FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT 1997, Section 31

NET APPROPRIATION AGREEMENT (Departmental)

For the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry

This Agreement is made between:

THE MINISTER FOR FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

AND

THE MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY

1. INTRODUCTION
   1.        This net appropriation agreement is made under section 31 of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (the FMA Act).
   2.        Under this agreement, if the agency receives any amounts covered by the agreement, the appropriation to the agency in the annual appropriation Act will be increased.

Note 1 Section 31 of the FMA Act, together with certain standard provisions of the annual appropriation Acts, allows a departmental item (or in some rare instances, an administered item) to be increased by an amount up to the amount of eligible receipts where the Finance Minister (or his or her delegate) and the responsible Minister have entered into a net appropriation agreement.

Note 2 This agreement is given effect by specific provisions within the annual appropriation Acts. Therefore, the agreement only has effect while the relevant specific provisions exist in the annual appropriation Acts.

1.3.           This agreement commences upon signature by the second party.

1.4.           This agreement covers receipts from 1 July 2004.

2.                 DEFINITIONS

2.1.           In this agreement:

2.1.1.    'the agency' means the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry.

2.1.2.    ‘eligible receipts’ means the receipts set out in clause 5.1 of this agreement.

3.                 PURPOSE

3.1.           This net appropriation agreement records the extent to which the amount specified in an item in an annual appropriation Act may be taken to be increased by reference to eligible receipts of the agency.

Note:  In most cases the item in the annual appropriation Act will be taken to be increased by the whole amount received by the agency.  However, in some cases, the item in the annual appropriation Act will only be taken to be increased by a proportion of the whole amount received by the agency - see clause 6.

4.                 DURATION OF THE AGREEMENT

4.1.           This agreement replaces any previous net appropriation agreement between the Finance Minister and the responsible Minister in respect of any of the appropriation items identified in this agreement.

4.2.           This agreement continues until a new net appropriation agreement covering the appropriation item identified in this agreement is executed by both parties to the agreement.

Note: Under s.31(4) of the FMA Act, the Finance Minister may at any time cancel or vary this agreement, without the consent of the other party.

5.                 NATURE OF ELIGIBLE RECEIPTS

5.1.           The following are eligible receipts for the purposes of this agreement:

5.1.1.    Receipts from levies and quota fees paid under legislation, which do not exceed the departmental costs incurred for the Levies Management Unit and Quota Management Unit. 

5.1.2.    Receipts from the sale, leasing, hiring out of, or other dealing with goods, publications, data, and information.

5.1.3.    Receipts in relation to the conduct of seminars, conferences and similar activities.

5.1.4.    Receipts in relation to the provision of staff and other services.

5.1.5.    Receipts from a person (whether employed, appointed, or performing services for, the Commonwealth) as payment for any associated benefit provided (whether to that person or another person).

5.1.6.    Receipts from the sale of minor assets that are departmental in nature such as furniture and fittings.

5.1.7.    Receipts from the transfer of annual and long service leave entitlements between agencies.

5.1.8.    Subsidy and grant moneys received as a result of participation in employment subsidy schemes or programs.

5.1.9.    Monies received in relation to the ADF Reserves Employer Support Payment Scheme.

5.1.10. Court awarded costs to the extent to which they reflect legal costs incurred in litigating the matter.

5.1.11. Receipts from Special Accounts to fund departmental activities; comprising

5.1.11.1.  Amounts debited from the Natural Resources Management Account to fund departmental activities approved by the Minister responsible for the Natural Resources Management (Financial Assistance) Act 1992.

5.2.           For the avoidance of doubt, receipts under item 5.1 do not include:

5.2.1.    Court awarded fines and damages, etc (other than to the extent covered by paragraph 5.1.7); and

5.2.2.    Receipts from taxes, levies or specific cost recovered activities where the receipts are raised under legislation and where the activities are intended by Government to be fully budget funded.

Note: User charging activities should comply with the Government’s cost recovery policy as set out in the Commonwealth Cost Recovery Guidelines for Information and Regulatory Agencies.

6.                 INCREASE IN APPROPRIATION ITEMS

6.1.           Subject to the net appropriation provisions of the annual appropriation Acts, the Departmental item for the agency is taken to be increased by the following amounts:

6.1.1.    for receipts listed at Clause 5.1.1, an amount equal to the running costs of the Levies Management Unit and Quota Management Unit; and

6.1.2.    for all other receipts, 100% of the receipts.

Notes

1. In order to comply with the appropriation requirements of sections 81 and 83 of the Constitution and with sections 19 and 48 of the FMA Act, agencies must keep proper accounts and records of all appropriations to ensure that they do not spend above their appropriation limits.
2. The agency must be able to identify, quantify and, if requested, produce information to show the amounts attributable to net appropriation receipts. This information should be available within the agency’s Financial Management Information System or in other supporting systems or documentation.
3. The agency must report the net appropriations referred to above, as required, in the relevant Budget documents, agency financial statements and the Consolidated Financial Statements.
4. It is the agency’s responsibility to be aware of any changes to reporting requirements which affect net appropriation reporting requirements.
5. The Efficiency Dividend will not apply to any amounts deemed to be appropriated under this agreement.