basis. In relation to Departments of the Parliament, the request to the Finance Minister may be made by the responsible Presiding Officer, as defined in Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2012-2013.

Once a request has been made, the Finance Minister may make a determination to reduce the departmental item for an agency under section 10 of:

  • Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2012-2013;
  • Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2011-2012; and
  • Appropriation Act (No. 5) 2011-2012.

Similarly, section 12 of Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2012-2013 enables the Finance Minister to make a determination reducing the CAC Act body payment item for a body under the CAC Act.

Section 13 of Appropriation Act (No. 2) 2012-2013 and section 13 of Appropriation Act (No. 4) 2012-2013 enable the Finance Minister to make a determination reducing the other departmental item (Equity Injections) or the administered assets and liabilities item for an agency.

Section 11 of Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2012-2013 enables the Finance Minister to make a determination reducing the departmental item for an agency covered by that Act.

Section 11 of Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2011-2012 enables the Finance Minister to make a determination reducing an administered item for an agency to the required amount. The provisions were included in the annual Appropriation Acts to allow the Finance Minister to determine that a required amount published in the annual report of an agency is taken to be the required amount specified in the Instrument in particular situations.

Section 11 can be used to ensure that the amount published in an agency annual report, for the administered item, is changed, if, for example, the amount originally stated in the annual report is erroneous. Another reason to use this provision would be if the retained administered appropriations for an agency’s accrued expenses were excess to the actual amounts that it needed to pay, and were therefore no longer required.

Section 13 of Appropriation Act (No. 2) 2011-2012 enables the Finance Minister to make a determination reducing the other departmental item (Equity Injections) for an agency.

Disallowance

This Instrument is a legislative instrument and is disallowable. Section 42 (disallowance) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 applies to this Instrument (despite subsection 44(2) of that Act which exempts certain legislative instruments from disallowance). However, Part 6 (sunsetting) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 does not apply to this Instrument.

Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights

The annual Appropriation Acts perform an important constitutional function, by authorising the withdrawal of money from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the broad purposes indentified in the annual Appropriation Acts.

However, as the High Court has emphasised, beyond this, the annual Appropriation Acts do not create rights and nor do they, importantly, impose any duties.

Given that the legal effect of annual Appropriation Acts is limited in this way, the reduction of amounts in the annual Appropriation Acts is not seen as engaging, or otherwise affecting, the rights or freedoms relevant to the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

Consultation

Consistent with Part 3 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003, all agencies included in the Instrument were consulted in the preparation of the Instrument.

Operation of the Instrument

Most of the reductions to 2012-2013 appropriations are made upon request of the then Minister assisting the then Prime Minister, to reflect a range of savings decisions since Budget 2012-2013, such as the decrease of the Fire Services Levy or targeted savings. The remaining reductions relate to requests made by relevant responsible Ministers. These requests were received from the responsible Ministers for the:

  • Australian Securities and Investments Commission;
  • Australian Trade Commission;
  • Clean Energy Regulator;
  • Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade;
  • Department of Health and Ageing; and
  • Department of Human Services;
  • Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Further requests were made to the Finance Minister from the responsible Presiding Officer for the Department of Parliamentary Services and the Parliamentary Budget Office.

Format of Numerals in the Instrument

The amounts in the tables in the schedules in the Instrument are presented in thousands of dollars, with the exception of Schedules 8, 9 and 11. For these Schedules, requests were made to an amount to the dollar or to the cent.

Overview of the Schedules

The eleven Schedules of this Instrument reduce excess appropriations by a total amount of $760,744,020.14.

Schedule 1 and Schedule 2: Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2012‑2013

Schedule 1 reduces departmental items for the 70 agencies listed in the Schedule to a total amount of $460,148,000. Two of these agencies have names that were subsequently changed:

Item 41 of Schedule 1 reduces the departmental item for the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWWA). The Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 has since changed the name of EOWWA to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.

Item 42 of Schedule 1 reduces the departmental item for Fair Work Australia (FWA). The Fair Work Amendment Act 2012 has since changed the name of FWA to the Fair Work Commission.

Schedule 2 reduces CAC Act body payment items for the 19 agencies listed in the Schedule to a total amount of $5,856,000.

Schedule 3 and Schedule 4: Appropriation Act (No. 2) 2012‑2013

Schedule 3 reduces administered assets and liabilities items for the 4 agencies listed in the Schedule to a total amount of $154,583,000.

Schedule 4 reduces other departmental items (Equity Injections) for the 5 agencies listed in the Schedule to a total amount of $52,441,000.

Schedule 5: Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2012‑2013

Schedule 5 reduces departmental items for the 2 agencies listed in the Schedule to a total amount of $937,000.

Schedule 6 and Schedule 7: Appropriation Act (No. 4) 2012‑2013

Schedule 6 reduces an administered assets and liabilities item for the agency listed in the Schedule to a total amount of $30,135,000.

Schedule 7 reduces an other departmental item (Equity Injections) for the agency listed in the Schedule to a total amount of $12,485,000.

Schedule 8 and Schedule 9: Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2011‑2012

Schedule 8 reduces departmental items for the 4 agencies listed in the Schedule, to a total amount of $39,363,398.98, due to requests from the relevant Minister, as follows:

  • Item 1 reduces the departmental item for the Australian Trade Commission by
    $1,524,820.98 upon request by the then Minister for Trade and Competitiveness;
  • Item 2 reduces the departmental item for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) by $26,302,578 upon request by the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
  • Item 3 reduces the departmental item for the Department of Human Services by $7,232,000 upon request by the Minister for Human Services; and
  • Item 4 reduces the departmental item for PM&C by $4,304,000 upon request of the then  Minister assisting the then Prime Minister.

Schedule 9 determines the following upon request of the Minister for Foreign Affairs:

  • The required amount for the administered item in Outcome 1 for DFAT is now $244,039,197.41 thereby reducing the administered item for Outcome 1 by $66,569.54. For completeness, outcome 1 for DFAT is: “The advancement of Australia’s international strategic, security and economic interests including through bilateral, regional and multilateral engagement on Australian Government foreign and trade policy priorities”
  • The required amount for the administered item in Outcome 2 for DFAT is now $228,932, thereby reducing the administered item for Outcome 2 by $18,987.62. For completeness, outcome 2 for DFAT is: “The protection and welfare of Australians abroad and access to secure international travel documentation through timely and responsive travel advice and consular and passport services in Australia and overseas”.

Both these reductions relate to retained administered appropriations for accrued expenses that were excess to the actual amounts paid and therefore no longer required. The total amount of the reduction in Schedule 9 is $85,557.16.

Schedule 10: Appropriation Act (No. 2) 2011‑2012

Schedule 10 reduces an other departmental item (Equity Injections) for the Clean Energy Regulator by one amount of $3,638,000 upon request of the then Minister for Climate Change, Industry and Innovation.

This relates to excess appropriations that are surplus to requirements.

Schedule 11: Appropriation Act (No. 5) 2011‑2012

Schedule 11 reduces the departmental item for the Department of Health and Ageing by one amount of $1,072,064 upon request of the then Minister for Health. This relates to excess appropriations that are surplus to requirements.

 

 

Overview

The Instrument to Reduce Appropriations (No. 1 of 2013-2014) was enacted to reduce appropriation items for various agencies and bodies, consistent with the statutory process set out in the Appropriation Acts. This legislative instrument was introduced to address the need for a streamlined process to reduce appropriations in response to budget savings decisions and other factors affecting financial requirements. The instrument was enacted by the Parliament of Australia and is disallowable under the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. The policy objective of the instrument is to ensure that the appropriations allocated to government agencies and bodies are reflective of their actual financial needs and to facilitate efficient financial management across the government. The instrument authorises the Finance Minister to make determinations reducing appropriations for specified agencies and bodies in accordance with the requests made by relevant Ministers or the Prime Minister.

Scope and Application

The Instrument to Reduce Appropriations (No. 1 of 2013-2014) applies to various agencies and bodies within the Commonwealth of Australia, including Commonwealth departments, the High Court of Australia, and bodies under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997. This legislation facilitates the reduction of appropriations in annual Appropriation Acts as requested by relevant Ministers or the Prime Minister, thereby enabling the Finance Minister to make determinations that align with budgetary savings and efficiency measures. The Instrument operates within the legislative framework established by the Appropriation Acts and is applicable across the Commonwealth, impacting a wide range of entities including both government departments and statutory bodies. While the Instrument itself does not specify exclusions or exemptions, it does allow for the exclusion of certain items through the specific determinations made by the Finance Minister. The scope of the Instrument can be extended or modified through subordinate instruments as necessary to address changing fiscal circumstances or policy objectives.

Key Provisions

The main operative sections of the Instrument to Reduce Appropriations (No. 1 of 2013-2014) involve the reduction of appropriation items for specific agencies and bodies as outlined in the schedules. This reduction is authorised by various sections of the Appropriation Acts, including section 10 of Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2012-2013 (s. 10), section 12 of Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2012-2013 (s. 12), and section 13 of Appropriation Act (No. 2) 2012-2013 (s. 13) among others. These sections empower the Finance Minister to make determinations that effectively reduce the funding allocated to specific agencies or bodies, as requested by relevant Ministers or Presiding Officers. The obligations imposed by the Instrument on the parties or entities it governs primarily revolve around the submission of requests to the Finance Minister for any necessary reductions in appropriations. This process ensures that the funding allocated to various agencies and bodies is aligned with current requirements and savings decisions. For example, Ministers with responsibility for an agency or the High Court, as well as bodies within the meaning of the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (CAC Act), must make a formal request to the Finance Minister if they identify the need for a reduction in their appropriations. Similarly, the Prime Minister, or a Minister acting on behalf of the Prime Minister, can also make such requests to facilitate whole-of-government savings decisions. There are no explicit offences or penalties mentioned in the Instrument itself; however, the legislative framework under which the Instrument operates provides for potential consequences of non-compliance. Given that the Instrument is a legislative instrument and is disallowable under section 42 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003, failure to adhere to the prescribed processes for requesting and determining appropriation reductions could lead to the disallowance of the Instrument. This would mean that the reductions made under the Instrument would not be legally binding, potentially resulting in financial and operational disruptions for the affected agencies and bodies. Additionally, the failure to make proper requests or to follow the statutory processes could be viewed as non-compliance with the legislative requirements, which might attract administrative or other legal consequences depending on the specific circumstances and applicable laws.

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Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 26 August 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.