Glossary

Term	Meaning
A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999	An Act to implement A New Tax System by providing assistance to families, and for related purposes.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2005	An Act to establish a Torres Strait Regional Authority, an Indigenous Land Corporation and a corporation to be known as Indigenous Business Australia, and for related purposes.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Amendment Act 2005 (Amendment Act)	An Act to amend the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Act 1989, and for other purposes
Aboriginal Land Grant (Jervis Bay Territory) Act 1986	An Act providing for the establishment of the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council and the granting of land to Aboriginal people in the Jervis Bay Territory.
Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976	An Act providing for the granting of Traditional Aboriginal Land in the Northern Territory for the benefit of Aboriginals, the establishment of land councils to represent Aboriginal interests and the setting up of the Aboriginals Benefit Account.
Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment Act 2006	An Act to amend the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, and for other purposes.
Additional Estimates	Where amounts appropriated at Budget time are insufficient, Parliament may appropriate more funds to portfolios through the Additional Estimates Acts.
Administrative Arrangements Order	Issued by the Governor-General, provides for the arrangements of government administration, including the matters that are dealt with by each department and the legislation administered by each minister.
Appropriation	An authorisation by Parliament to spend moneys from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for a particular purpose.
assets	Future economic benefits controlled by an entity as a result of past transactions or other past events.
Budget measure	A finalised decision by the Cabinet that has a financial impact in the budget or forward years.
Clearing House	Collects and disseminates information on best practice and success factors, providing the public with online access to a repository of rigorously assessed and catalogued research, summaries and issues papers.
Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997	An Act to provide reporting, accountability and other rules for Commonwealth authorities and Commonwealth companies, and for related purposes.
Consolidated Revenue Fund	Section 81 of the Constitution stipulates that all revenue raised or money received by the Commonwealth forms the one Consolidated Revenue Fund. The fund is not a bank account. The Official Public Account reflects most of the operations of the fund.
Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006	An Act providing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations, and for related purposes.
depreciation	Apportionment of an asset’s capital value as an expense over its estimated useful life to take account of normal usage, obsolescence, or the passage of time.
Disability Discrimination Act 1992	An Act relating to discrimination on the ground of disability.
discretionary grants	Discretionary grants are payments where the portfolio Minister or paying agency has discretion in determining whether or not a particular applicant receives funding and may or may not impose conditions in return for the grant.
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999	An Act relating to the protection of the environment and the conservation of biodiversity, and for related purposes.
Estimates	Estimates are an agency’s expected revenues, expenses, assets, liabilities and cash flows. They are prepared for each output in the Budget, in consultation with the Department of Finance and Deregulation.
ex gratia/Act of Grace payment	A benevolent payment made to anyone in the public interest for a loss or incurred expenditure for which the Commonwealth has no legal or financial responsibility or liability. Payments are available (but not guaranteed) only when no other statutory, regulatory or policy avenues exist for the granting of financial relief.
expenses	Expenses represent the full costs of an activity, that is, the total value of all the resources consumed in producing goods and services or the loss of future economic benefits in the form of reductions in assets or increases in liabilities of the entity. Expenses include cash items such as salary payments, as well as expenses that have been incurred, such as accruing employee entitlements that will be paid in the future.
fair value	The amount for which an asset could be exchanged or a liability settled, between knowledgeable, willing parties in an arm’s length transaction.
Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Northern Territory National Emergency Response and other Measures) Act 2007	An Act to amend laws in order to respond to the Northern Territory’s national emergency, including laws in relation to prohibited material, law enforcement, infrastructure, and access to Aboriginal land.
Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997	An Act to provide for the proper use and management of public money, public property and other Commonwealth resources, and for related purposes.
Freedom of Information Act 1982	An Act to give members of the public rights of access to official documents of the Australian Government and of its agencies.
grants	Non-reciprocal transfers of economic resources, where the payer agency does not receive approximately equal value in return.
Green Paper	A preliminary government report of a proposal intended to stimulate debate and launch a process of consultation on a particular subject.
Income Tax (Mining Withholding Tax) Act 1979	An Act to impose income tax upon certain payments made in connection with the use of Aboriginal land.
key performance indicators	Outline what is expected of each piece of work that is undertaken against the criteria that apply to it. Those criteria will be several of business outcomes, financial, staff and other resource allocation, operational expectations, risk parameters and expected impact.
national agreements	COAG National Agreements contain the objectives, outcomes, outputs and performance indicators, and clarify the roles and responsibilities that will guide the Commonwealth and states and territories in the delivery of services across the relevant sectors.
national partnership agreement	A COAG endorsed agreement made between the Commonwealth and state and territory governments to fund payments to deliver nationally significant reforms.
National Partnerships	An agreement made between the Commonwealth and one or more state or territory governments to fund payments to deliver nationally significant reforms.
Native Title Act 1993	An Act about native title in relation to land or waters, and for related purposes.
Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007	An Act to respond to the Northern Territory’s national emergency, and for related purposes.
Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978	An Act to provide for the Government of the Northern Territory of Australia, and for related purposes.
Occupational Health and Safety Act 1991	An Act to promote the occupational health and safety of persons employed by the Commonwealth, Commonwealth authorities and certain licensed corporations, and for related purposes.
outcomes	The Government’s objectives for the FaHCSIA portfolio. Outcomes are desired results, impacts or consequences for the Australian community as influenced by the actions of the Australian Government. Actual outcomes are assessments of the end results or impacts actually achieved.
output groups	A logical aggregation of agency outputs, where useful, and based either on homogeneity, type of product, business line or beneficiary target group. Aggregation of outputs may also be needed for the provision of adequate information for performance monitoring, or based on a materiality test.
payable	Are recognised to the extent that goods or services have been received irrespective of having been invoiced. An agency expects to settle the liability in its normal operating cycle and it holds the liability primarily for the purpose of trading. Payables are expected to be settled within twelve months after the reporting period.
performance information	Evidence about performance that is collected and used systematically. Evidence may relate to appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency. It may be about outcomes, factors that affect outcomes, and what can be done to improve them.
Portfolio Additional Estimates	Changes in funding requirements that occur after the presentation of the Budget. These changes to funding require the consideration of Additional Estimates by the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Portfolio Budget Statements	The purpose of the 2008--–09 Portfolio Budget Statements is to inform Senators and Members of Parliament of the proposed allocation of resources to government outcomes by agencies within the portfolio.
Portfolio Supplementary Additional Estimates	The purpose of the Portfolio Supplementary Additional Estimates Statements is to explain the Appropriation (Nation Building and Jobs) Bill (No. 2) 2008–09. This document serves to inform Senators and Members of Parliament and the public of the proposed allocation of supplementary additional appropriations to government outcomes by agencies within the portfolio.
Portfolio Supplementary Estimates	The purpose of the Portfolio Supplementary Estimates Statements is to explain Appropriation (Economic Security Strategy) Bill (No. 1). This serves to inform senators and members of parliament and the public of the proposed allocation of supplementary appropriations to Government outcomes by agencies within the portfolio.
Privacy Act 1988	An Act to make provision to protect the privacy of individuals, and for related purposes.
Public Service Act 1999	An Act to provide for the establishment and management of the Australian Public Service, and for other purposes.
Racial Discrimination Act 1975	An Act relating to the elimination of racial and other discrimination.
receipts	The total or gross amount received by the Commonwealth. Each receipt item is either revenue, an offset within outlays, or financing transactions. Receipts include taxes, interest, charges for goods and services, borrowings and Government Business Enterprise dividends received.
revenue	Total value of resources earned or received to cover the production of goods and services.
Social Security (Administration) Act 1999	An Act to provide for the administration of the social security law, and for related purposes.
Social Security Act 1991	An Act to provide for the payment of certain pensions, benefits and allowances to eligible Australians, and for related purposes.
Special Account	Balances existing within the Consolidated Revenue Fund that are supported by standing appropriations (Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act) ss.20 and 21). Special accounts allow money in the fund to be acknowledged as set aside for a particular purpose. Amounts credited to a Special Account may only be spent for the purposes of the Special Account. Special Accounts can only be established by a written determination of the Finance Minister (s.20 FMA Act) or through an Act of Parliament (referred to in s.21 of the FMA Act).
Special Appropriations	An amount of money appropriated by a particular Act of Parliament for a specific purpose and number of years. For special appropriations the authority to withdraw funds from the Consolidated Revenue Fund does not generally cease at the end of the financial year.
specific purpose payments	Commonwealth payments to the states are divided into General Purpose Payments and Specific Purpose Payments. The term payments is used because the amounts referred to are gross transfers, not net, which would include repayments of advances to the state and territory governments. Most specific purpose payments are conditional on policy objectives set by the Commonwealth or the achievement of national policy objectives agreed between the Commonwealth and state and territory governments.
statutory authority	A government agency set up by an Act of Parliament, more or less independent of day-to-day ministerial control, usually not bound by public service procedures to the same extent as ordinary departments, and which is responsible finally to Parliament.
Tax Assessment Act 1936	An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to the imposition, assessment and collection of a tax upon incomes.
Taxation Laws Amendment Act (No. 3) 1994	An Act to amend the law relating to taxation.
White Paper	A parliamentary paper enunciating government policy and often explaining the results or conclusions of research. Follows a Green Paper (see Green Paper).

Return to top

Contents

Glossary