Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Section 75 Transfers) Amendment Determination 2015-2016 (No. 5)

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013

Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Section 75 Transfers) Amendment Determination 2015‑2016 (No. 5) (the amendment determination)

Purpose of the determination

The amendment determination is made under section 75 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act) to amend Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Section 75 Transfers) Determination 2015‑2016 (the primary determination), dated 30 October 2015, and amended by:

         Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Section 75 Transfers) Amendment Determination 2015‑2016 (No. 1), dated 5 November 2015;

         Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Section 75 Transfers) Amendment Determination 2015‑2016 (No. 2), dated 11 November 2015;

         Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Section 75 Transfers) Amendment Determination 2015‑2016 (No. 3), dated 13 November 2015; and

         Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Section 75 Transfers) Amendment Determination 2015‑2016 (No. 4), dated 19 January 2016;

to adjust amounts appropriated to non-corporate Commonwealth entities, in response to the Administrative Arrangements Order (AAO) made on 18 February 2016.

The amendment determination modifies Appropriation Act (No. 3) 2015‑2016 to support functions transferring from the Department of the Environment to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, in relation to population policy.

The amendment determination results in no change to the total amount appropriated by Parliament.

Commencement

The amendment determination commences on 1 April 2016.

Authority for the determination

Section 75 of the PGPA Act enables the Finance Minister to determine that one or more Schedules to one or more Appropriation Acts are modified in a specified way in relation to the transfer of a function from one non-corporate Commonwealth entity to another.

Under section 107 of the PGPA Act, the Finance Minister has delegated the power to make determinations under section 75 to the Secretary of the Department of Finance. Under section 109 of the PGPA Act, the Secretary has, in turn, sub‑delegated this power to certain officials within the Department of Finance, including the official who made the determination.

The amendment determination amends Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Section 75 Transfers) Determination 2015‑2016, which is a legislative instrument for the purposes of section 8 of the Legislation Act 2003.

Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights

A Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights is not required for the amendment determination. Subsection 9(1) of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 requires a Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights for all legislative instruments subject to disallowance under section 42 of the Legislation Act 2003. A determination, including an amendment determination, under section 75 of the PGPA Act is exempt from disallowance under subsection 75(7) of the PGPA Act. As such, a Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights is not required.

Consultation

Consistent with Chapter 3, Part 1 of the Legislation Act 2003, the affected entities were consulted in the preparation of the amendment determination.

Summary of Modifications

1.           Item 1 amends the definition of Appropriation Act, in section 4 of the primary determination, to include all 2015‑2016 Appropriation Acts to date.
2.           Item 2 of the amendment determination adds section 8 that applies to appropriation items in Schedule 1 to Appropriation Act (No. 3) 2015‑2016.
3.           A paragraph is included in section 8 stating that when there is an increase for an appropriation item for a gaining entity, where the appropriation only has effect because of the determination, the increase is applied to a nil amount. For example, this situation may arise where an entity gains an appropriation item not included in a previous Appropriation Act.
4.           While the table in the amendment determination is stated in the $thousands ($’000), the table below sets out the individual transfer amounts and the resulting aggregate amount in dollars and cents for each appropriation item listed. A positive amount reflects an increase in an appropriation item, and a negative amount reflects a decrease in an appropriation item.
5.           The table at subsection 8(2) affects relevant appropriation items in Schedule 1 to Appropriation Act (No. 3) 2015‑2016 in the following way, which results in no change to the total amount appropriated by Parliament.