(1) This section applies to a reference of a matter to the Commission under section 16, 16A or 16AA of this Act, so far as the matter relates to grants of assistance ( GST revenue grants ) made under Division 1 of Part 2 of the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 for the 2021 - 22 payment year, or a later payment year, within the meaning of that Act.
Note: An example of a matter referred to in this section is the Minister seeking a recommendation about the GST revenue sharing relativities that the Minister determines for a financial year under section 8 of the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 .
(2) In framing the terms of the reference, the Minister is to pursue the objective of ensuring, consistently with the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 , that the States, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory each have the fiscal capacity to provide services (including associated infrastructure) at a standard that is at least as high as the standard for whichever of New South Wales and Victoria has the higher standard.
(3) However, so far as the reference relates to GST revenue grants for any of the first 5 payment years covered by subsection ( 1), the Minister is to frame the terms of the reference:
(a) so as to make an appropriate and even transition over those 5 years from the arrangements that applied before those payment years (the previous arrangements ) to arrangements based on subsection ( 2) of this section (the new arrangements ); and
(b) so that the respective GST revenue sharing relativities for the States and Territories that the Minister determines for each of those 5 payment years under section 8 of the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 can be worked out:
(i) consistently with the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 ; and
(ii) using the proportion of the relativities derived from the previous arrangements, and the proportion of the relativities derived from the new arrangements, set out in this table:
Transitional proportions | |||
Item | Payment year | Proportion of the relativities derived from the previous arrangements | Proportion of the relativities derived from the new arrangements |
1 | the 2021 - 22 payment year | 5 /6 | 1 /6 |
2 | the 2022 - 23 payment year | 4 /6 | 2 /6 |
3 | the 2023 - 24 payment year | 3/6 | 3 /6 |
4 | the 2024 - 25 payment year | 2/6 | 4 /6 |
5 | the 2025 - 26 payment year | 1 /6 | 5 /6 |