Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2003 (NO. 1) 2003 NO. 105

STATUTORY RULES 2003 No. 105

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Finance and Administration

Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997

Financial Management and Accountability Amendment Regulations 2003 (No. 1)

Subsection 65(1) of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (the FMA Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed, for carrying out or giving effect to the Act. Under paragraph 16A(a) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, this power of the Governor-General may be exercised by the person for the time being administering the Government of the Commonwealth.

Section 5 of the FMA Act provides that, for the purposes of the Act, an 'Agency' includes a prescribed Agency.

The Regulations amend the Financial Management and Accountability Regulations 1997 to make the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services (ATSIS) a prescribed Agency for the purposes of the FMA Act.

The FMA Act provides a framework of rules for the proper management of public money and public property that applies to Chief Executives of Agencies and officials of Agencies.

The prescription of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services as an Agency for the purposes of the FMA Act facilitates the separation of the policy and priority setting role of the elected arm of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) from ATSIC's decision-making role in relation to the specific allocation of funds to organizations and individuals, with the latter role to be undertaken by ATSIS instead. This new arrangement, with ATSIS being a prescribed Agency under the FMA Act, provides for more transparent and accountable decision-making and minimises the perceptions of potential conflicts of interest in individual funding decisions. It also better positions ATSIC and ATSIC Regional Councils, to adopt a more strategic role in the making of public policy relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons by encompassing programmes for which ATSIS is directly responsible and also programmes conducted by bodies other than ATSIS.

Agency status under the FMA Act also complements the proposed establishment of ATSIS as an Executive Agency for the purposes of the Public Service Act 1999.

The Regulations commence on 1 July 2003.