Senate

Revised Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by authority of the Treasurer, the Hon Scott Morrison MP)

Chapter 5 Australian Renewable Energy Agency's finances

Outline of chapter

Subsection 64(1) of the ARENA Act specifies the amounts made available to ARENA for each of the years 2013-14 to 2021-22. ARENA accesses these amounts by making requests for payment to the Commonwealth under section 65. Payments are appropriated from the Consolidated Revenue Fund under section 66. Any unrequested amounts carry over to future financial years under subsection 64(2).

Schedule 5 to the Bill amends the table in subsection 64(1) of the ARENA Act so that amounts available to ARENA for the years from 2017-18 onwards are replaced with the new amounts specified in item 1.

The amendments made by Schedule 5 do not affect the amounts that were available to ARENA for any of the years 2013-14 to 2016-17.

Note that the 2016-17 Budget papers provide for an appropriation for ARENA in 2016-17 that differs from the amount set out for that year in the table in subsection 64(1). This difference is explained by some unspent amounts carried over from previous years under subsection 64(2) being reprofiled in the Budget to match ARENA's updated profile of payment commitments. Therefore the figure in the 2016-17 Budget papers for the 2016-17 year does not represent any additional appropriation to ARENA.

STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS

Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

Australian Renewable Energy Agency's finances

This Schedule is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instrument listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 .

Overview

The ARENA Act sets out the legislative framework for the establishment of ARENA and its objectives, which are to improve the competitiveness of renewable energy and related technologies and to increase the supply of renewable energy. The ARENA Act also details ARENA's governance arrangements and the funding available for ARENA, to provide financial assistance for renewable energy projects, research and development activities, and activities to capture and share knowledge.

This Schedule amends the table in sub-section 64(1) of the ARENA Act so that the amounts available to ARENA for the years from 2017-18 onwards are replaced with the new amounts specified

Human Rights Implications

This Schedule includes a revenue-raising measure that is minor in nature, and as such, does not engage any of the applicable human rights or freedoms.

Conclusion

This Schedule is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.