{"id":"C2025A00049","name":"Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025-2026","slug":"appropriation-parliamentary-departments-act-no-1-2025-2026","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"49 of 2025","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":436446,"registerId":"C2025A00049-fast-fetch-1775953643271","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025-2026","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAppropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025-2026\n\nNo. 49, 2025\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to appropriate money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for expenditure in relation to the Parliamentary Departments, and for related purposes\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1 Short title\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Definitions\n\n4 Portfolio statements\n\n5 Notional transactions between entities that are part of the Commonwealth\n\nPart 2—Appropriation items\n\n6 Summary of appropriations\n\n7 Departmental items\n\n8 Administered items\n\n9 Administered assets and liabilities items\n\n10 Other departmental items\n\nPart 3—Advance to the responsible Presiding Officer\n\n11 Advance to the responsible Presiding Officer\n\nPart 4—Miscellaneous\n\n12 Crediting amounts to special accounts\n\n13 Appropriation of the Consolidated Revenue Fund\n\n14 Repeal of this Act\n\nSchedule 1—Services for which money is appropriated\n\n \n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.002.png)\n\n \n\n \n\nAppropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025-2026\n\nNo. 49, 2025\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to appropriate money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for expenditure in relation to the Parliamentary Departments, and for related purposes\n\n[Assented to 29 October 2025]\n\nThe Parliament of Australia enacts:\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n \n\n1  Short title\n\n  This Act is the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025-2026.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this Act The day this Act receives the Royal Assent. 29 October 2025\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.\n\n3  Definitions\n\n  In this Act:\n\nadministered assets and liabilities item means an amount set out in Schedule 1 in relation to a Parliamentary Department opposite the heading “Administered Assets and Liabilities”.\n\nadministered item means an amount set out in Schedule 1 opposite an outcome for a Parliamentary Department under the heading “Administered”.\n\ncurrent year means the financial year ending on 30 June 2026.\n\ndepartmental item means the total amount set out in Schedule 1 in relation to a Parliamentary Department under the heading “Departmental”.\n\nNote: The amounts set out opposite outcomes, under the heading “Departmental”, are “notional”. They are not part of the item, and do not in any way restrict the scope of the expenditure authorised by the item.\n\nexpenditure means payments for expenses, acquiring assets, making loans or paying liabilities.\n\nitem means any of the following:\n\n (a) a departmental item;\n\n (b) an administered item;\n\n (c) an administered assets and liabilities item;\n\n (d) an other departmental item.\n\nnon‑corporate entity means:\n\n (a) a non‑corporate Commonwealth entity within the meaning of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013; or\n\n (b) the High Court.\n\nNote: Each Parliamentary Department is a non‑corporate Commonwealth entity for the purposes of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.\n\nother departmental item means an amount set out in Schedule 1 in relation to a Parliamentary Department opposite the heading “Equity Injections”.\n\nParliamentary Department means any of the following:\n\n (a) the Department of the Senate;\n\n (b) the Department of the House of Representatives;\n\n (c) the Department of Parliamentary Services;\n\n (d) the Parliamentary Budget Office.\n\nPortfolio Budget Statements means the Portfolio Budget Statements 2025-26.\n\nportfolio statements means the Portfolio Budget Statements.\n\nPresident means the President of the Senate.\n\nresponsible Presiding Officer means:\n\n (a) in relation to the Department of the Senate—the President; or\n\n (b) in relation to the Department of the House of Representatives—the Speaker; or\n\n (c) in relation to the Department of Parliamentary Services—the President and the Speaker together; or\n\n (d) in relation to the Parliamentary Budget Office—the President and the Speaker together.\n\nSpeaker means the Speaker of the House of Representatives.\n\nspecial account has the same meaning as in the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.\n\n4  Portfolio statements\n\n  The portfolio statements are declared to be relevant documents for the purposes of section 15AB of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.\n\nNote: See paragraph 15AB(2)(g) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 which provides that the material that may be considered in the interpretation of a provision of an Act includes any document that is declared by the Act to be a relevant document.\n\n5  Notional transactions between entities that are part of the Commonwealth\n\n  For the purposes of this Act, notional transactions between non‑corporate entities are to be treated as if they were real transactions.\n\nNote: This section applies, for example, to a “payment” between non‑corporate entities that are both part of the Commonwealth. One of the effects of this section is that the payment will be debited from an appropriation for the paying non‑corporate entity, even though no payment is actually made from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. This is consistent with section 76 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.\n\nPart 2—Appropriation items\n\n \n\n6  Summary of appropriations\n\n  The total of the items specified in Schedule 1 is $195,149,000.\n\nNote 1: Items in Schedule 1 can be adjusted under Part 3 of this Act.\n\nNote 2: Sections 74 to 75 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 also provide for the adjustment of amounts appropriated by this Act.\n\n7  Departmental items\n\n  The amount specified in a departmental item for a Parliamentary Department may be applied for the departmental expenditure of the Parliamentary Department.\n\n8  Administered items\n\n (1) The amount specified in an administered item for an outcome for a Parliamentary Department may be applied for expenditure for the purpose of contributing to achieving that outcome.\n\n (2) If the portfolio statements indicate that activities of a particular kind were intended to be treated as activities in respect of a particular outcome, then expenditure for the purpose of carrying out those activities is taken to be expenditure for the purpose of contributing to achieving the outcome.\n\n9  Administered assets and liabilities items\n\n (1) The amount specified in an administered assets and liabilities item for a Parliamentary Department may be applied for expenditure for the purpose of contributing to achieving any outcome specified in Schedule 1 for the Parliamentary Department.\n\n (2) If the portfolio statements indicate that activities of a particular kind were intended to be treated as activities in respect of a particular outcome, then expenditure for the purpose of carrying out those activities is taken to be expenditure for the purpose of contributing to achieving the outcome.\n\n10  Other departmental items\n\n  The amount specified in an other departmental item for a Parliamentary Department may be applied for the departmental expenditure of the Parliamentary Department.\n\nPart 3—Advance to the responsible Presiding Officer\n\n \n\n11  Advance to the responsible Presiding Officer\n\n (1) This section applies if the responsible Presiding Officer is satisfied that there is an urgent need for expenditure in relation to a Parliamentary Department, in the current year, that is not provided for, or is insufficiently provided for, in Schedule 1:\n\n (a) because of an erroneous omission or understatement; or\n\n (b) because the expenditure was unforeseen until after the last day on which it was practicable to provide for it in the Bill for this Act before that Bill was introduced into the House of Representatives.\n\n (2) This Act has effect as if Schedule 1 were amended, in accordance with a determination of the responsible Presiding Officer, to make provision for so much (if any) of the expenditure as the responsible Presiding Officer determines.\n\n (3) The total of the amounts determined under subsection (2) of this section and subsection 11(2) of the Supply (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025-2026 for the Department of the Senate cannot be more than $300,000.\n\n (4) The total of the amounts determined under subsection (2) of this section and subsection 11(2) of the Supply (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025-2026 for the Department of the House of Representatives cannot be more than $300,000.\n\n (5) The total of the amounts determined under subsection (2) of this section and subsection 11(2) of the Supply (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025-2026 for the Department of Parliamentary Services cannot be more than $1 million.\n\n (6) The total of the amounts determined under subsection (2) of this section and subsection 11(2) of the Supply (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025-2026 for the Parliamentary Budget Office cannot be more than $300,000.\n\n (7) A determination made under subsection (2) is a legislative instrument, but neither section 42 (disallowance) nor Part 4 of Chapter 3 (sunsetting) of the Legislation Act 2003 applies to the determination.\n\nNo further advances under Supply Act\n\n (8) A responsible Presiding Officer must not make a determination under subsection 11(2) of the Supply (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025-2026 after this section commences.\n\nPart 4—Miscellaneous\n\n \n\n12  Crediting amounts to special accounts\n\n  If any of the purposes of a special account is a purpose that is covered by an item (whether or not the item expressly refers to the special account), then amounts may be debited against the appropriation for that item and credited to that special account.\n\n13  Appropriation of the Consolidated Revenue Fund\n\n  The Consolidated Revenue Fund is appropriated as necessary for the purposes of this Act, including the operation of this Act as affected by the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.\n\n14  Repeal of this Act\n\n  This Act is repealed at the start of 1 July 2028.\n\nSchedule 1—Services for which money is appropriated\n\nNote: See sections 6 and 13.\n\n \n\n| Abstract |  |\n| --- | --- |\n| Department | Total |\n|  | $'000 |\n|  |  |\n| Department of the Senate | 17,061 |\n| Department of the House of Representatives | 17,555 |\n| Department of Parliamentary Services | 155,013 |\n| Parliamentary Budget Office | 5,520 |\n|  |  |\n| Total | 195,149 |\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n|  |\n| --- |\n|  |\n|  |\n|  |\n|  |\n|  |\n|  |\n| APPROPRIATIONS |\n|  |\n|  |\n|  |\n|  |\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n- SUMMARYSummary of Appropriations (plain figures)—2025‑2026 Actual Available Appropriation (italic figures)—2024‑2025\n- Entity Departmental Administered Non- operating Total\n- $'000 $'000 $'000 $'000\n- Department of the Senate 17,061 ‑ ‑ 17,061\n- 29,061 ‑ ‑ 29,061\n- Department of the House of 17,344 211 ‑ 17,555\n- Representatives 29,801 357 ‑ 30,158\n- Department of Parliamentary Services 122,371 3,683 28,959 155,013\n- 210,169 6,432 41,133 257,734\n- Parliamentary Budget Office 5,520 ‑ ‑ 5,520\n- 9,895 ‑ ‑ 9,895\n- Total: Parliamentary Departments 162,296 3,894 28,959 195,149\n- 278,926 6,789 41,133 326,848\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n- PARLIAMENTAppropriation (plain figures)—2025‑2026 Actual Available Appropriation (italic figures)—2024‑2025\n- Departmental Administered Total\n- $'000 $'000 $'000\n- DEPARTMENT OF THE SENATE\n- Operating\n- Outcome 1 ‑\n- Advisory and administrative support services to 17,061 ‑ 17,061\n- enable the Senate and Senators to fulfil their 29,061 ‑ 29,061\n- representative and legislative duties\n- Total: Department of the Senate 17,061 ‑ 17,061\n- 29,061 ‑ 29,061\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n- PARLIAMENTAppropriation (plain figures)—2025‑2026 Actual Available Appropriation (italic figures)—2024‑2025\n- Departmental Administered Total\n- $'000 $'000 $'000\n- DEPARTMENT OF THE HOUSE OF\n- REPRESENTATIVES\n- Operating\n- Outcome 1 ‑\n- Advisory and administrative services support the 17,344 211 17,555\n- House of Representatives to fulfil its 29,801 357 30,158\n- representative and legislative role\n- Total: Department of the House of 17,344 211 17,555\n- Representatives 29,801 357 30,158\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n- PARLIAMENTAppropriation (plain figures)—2025‑2026 Actual Available Appropriation (italic figures)—2024‑2025\n- Departmental Administered Total\n- $'000 $'000 $'000\n- DEPARTMENT OF PARLIAMENTARY\n- SERVICES\n- Operating\n- Outcome 1 ‑\n- Support the functions of Parliament and 122,371 3,683 126,054\n- parliamentarians through the provision of 210,169 6,432 216,601\n- professional services, advice and facilities and\n- maintain Australian Parliament House\n- Total: Operating 122,371 3,683 126,054\n- 210,169 6,432 216,601\n- Non‑operating\n- Administered Assets and Liabilities 28,959\n- 41,133\n- Total: Non‑operating 28,959\n- 41,133\n- Total: Department of Parliamentary Services 122,371 3,683 155,013\n- 210,169 6,432 257,734\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n- PARLIAMENTAppropriation (plain figures)—2025‑2026 Actual Available Appropriation (italic figures)—2024‑2025\n- Departmental Administered Total\n- $'000 $'000 $'000\n- PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE\n- Operating\n- Outcome 1 ‑\n- Inform the Parliament by providing independent 5,520 ‑ 5,520\n- and non‑partisan analysis of the budget cycle, 9,895 ‑ 9,895\n- fiscal policy and the financial implications of\n- proposals\n- Total: Parliamentary Budget Office 5,520 ‑ 5,520\n- 9,895 ‑ 9,895\n\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n[Minister’s second reading speech made in—\n\nHouse of Representatives on 30 July 2025\n\nSenate on 27 October 2025]\n\n(45/25)\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Based solely on the text provided, the Act does not change the core scope of appropriating funds to Parliamentary Departments: it sets specific amounts for 2025–26 and provides limited procedural mechanisms for urgent adjustments (s6; s11) and accounting treatment (s5; s12). These mechanisms permit short‑term reallocation and specific accounting treatments but do not broaden recipients or substantive purposes beyond the Parliamentary Departments. The Act is temporary and repeals on 1 July 2028 (s14)."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple item types and labels (departmental, administered, administered assets and liabilities, other departmental/equity injections) require correct classification and accounting in Schedule 1 (Definitions, s3; Schedule 1).","Notional transactions between non‑corporate Commonwealth entities are treated as real for appropriation debits (s5), which affects internal charging and appropriation use.","Presiding Officer discretion to amend Schedule 1 for urgent/omitted expenditure with numeric caps per entity introduces executive adjustment power outside the normal supply process (s11(1)–(6)).","Determinations by Presiding Officers are legislative instruments but exempt from disallowance and automatic sunsetting, limiting parliamentary oversight of those adjustments (s11(7)).","Allowance to credit amounts to special accounts against items creates cross‑instrument accounting interactions with special accounts under the PGPA framework (s12; s13 references PGPA Act).","The Act ties interpretation to external portfolio statements by declaring them relevant documents, affecting how outcomes are read and applied (s4).","Adjustability: Schedule 1 totals may be adjusted under Part 3 and via PGPA provisions, requiring coordination with PGPA s74–75 procedures (s6 note; s13).","Temporal scope and repeal date impose a limited lifespan and planning horizon (s14).","Schedule contains both current‑year appropriations and comparative prior‑year figures, which requires careful reading to avoid conflating actual 2025‑26 authority with prior available appropriations (Schedule 1 tables)."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act appropriates $195,149,000 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for 2025–26 to the four Parliamentary Departments (Department of the Senate; Department of the House of Representatives; Department of Parliamentary Services; Parliamentary Budget Office) to fund departmental, administered and asset/liability items. It establishes accounting and adjustment mechanics for those sums and declares the Portfolio Budget Statements relevant for interpreting how the money may be used.\n\nThe responsible Presiding Officers may make limited, capped urgent adjustments to Schedule 1; notional transactions between Commonwealth non‑corporate entities are treated as real for appropriation accounting; amounts may be credited to special accounts. The Act expires 1 July 2028."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation maintains its original purpose as an annual appropriation for parliamentary departments. The scope is appropriately limited to funding the four parliamentary departments for the 2025-2026 financial year, consistent with previous Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Acts. No significant scope creep is evident."},"complexity_factors":["Short, focused statute with only 14 sections plus Schedule","12 defined terms in section 3, mostly straightforward institutional labels","Simple conditional logic limited to Part 3 (emergency advances) with clear monetary caps","Cross-references limited to the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and the Supply (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025-2026","Schedule 1 contains tabular appropriation data with minimal legal text","No nested exceptions or highly conditional operative provisions","Standard appropriation structure following well-established legislative template"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this legislation does**\n\nThis Act authorises the Australian Government to spend **$195.149 million** from the national budget (the Consolidated Revenue Fund) to run Australia's four Parliamentary Departments during the 2025-2026 financial year.\n\n**Who it affects**\n\nThe money goes to four specific bodies that support Parliament:\n- **Department of the Senate** ($17.061 million) – supports Senators\n- **Department of the House of Representatives** ($17.555 million) – supports MPs\n- **Department of Parliamentary Services** ($155.013 million) – runs Parliament House, provides IT, security, catering, and other services\n- **Parliamentary Budget Office** ($5.520 million) – provides independent budget analysis to MPs and Senators\n\n**How the money is categorised**\n\nThe Act splits funding into different \"buckets\":\n- **Departmental items**: Day-to-day running costs (salaries, rent, utilities)\n- **Administered items**: Money the departments manage on behalf of the government for specific purposes (outcomes)\n- **Administered assets and liabilities**: Money for buying or maintaining major assets\n- **Other departmental items**: Special equity injections (capital funding)\n\n**Emergency spending power**\n\nThe Act gives the **President of the Senate** and **Speaker of the House** limited power to approve urgent extra spending if something was accidentally left out or unforeseen. This \"advance\" is capped:\n- $300,000 each for the Senate, House of Representatives, and Parliamentary Budget Office\n- $1 million for the Department of Parliamentary Services\n\n**Why it matters**\n\nThis is one of the \"supply\" bills that keeps Parliament itself functioning. Without these appropriations, the parliamentary departments would have no legal authority to spend money. The Act automatically expires on 1 July 2028 to ensure old spending authorisations don't linger indefinitely."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/appropriation-parliamentary-departments-act-no-1-2025-2026","history":"/api/acts/appropriation-parliamentary-departments-act-no-1-2025-2026/history","analysis":"/api/acts/appropriation-parliamentary-departments-act-no-1-2025-2026/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/appropriation-parliamentary-departments-act-no-1-2025-2026/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/appropriation-parliamentary-departments-act-no-1-2025-2026/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/appropriation-parliamentary-departments-act-no-1-2025-2026/documents"}}