Senate

Revised Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated with the authority of the Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Senator the Hon Penny Wong)

II. Notes on Long Title and Clauses

6. The structure of the Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2011 (FFLA Bill 2011) comprises the long title, one clause that provides the short title and then two clauses that refer to the eight Schedules that contain the substantive amendments to other Acts. These notes describe the long title and the three clauses and their effect.

Long title

7. The long title of the FFLA Bill 2011 provides that it is a Bill for an Act to amend the law relating to the Commonwealth's financial framework and governance arrangements, and for related purposes.

8. The Australian Constitution provides the foundation for the expenditure of Government. The Commonwealth's financial framework and governance arrangements are made up of various Acts of Parliament, which, for the most part, concern the control of public money and the control of Australian Government employees.

9. The Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act) and the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (CAC Act) are the principal Acts that underpin the Commonwealth financial framework. Additional Acts provide, in part, financial and governance arrangements for specific agencies. Such additional Acts include those Acts that Schedules 4 to 8 of the FFLA Bill 2011 would amend.

10. Further information concerning the structure of the Commonwealth Government and its governance are contained in the List of Australian Government Bodies and Governance Relationships and the Governance Arrangements for Australian Government Bodies .

Clause 1: Short title

11. This clause provides that, should the FFLA Bill 2011 be enacted, it may then be cited as the Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1) 2011 .

Clause 2: Commencement

12. This clause provides that if the FFLA Bill 2011 is passed:

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Clauses 1 to 3 will commence on the day that the FFLA Bill 2011 receives the Royal Assent.

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Items in Schedule 1 (the CAC Act) will commence on a single day fixed by Proclamation within 12 months from the date of Royal Assent, otherwise they will commence 12 months after the date of Royal Assent. This would allow for sufficient time for the development of regulations under the CAC Act, and for detailed consultations to occur with CAC Act bodies.

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Items in Schedule 2 (the FMA Act) will commence on a day or days fixed by Proclamation within 12 months from the date of the Royal Assent, otherwise they will commence 12 months after the date of the Royal Assent. This would allow for sufficient time to provide information, to the Chief Executives of FMA Act agencies and other relevant stakeholders of the change in the placement of particular information about Special Account determinations, guidelines and Chief Executive Instructions (CEIs) from the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 (Legislative Instruments Act) to the FMA Act

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Items in Schedule 3 (the Legislative Instruments Act) will commence immediately after the commencement of item 1 of Schedule 2 in the FFLA Bill 2011. This would ensure that the sunsetting and disallowance exclusions in the Legislative Instruments Act would cease immediately after the commencement of item 1 of Schedule 2 in the FFLA Bill 2011 placing these arrangements in the FMA Act.

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Items in Schedule 4 ( Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Act 1999 (Excise Levies Act)) and Schedule 5 ( Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000 (Electricity Act)) will commence on the day that the FFLA Bill 2011 receives the Royal Assent, which will update references to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES).

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Items in Schedule 6 ( Science and Industry Research Act 1949 (CSIRO Act)), Schedule 7 ( Wheat Export Marketing Act 2008 (Wheat Act)), and Schedule 8 ( Wine Australia Corporation Act 1980 (Wine Act)) will commence on the day after the FFLA Bill 2011 receives the Royal Assent. This will allow for information to be added to the commencement table in the CSIRO Act, the Wheat Act and the Wine Act.

Clause 3: Schedules

13. This clause provides that each Act, as specified in one of the 8 Schedules to the FFLA Bill 2011, is to be amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in that Schedule of the FFLA Bill 2011. It also provides that any other item in a Schedule has effect according to its terms, which relates to provisions such as application provisions.

14. Briefly, the Schedules in the FFLA Bill 2011, in consecutive order, would amend the following Acts:

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Schedule 1 would amend the CAC Act;

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Schedule 2 would amend the FMA Act;

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Schedule 3 would amend the Legislative Instruments Act;

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Schedule 4 would amend the Excise Levies Act;

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Schedule 5 would amend the Electricity Act;

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Schedule 6 would amend the CSIRO Act;

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Schedule 7 would amend the Wheat Act; and

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Schedule 8 would amend the Wine Act.