{"id":"C2009A00061","name":"Guarantee of State and Territory Borrowing Appropriation Act 2009","slug":"guarantee-of-state-and-territory-borrowing-appropriation-act-2009","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"61 of 2009","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":436250,"registerId":"C2009A00061-fast-fetch-1775953498570","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Guarantee of State and Territory Borrowing Appropriation Act 2009","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nGuarantee of State and Territory Borrowing Appropriation Act 2009\n\n \n\nNo. 61, 2009\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to provide for an appropriation for the Australian Government Guarantee of State and Territory Borrowing, and for related purposes\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Short title\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Definitions\n\n4 Application within and outside Australia\n\n5 Appropriation\n\n6 Borrowing\n\n7 Public Register of Government Borrowings\n\n8 Regulations\n\n \n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\nGuarantee of State and Territory Borrowing Appropriation Act 2009\n\nNo. 61, 2009\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to provide for an appropriation for the Australian Government Guarantee of State and Territory Borrowing, and for related purposes\n\n[Assented to 29 June 2009]\n\nThe Parliament of Australia enacts:\n\n1  Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Guarantee of State and Territory Borrowing Appropriation Act 2009.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n  This Act commences on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.\n\n3  Definitions\n\n  In this Act:\n\nDeed of Guarantee means a deed of guarantee that:\n\n (a) is executed on behalf of the Commonwealth in 2009 (whether before, on or after the commencement of this Act); and\n\n (b) is entitled “Deed of Guarantee in respect of the Australian Government Guarantee of State and Territory Borrowing”;\n\nas that deed is in force from time to time.\n\nScheme Rules means the Scheme Rules identified in the Deed of Guarantee, as those Rules are in force from time to time.\n\n4  Application within and outside Australia\n\n  This Act applies both within and outside Australia.\n\n5  Appropriation\n\n  The Consolidated Revenue Fund is appropriated for the following purposes:\n\n (a) paying claims under the Deed of Guarantee in accordance with the Scheme Rules;\n\n (b) repaying a borrowing, and paying interest on a borrowing, made under section 6.\n\n6  Borrowing\n\n (1) The Minister may, on behalf of the Commonwealth, borrow money for the purposes of paying claims under the Deed of Guarantee in accordance with the Scheme Rules.\n\n (2) However, a borrowing in accordance with subsection (1) must not be for a period longer than 24 months.\n\n (3) In this section:\n\nborrow includes raise money or obtain credit, whether by dealing in securities or otherwise, but does not include obtain credit in a transaction forming part of the day‑to‑day operations of the Commonwealth.\n\n7  Public Register of Government Borrowings\n\n (1) The Australian Office of Financial Management must establish and update each month a register to be known as the Public Register of Government Borrowings.\n\n (2) The register is to be maintained by electronic means.\n\n (3) The register is to be made available for inspection on the Australian Office of Financial Management’s website.\n\n (4) The register must be in a form prescribed by the regulations and must record the beneficial ownership, by country, of:\n\n (a) all securities on issue by the Commonwealth of Australia; and\n\n (b) any Commonwealth of Australia guaranteed issuance by any Australian State or Territory.\n\n (5) As soon as practicable after the end of each quarter the Australian Office of Financial Management must publish on its website the register containing the details that were current as at the end of the quarter.\n\n (6) The Australian Office of Financial Management must include in the register each quarter a statement of the Office’s opinion as to the domicile of the beneficial owner of securities if nominal ownership is registered in a country other than the actual domicile of the beneficial owner.\n\n (7) In this section:\n\nquarter means a period of 3 months beginning on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October.\n\n8  Regulations\n\n  The Governor-General may make regulations prescribing matters:\n\n1.                 required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed; or\n2.                necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.\n\n\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 27 May 2009\n\nSenate on 18 June 2009]\n\n(97/09)\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Act is narrowly tailored to authorise appropriation and short‑term borrowing to meet claims under a particular 2009 Deed of Guarantee and to require a public register of government borrowings. It remains within that original, limited purpose (providing funding authority and transparency related to that Deed). There is no material expansion of subject matter beyond the original intent to support and disclose the Commonwealth guarantee established by the 2009 Deed."},"complexity_factors":["Short, single‑purpose Act (8 sections)","Only two defined terms (Deed of Guarantee; Scheme Rules) in s3","External cross‑references to the Deed of Guarantee and its Scheme Rules (operational detail sits outside the Act)","AOFM register requirement involves operational detail and data‑quality uncertainty (complexity in implementation rather than legislative drafting)","One temporal constraint (24‑month borrowing cap) is a simple condition (s6(2))","Standard regulation‑making power but no multiple nested exception clauses","Quarterly reporting and opinion requirement adds procedural steps across time (s7(5)–(6))"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does, in plain English**\n\n- It authorises the Commonwealth to back (guarantee) and pay claims under a specific Deed of Guarantee that was executed in 2009. The Deed and the Scheme Rules it points to are treated as the operative documents for the guarantee (see s3 and s5).\n\n- It provides money from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (the government’s main bank account) to pay:\n  - claims made under that Deed of Guarantee in line with the Scheme Rules, and\n  - repayments and interest on any short‑term borrowings the Commonwealth takes out to meet those claims (s5).\n\n- It allows the Minister, on behalf of the Commonwealth, to borrow money for the narrow purpose of meeting those guarantee claims, but only for short periods — no loan can run for more than 24 months (s6(1)–(2)). “Borrow” is broadly defined to include raising funds by selling securities or otherwise, but excludes ordinary day‑to‑day credit arrangements of government (s6(3)).\n\n- It requires the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) to establish and maintain an electronic Public Register of Government Borrowings (s7). The register must be updated monthly, published on the AOFM website quarterly, and record the beneficial ownership of:\n  - all Commonwealth securities on issue, and\n  - any Commonwealth‑guaranteed debt issued by an Australian State or Territory (s7(4)–(5)).\n\n  The register must be in a form set by regulation, and each quarter the AOFM must give an opinion in the register about the likely domicile (country) of beneficial owners when nominal ownership is registered in a different country (s7(6)).\n\n- The Act applies both inside and outside Australia (s4), and gives the Governor‑General a standard regulation‑making power to prescribe matters necessary to implement the Act (s8).\n\n**Who this affects**\n\n- Commonwealth government finance: the Treasurer/Minister is authorised to borrow and the Consolidated Revenue Fund is the source of payment (ss5–6).\n- Australian Office of Financial Management: must create, maintain and publish the register and form opinions on domicile (s7).\n- States and Territories: able to access borrowing under a Commonwealth guarantee (because the Deed concerns State/Territory borrowings — defined by reference to the 2009 Deed) and therefore are indirect beneficiaries.\n- Investors, custodians and intermediaries: the register records beneficial ownership by country, which relies on market intermediaries and custodians to identify beneficial owners; it may require additional reporting or data extraction to populate the register.\n- Australian taxpayers: they bear the cost of any claims paid under the guarantee because the Consolidated Revenue Fund is appropriated for that purpose (s5).\n\n**Why it matters (mechanically, not politically)**\n\n- The Act converts a contingent liability (the Commonwealth guarantee of State/Territory borrowings) into an explicit appropriation: money is set aside to meet claims under the specified Deed (s5).\n- It gives the Commonwealth a short‑term borrowing power to meet those claims (s6), rather than requiring immediate cash in the budget. That creates a temporary funding mechanism with a 24‑month cap on each borrowing.\n- It mandates public disclosure of beneficial ownership of government and government‑guaranteed securities by country (s7). That increases transparency about who holds Australian public debt (in beneficiary‑country terms) and creates a publicly accessible data flow.\n\n**Practical implementation considerations, trade‑offs and risks**\n\n- Data accuracy and feasibility: the register requires beneficial‑owner information by country. In modern securities markets, ownership often sits in nominee accounts or through custodians, making it difficult to trace ultimate beneficial owners with high precision. The AOFM’s quarterly opinion on domicile (s7(6)) recognises this uncertainty but does not eliminate it.\n\n- Compliance and operational cost: gathering, validating and publishing that ownership data imposes administrative tasks on AOFM and may require cooperation from market intermediaries; commercial confidentiality and cross‑border legal limitations could constrain completeness.\n\n- Fiscal exposure and moral hazard: making an appropriation to meet guaranteed claims and providing a borrowing facility (ss5–6) makes contingent liabilities actionable. That reduces immediate funding risk for States/Territories but shifts the funding obligation to the Commonwealth (and ultimately taxpayers). Behavioural effects include potential downward pressure on State/Territory borrowing costs and a corresponding change in incentives for those borrowers.\n\n- Short‑term borrowing limit: the 24‑month limit (s6(2)) confines the Commonwealth’s borrowing under this law to short‑term instruments, which implies the intention is temporary cash management rather than long‑term refinancing under the law itself.\n\n- Delegation of practical choices: the Minister decides to borrow (s6(1)), AOFM runs the register (s7), and the Governor‑General may make regulations (s8). These choices shape implementation detail, data form, and disclosure frequency.\n\n**Legal scope and structure**\n\n- The Act is tightly focused: it links appropriation and short‑term borrowing authority to a specific 2009 Deed of Guarantee and creates the Public Register of Government Borrowings as a transparency measure (ss3–7)."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly scoped to its original purpose: providing a temporary appropriation mechanism for the 2009 State and Territory borrowing guarantee scheme. The Act does not appear to have expanded beyond this specific crisis-response measure."},"complexity_factors":["Very short statute (only 8 sections)","Minimal defined terms (only 4: 'Deed of Guarantee', 'Scheme Rules', 'borrow', 'quarter')","No nested exceptions or complex conditional logic","Straightforward appropriation mechanism with simple purpose-based structure","Single cross-reference (Deed of Guarantee and Scheme Rules are incorporated by reference but not defined within the Act)","Clear, linear structure without subsections beyond (1)-(7)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis Act provides the legal and financial backing for a temporary Australian Government guarantee of borrowing by State and Territory governments during the 2009 Global Financial Crisis.\n\n**Key points:**\n\n* **The Guarantee:** The Commonwealth (federal government) promised to guarantee loans taken out by State and Territory governments in 2009. If a State or Territory couldn't repay its debt, the federal government would step in and pay the lenders.\n* **The Money:** Section 5 appropriates (sets aside) money from the federal budget to pay any claims under this guarantee. It also appropriates money to repay any short-term borrowing the federal government itself might need to do to cover those claims.\n* **Short-term borrowing:** If the government needs to borrow money to pay out a guarantee claim, it can only borrow for up to 24 months (Section 6).\n* **Transparency:** The law requires the Australian Office of Financial Management to maintain a public online register showing who owns Australian government debt and any State/Territory debt guaranteed by the Commonwealth (Section 7). This register must be updated monthly and published quarterly.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n* **State and Territory governments:** They could borrow money more cheaply because lenders knew the federal government guaranteed repayment.\n* **Investors/lenders:** They had reduced risk when lending to States/Territories.\n* **Taxpayers:** Ultimately, taxpayers backed the guarantee through the Consolidated Revenue Fund (federal budget).\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThis was an emergency measure during the 2009 financial crisis to keep credit flowing to Australian States and Territories when global financial markets had frozen up. It prevented States from being shut out of borrowing markets or facing crippling interest rates, which could have damaged public services and infrastructure spending."},"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/guarantee-of-state-and-territory-borrowing-appropriation-act-2009","history":"/api/acts/guarantee-of-state-and-territory-borrowing-appropriation-act-2009/history","analysis":"/api/acts/guarantee-of-state-and-territory-borrowing-appropriation-act-2009/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/guarantee-of-state-and-territory-borrowing-appropriation-act-2009/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/guarantee-of-state-and-territory-borrowing-appropriation-act-2009/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/guarantee-of-state-and-territory-borrowing-appropriation-act-2009/documents"}}