Senate

Revised Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Finance, Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann)

Notes on Schedule 2 - Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2014

Amend items relating to reporting period references

26. Item 1 would amend items 2, 4, 5 and 6 of Schedule 1 of the PGPA (C & T) Act to replace references to "after the commencement time" with "on or after 1 July 2014". This technical amendment would clarify the operation of the PGPA (C & T) Act by providing that requirements relating to budget estimates, annual financial statements, the audit of the financial statements of subsidiaries, annual reports and Australian Government financial reporting apply to reporting periods that commence on or after 1 July 2014.

Amend provision covering repayments by the Commonwealth

27. Item 2 is connected with item 4 and would amend item 21 of Schedule 1 to the PGPA (C & T) Act. The amendment would insert the words "before or" after the second occurring "Commonwealth". This amendment has the effect that section 77 of the PGPA Act, relating to repayments by the Commonwealth, applies regardless of when the money was received.

28. Item 3 is a technical amendment that would provide for the application of the amendment proposed by item 2 above, with the effect that the amendments would apply to amounts received by the Commonwealth, regardless of when they were received.

Amend transitional provisions

29. The proposed amendment in item 4 would confirm the arrangements for the handling of repayments by the Commonwealth, which is now covered by section 77 of the PGPA Act, provided for by items 2 and 3 of Schedule 2 of the Bill.

30. Item 4 would repeal item 38 of Schedule 2 to the PGPA (C & T) Act. Item 38 was included in the PGPA (C & T) Act as a transitional provision, and required that where an event occurred prior to 1 July 2014 that required a repayment by the Commonwealth after 1 July 2014 then the repayment would use the FMA Act provision (section 28) in force at the time of the event. This could lead to unnecessarily complex reporting requirements as repayment obligations emerge in future years, with entities needing to track amounts and repayments over multiple reporting periods against different legislative provisions. The proposed amendment simplifies and clarifies these requirements.

31. Item 5 would repeal and substitute item 2(1) of Schedule 3 of the PGPA (C & T) Act to accommodate entities with non-financial year reporting periods, to ensure that current practices can continue for those entities.

32. Item 6 would repeal item 16 of Schedule 3 of the PGPA (C & T) Act, which continues certain provisions of the CAC Act for application to the Future Fund Board of Guardians. This item is consequential to the amendment proposed to the Future Fund Act 2006 (FF Act) in items 10 to 21 of Schedule 6 to this Bill, which would align the FF Act with the operation of the PGPA Act, and would replace the civil penalty provisions in the CAC Act with similar provisions now contained in the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014 (RP(SP) Act).

33. Items 7 and 9 would amend items 2 and 6(3) of Schedule 14 of the PGPA (C & T) Act to substitute the references to the application time of items relating to annual reports and reporting periods as the commencement of the PGPA Act, with references to "on or after 1 July 2014" for the purpose of improving the clarity around the operation of the provisions.

34. Item 8 is a technical amendment that would correct a drafting error in item 5 of Schedule 14 of the PGPA (C & T) Act by omitting the last occurring "under the enabling Act" and substituting "under the Legislative Instruments Act 2003".