Attachment A

 

Details of the Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Amendment (2023 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2023

 

Section 1 - Name

 

This section provides that the title of the Regulations is the Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Amendment (2023 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2023.

 

Section 2 - Commencement

 

This section provides that the Regulations commence on the day after registration on the Federal Register of Legislation. 

 

Section 3 - Authority

 

This section provides that the Regulations are made under the Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Act 1997 (FF(SP) Act).

 

Section 4 - Schedules

 

This section provides that the Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Regulations 1997 (the Principal Regulations) are amended as set out in the Schedule to the Regulations.

 

Schedule 1 - Amendments

 

Part 1 - Repeal of items

 

Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Regulations 1997

 

Items 1 to 6 amend Schedules 1AA and 1AB by repealing 21 table items from Schedule 1AA, 45 table items from Schedule 1AB and one item from Schedule 1B to the Principal Regulations. These table items have been identified as appropriate for repeal because the arrangements and grants made in reliance on these table items have come to an end or will come to an end prior to the commencement of the Regulations, or another source of legislative authority has been identified for such arrangements and grants. 

 

Item 1 - Part 3 of Schedule 1AA (table item 318.001)

 

This item repeals table item 318.001 from Part 3 of Schedule 1AA to the Principal Regulations.

 

Table item 318.001 relates to Assistance to upgrade Simplot's processing plants in Tasmania and is no longer required for legislative authority because grants under the program ended in 2013-14.

 

Item 2 - Amendments of listed provisions--Part 4 of Schedule 1AA

 

This item repeals redundant provisions from the table in Part 4 of Schedule 1AA to the Principal Regulations.

 

Table item	Name
401.019	Australian Pest Animal Research Program
401.028	Support the Forest Industry
402.004	Payments for the provision of legal aid in expensive Commonwealth criminal cases--Legal Aid Commissions
402.008	Family Relationships Services Program
402.018	Safer Suburbs
402.025	Schools Security Program
402.027A	Disaster recovery assistance as required
402.028	Assistance--Disaster Income Recovery Subsidy
405.002	Cybersafety
410.012	Support for Carers
410.027	External Merits Review
418.027	Clean Technology Investment--Food and Foundries Program
418.038	Textile Clothing and Footwear--Structural Adjustment Program
418.075	Education Services for Overseas Students Assurance Fund
419.004	Keys2Drive
425.019	Destruction of ozone depleting substances and synthetic greenhouse gases
430.004	Grants-In-Aid
430.005	Community Care Grants
430.006	Joint Venture Grants
430.008	Joint Venture Home Maintenance

 

These table items are no longer required for legislative authority.

 

Item 3 - Amendments of listed provisions--Part 2 of Schedule 1AB

 

This item repeals redundant provisions from the table in Part 2 of Schedule 1AB to the Principal Regulations.

 

Table item	Name
4	Stronger Biosecurity and Quarantine programme--grants to States and Territories to conduct biosecurity response and preparedness activities
13	Grants to improve apprenticeships

 

These table items are no longer required for legislative authority.

 

 

Item 4 - Amendments of listed provisions - Part 3 of Schedule 1AB

 

This item repeals redundant provisions from the table in Part 3 of Schedule 1AB to the Principal Regulations.

 

Table item	Name
15	Grants for Casino Beef Week
20	Australian bid for 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup
22	Grant to the Australian International Military Games Limited
36	Grants to General Sir John Monash Foundation
55	Grant to Australian Olympic Committee

 

These table items are no longer required for legislative authority.

 

Item 5 - Amendments of listed provisions - Part 4 of Schedule 1AB

 

This item repeals redundant provisions from the table in Part 4 of Schedule 1AB to the Principal Regulations.

 

Table item	Name
3	Support for national expositions relating to primary industry
5	Better Employment Outcomes for Indigenous Australians
7	Tasmanian Jobs Programme
28	Financial Rebate for Small Exporters
29	Review of Invasive Marine Pests
46	Strengthening Communities
90	Disability and Carers - Disability, Mental Health and Carers - Individual Placement and Support
109	Support for the Child Care System - Child Care Services Support - Inclusion Support Programme
138	Alternative arrangements for apprenticeship delivery
141	Young Carers Respite and Information Services Programme
147	Asian Physics Olympiad
156	Managing farm risk
157	Building Capacity in Australian Parents Trial
158	Towards Independent Adulthood Trial
172	Dairy Australia--Tactics for Tight Times
177	Perinatal depression online support tool
197	Leadership in Agricultural Industries Fund
209	Commonwealth Scholarships Program for South Australia
220	Commodity Milk Price Index
226	Supporting Younger Veterans Grants
238	Grants to commemorate the end of the First World War
267	In Home Care Support
269	Services for people affected by the use of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances at RAAF Base Tindal
279	National Disability Coordination Officer Program
287	Keeping Children Safe by Reducing Childhood Injuries
307	Value in Prescribing Program
311	Farm Hub
334	Smart Fruit Fly Management
346	Urgent assistance for eligible primary producers affected by floods in Northern Queensland
347	Paying legacy unpaid external dispute resolution determinations
360	Incentives for Australian Apprenticeships
371	Grant to Dairy Australia Limited
372	Grant to Australian Dairy Farmers' Limited
374	Starting Farm Cooperative
384	Rural Inspire Program
393	Support to communities affected by bushfires--payments for children
396	Mid-Career Checkpoint
449	Motor Vehicle Service and Repair Information Sharing--Online Resources

 

These table items are no longer required for legislative authority.

 

Item 6 - Schedule 1B (table item 11)

 

Item 6 amends Schedule 1B by repealing table item 11. This table item relates to Medibank Private and is no longer required because Medibank Private is no longer funded by the Commonwealth. In 1976, the Australian Government established Medibank Private as a
not-for-profit private health insurer. In 2014, the Government announced it would sell Medibank Private. The Medibank Private Sale Act 2006 received royal assent on 11 December 2006 with a designated sale date declared for 1 December 2014.

 

Part 2 - Transitional provisions

 

Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Regulations 1997

 

Item 7 - In the appropriate position in Part 3

 

Item 7 inserts Division 5 "Amendments made by the Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Amendment (2023 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2023" into Part 3 of the Principal Regulations.

 

New section 30 "Power to vary or administer arrangements or grants" ensures that, despite the repeal of table items in Schedules 1AA and 1AB by Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Regulations, there are transitional provisions in place to preserve the power for the Commonwealth to vary or administer an arrangement or grant entered into prior to the repeal of these table items as if these items continue in force for the purposes of sections 32B (power to make, vary and administer arrangements and grants) and 32C (terms and conditions for grants) of the FF(SP) Act, should the need for such action arise in the future. Such need could arise because an arrangement or grant entered into prior to the repeal has not expired as expected or because there is a need to administer a continuing obligation in such an agreement (for example, to recover funds in the event that a breach of the agreement is later identified).

 

The transitional provisions also preserve the capacity for Ministers and accountable authorities of non-corporate Commonwealth entities to issue delegations in respect of this power. It does not provide the authority for the Commonwealth to make any new commitments to spend money in reliance on the table items being repealed
(e.g. a grant or arrangement could not be varied to increase any amount payable by the Commonwealth).

 

The provisions would however authorise spending pursuant to any contractual commitment entered into prior to the repeal of the relevant item, including where:

*         a grant or arrangement has not expired prior to the repeal of the item as expected and a payment becomes due, under the terms of the grant or arrangement, after the repeal; or

*         a payment made under the grant or arrangement before the repeal of the item was miscalculated and underpaid and the contractor is entitled, under the terms of the grant or arrangement, to an additional payment. 

 

Attachment B

 

Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights

 

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

 

Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Amendment (2023 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2023

 

These Regulations are compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

 

Overview of the Legislative Instrument

 

Section 32B of the Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Act 1997 (the FF(SP) Act) authorises the Commonwealth to make, vary and administer arrangements and grants specified in the Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Regulations 1997 (Principal Regulations) and to make, vary and administer arrangements and grants for the purposes of programs specified in the Principal Regulations. Schedule 1AA and Schedule 1AB to the Principal Regulations specify the arrangements, grants and programs. The powers in the FF(SP) Act to make, vary or administer arrangements or grants may be exercised on behalf of the Commonwealth by Ministers and the accountable authorities of non-corporate Commonwealth entities, as defined under section 12 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

 

Section 39B of the FF(SP) Act authorises the Commonwealth to form companies, or participate in the formation of companies, specified in the Principal Regulations and whose objects or proposed activities are specified in the Principal Regulations. Schedule 1B to the Principal Regulations specifies the companies. 

 

The Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Amendment (2023 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2023 amend Part 3 of the Principal Regulations, relating to transitional and application provisions, Schedules 1AA and 1AB to the Principal Regulations, relating to arrangements, grants or programs, and Schedule 1B to the Principal Regulations, relating to companies and objects or proposed activities.

 

The amendments repeal selected items in the schedules that are no longer needed.

 

The Regulations repeal 67 items from schedules to the Principal Regulations:

• 21 items from Schedule 1AA;
• 45 items from Schedule 1AB; and
• one item from Schedule 1B.

 

The items in Schedules 1AA and 1AB to the Principal Regulations have been identified as appropriate for repeal because the arrangements and grants made in reliance on these items have come to an end or will come to an end prior to the commencement of the Regulations, or a more appropriate source of legislative authority is available for such arrangements and grants. The item being repealed from Schedule 1B to the Principal Regulations relates to a company that is no longer funded by the Commonwealth.

 

The amendments also include transitional provisions to preserve the capacity for the Commonwealth to take action in relation to an arrangement or grant entered into prior to the repeal of relevant items as if these items continue in force, should the need for such action arise in the future. Such need could arise because an arrangement or grant entered into prior to the repeal has not expired as expected or because there is a need to enforce a continuing obligation in such an agreement (for example, to recover funds in the event that a breach of the agreement is later identified).

 

The transitional provisions also preserve the capacity for Ministers and accountable authorities of non-corporate Commonwealth entities to issue delegations in respect of this power. It does not provide the authority for the Commonwealth to make any new commitments to spend money in reliance on the items being repealed but would authorise spending pursuant to any contractual commitment entered into prior to the repeal.   

 

Human rights implications

 

The Regulations do not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.

 

Conclusion

 

The Regulations are compatible with human rights as they do not raise any human rights issues.

 

 

 

Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher

Minister for Finance