{"id":"C2025A00021","name":"Supply (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025-2026","slug":"supply-parliamentary-departments-act-no-1-2025-2026","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"21 of 2025","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":436432,"registerId":"C2025A00021-fast-fetch-1775953633300","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Supply (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\nSupply (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025‑2026\n\nNo. 21, 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\nSupply (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025-2026\n\nNo. 21, 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 27 March 2025]\n\nThe Parliament of Australia enacts:\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n \n\n1  Short title\n\n  This Act is the Supply (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 later of:(a) 1 July 2025; and(b) the day this Act receives the Royal Assent. 1 July 2025 (paragraph (a) applies)\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 (1) 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\nAppropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025‑2026 means the Act (if any) with that name passed by the 47th Parliament.\n\nAppropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2025‑2026 means the Bill with that name introduced into the 47th Parliament.\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 tabled in the Senate or the House of Representatives in relation to the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2025‑2026.\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\n (2) To avoid doubt, for the purposes of other laws this Act is to be treated as an Appropriation Act.\n\n4  Portfolio statements\n\n (1) 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\n (2) For the purposes of this Act and the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025‑2026, the portfolio statements are taken to cover both the Bill for this Act and the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2025‑2026.\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 $139,513,000.\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 Appropriation (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 Appropriation (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 Appropriation (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 Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025‑2026 for the Parliamentary Budget Office cannot be more than $300,000.\n\n (7) Subsections (3) to (6) of this section prevail over subsections 11(3) to (6) of the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025‑2026.\n\n (8) A determination made under subsection (2) of this section 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\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 | 12,220 |\n| Department of the House of Representatives | 12,584 |\n| Department of Parliamentary Services | 110,766 |\n| Parliamentary Budget Office | 3,943 |\n|  |  |\n| Total | 139,513 |\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 12,220 ‑ ‑ 12,220\n- 29,061 ‑ ‑ 29,061\n- Department of the House of 12,433 151 ‑ 12,584\n- Representatives 29,801 357 ‑ 30,158\n- Department of Parliamentary Services 87,448 2,632 20,686 110,766\n- 210,169 6,432 41,133 257,734\n- Parliamentary Budget Office 3,943 ‑ ‑ 3,943\n- 9,895 ‑ ‑ 9,895\n- Total: Parliamentary Departments 116,044 2,783 20,686 139,513\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 12,220 ‑ 12,220\n- enable the Senate and Senators to fulfil their 29,061 ‑ 29,061\n- representative and legislative duties\n- Total: Department of the Senate 12,220 ‑ 12,220\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 12,433 151 12,584\n- House of Representatives to fulfil its 29,801 357 30,158\n- representative and legislative role\n- Total: Department of the House of 12,433 151 12,584\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 87,448 2,632 90,080\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 87,448 2,632 90,080\n- 210,169 6,432 216,601\n- Non‑operating\n- Administered Assets and Liabilities 20,686\n- 41,133\n- Total: Non‑operating 20,686\n- 41,133\n- Total: Department of Parliamentary Services 87,448 2,632 110,766\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 3,943 ‑ 3,943\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 3,943 ‑ 3,943\n- 9,895 ‑ 9,895\n\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n[Minister’s second reading speech made in—\n\nHouse of Representatives on 25 March 2025\n\nSenate on 26 March 2025]\n\n(21/25)\n\n \n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Act performs a routine, narrowly focused function: it appropriates money for Parliamentary Departments for 2025–26, authorises how those amounts may be used, and provides a limited urgent advance mechanism. It does not broaden the legislative scope beyond ordinary appropriation and administrative accounting measures. The only notable deviations from a purely standard appropriation Act are the explicit treatment of portfolio statements as interpretive material (s4), the notional‑transactions rule (s5), and the advance determinations being exempt from disallowance and sunsetting (s11(8)). Those are procedural/interpretive adjustments rather than an expansion of purpose, so the Act remains consistent with its original, narrow objective."},"complexity_factors":["Relatively short Act (14 sections plus Schedule 1).","About 15 defined terms in section 3 (e.g. departmental item, administered item, portfolio statements, responsible Presiding Officer).","One schedule containing numeric appropriation lines and service/outcome descriptions (Schedule 1).","Cross‑references to other legislation: PGPA Act 2013 (for special account and accounting rules), Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (s4 relevance), Legislation Act 2003 (exemption from disallowance and sunsetting in s11(8)).","Conditional advance power with department‑specific monetary caps and an unusual legislative instrument treatment (s11) — a minor source of branching logic.","Notional transactions rule (s5) that alters ordinary cash/appropriation treatment for internal recharges — requires attention in financial administration.","A repeal date (s14) meaning the Act is time‑limited, which can affect planning and accounting across years."],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (mechanics)\n\n- Appropriates $139,513,000 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund to pay for the four Parliamentary Departments listed in Schedule 1: the Department of the Senate, the Department of the House of Representatives, the Department of Parliamentary Services, and the Parliamentary Budget Office (see section 6 and Schedule 1).\n\n- Specifies how the money can be used:\n  - Departmental items may be applied to departmental expenditure (routine running costs and capital for the departments) (s7).\n  - Administered items may be applied to expenditure that contributes to stated outcomes (s8).\n  - Administered assets and liabilities items may be applied to expenditure contributing to outcomes (s9).\n  - Other departmental items (labelled \"Equity Injections\") may be applied to departmental expenditure (s10).\n\n- Allows an urgent advance process where the responsible Presiding Officer (the Senate President and/or the Speaker, depending on the department) can determine additional appropriation for unforeseen or mistakenly omitted needs in the current financial year, subject to fixed dollar caps for each department (s11(1)–(6)). Those determinations are legislative instruments but are exempt from disallowance and the usual sunsetting provisions (s11(8)).\n\n- Treats the Portfolio Budget Statements (the portfolio statements) as relevant documents for interpreting this Act and as covering both this Act and the related Appropriation Bill (s4).\n\n- Treats notional (internal) transactions between non‑corporate Commonwealth entities as if they were real transactions for the purposes of debiting appropriations (s5).\n\n- Permits amounts to be debited against an appropriation and credited to special accounts when the special account’s purpose is covered by an appropriation item (s12).\n\n- Declares the Consolidated Revenue Fund available as required to give effect to this Act (s13) and sets a repeal date (the Act is repealed at the start of 1 July 2028) (s14).\n\n\nWho this affects and who decides\n\n- Who pays: the Consolidated Revenue Fund (taxpayer funds) finances the appropriations (s13 and Schedule 1 totals). The appropriation is public money available to the Parliamentary Departments for the specified purposes.\n\n- Who decides routine spending: each Parliamentary Department decides on departmental expenditure within the scope of its appropriation, under existing governance and financial rules (s7, s10).\n\n- Who can make urgent additions: the responsible Presiding Officer(s) can make determinations to amend Schedule 1 to provide for urgent, unforeseen, or omitted expenditure within specified caps for each department (s11). Those determinations take immediate legal effect as legislative instruments but are not subject to disallowance or the usual sunsetting (s11(8)).\n\n\nWhy it matters (official purpose and practical implications)\n\n- Officially this Act provides the legal authority to spend public money on parliamentary support services and the Parliamentary Budget Office for 2025–26. It is a routine supply/appropriation measure that enables departmental operations and capital items listed in Schedule 1 (s6, Schedule 1).\n\n- Practical implications and implementation mechanics to note:\n  - The Act declares the Portfolio Budget Statements as relevant interpretive material (s4). That means the detailed program descriptions in those statements can be used to determine whether particular activities fall within an outcome or appropriation item (s8, s9). That reduces ambiguity about what specific activities are covered by an appropriation but increases reliance on the language in those statements.\n  - The notional transactions rule (s5) treats internal transfers between non‑corporate Commonwealth entities as if they were outward payments against appropriations. The effect is that a department’s appropriation may be debited even when no cash leaves the Consolidated Revenue Fund; this aligns accounting and appropriation records but can affect how internal recharges consume the apparent appropriation balance.\n  - The advance power (s11) gives Presiding Officers discretion to provide for omitted or unforeseen expenditure up to fixed dollar ceilings per department (e.g. $1 million cap for Department of Parliamentary Services). These caps limit the scale of after‑the‑fact changes but allow short‑term flexibility without returning to Parliament for an immediate supplementary appropriation. The determinations are not disallowable and do not sunset under the usual legislative instrument rules (s11(8)), so parliamentary scrutiny of those determinations is limited.\n  - Crediting to special accounts is permitted where a special account purpose is covered by an item (s12). This facilitates internal funding arrangements (for example, moving appropriations into a revolving special account for a specific program) but also allows appropriation balances to be shifted into different accounting vehicles.\n\n\nCosts, incentives, trade‑offs and risks (concrete mechanisms)\n\n- Fiscal cost and who bears it: public expenditure authorised here is borne by the Consolidated Revenue Fund (s13). Taxpayers ultimately fund these amounts.\n\n- Incentives for departments: the Act supplies operating and capital funding lines. Departments are incentivised to manage within the departmental totals (s7). However, the existence of the advance mechanism (s11) provides a limited safety valve for unforeseen needs; this reduces short‑term risk of operational interruptions but may encourage reliance on the advance path for late adjustments if governance around its use is weak.\n\n- Administrative burden and discretion: reliance on portfolio statements for interpretation (s4) reduces legal uncertainty about permitted activities but shifts significance to those statements. The Presiding Officers’ determination power (s11) is an executive decision with limited parliamentary oversight (s11(8)), increasing administrative discretion.\n\n- Effects on private sector and markets: direct effects are limited. Departments can continue to enter contracts and procure goods and services under their appropriations; this Act does not change procurement rules or market participation directly. Where the Act funds capital works (shown as non‑operating/asset items for the Department of Parliamentary Services), there may be procurement opportunities for private suppliers (Schedule notes and the Department of Parliamentary Services non‑operating item). The notional transactions rule (s5) and special account crediting (s12) may affect internal charging flows and how departments present available funds, but these are accounting/management effects rather than changes to market access.\n\n- Concentrated benefits and diffuse costs: the benefits (funding) are concentrated to the four Parliamentary Departments. The costs are borne broadly by the public via the Consolidated Revenue Fund.\n\n- Compliance and implementation risk: the main implementation risks are ensuring internal accounting systems treat notional transactions correctly (s5), correct interpretation of portfolio statements (s4) when allocating expenditure to outcomes (s8, s9), and monitoring the use of the advance determinations (s11) given the limited parliamentary oversight of those determinations (s11(8)).\n\n\nKey figures and limits (at a glance)\n\n- Total appropriation: $139,513,000 for 2025–26 (s6 and Schedule 1).\n- Advance caps for urgent determinations by responsible Presiding Officers (s11):\n  - Department of the Senate: $300,000 total (s11(3)).\n  - Department of the House of Representatives: $300,000 total (s11(4)).\n  - Department of Parliamentary Services: $1,000,000 total (s11(5)).\n  - Parliamentary Budget Office: $300,000 total (s11(6)).\n- Act expiry: repealed at the start of 1 July 2028 (s14).\n\n\nSelected section references: definitions and status are in s3; portfolio statements in s4; notional transactions in s5; appropriation totals and application in s6–s10; advance power and limits in s11; special accounts in s12; Consolidated Revenue Fund appropriation in s13; repeal in s14.\n\n\nOverall functional summary: This is a standard appropriation (supply) Act for the Parliamentary Departments for 2025–26 that authorises specified departmental, administered and non‑operating amounts, provides a narrowly defined advance mechanism for urgent unforeseen needs with fixed caps, treats internal (notional) transactions as debits against appropriation, and makes portfolio budget statements formally relevant for interpreting what activities are covered by appropriation items."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a standard interim supply act with scope limited to temporary funding pending passage of the main appropriation legislation. It follows the traditional 'Supply Act' pattern without expansion beyond its original purpose of ensuring parliamentary continuity."},"complexity_factors":["Short, standard-form supply legislation (14 sections plus Schedule)","15 defined terms in section 3, mostly standard appropriation terminology","Simple conditional logic limited to emergency advance provisions (section 11)","Cross-references to companion legislation (Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Act (No. 1) 2025-2026) for advance limits","Mechanistic structure following established appropriation templates","No nested exceptions or complex temporal provisions beyond standard commencement and repeal dates"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act provides **interim funding** for Australia's four Parliamentary Departments while the full annual budget is being debated.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Appropriates $139.5 million** from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (Australia's main government bank account) to keep Parliament running from 1 July 2025 until the main Appropriation Bills pass.\n- This is a **\"supply\" bill** — a temporary measure to ensure parliamentary staff get paid and services continue if the full budget is delayed.\n\n**Who gets what:**\n- **Department of Parliamentary Services**: $110.8 million (runs Parliament House, provides IT, security, catering, maintenance)\n- **Department of the Senate**: $12.2 million (supports Senators)\n- **Department of the House of Representatives**: $12.6 million (supports MPs)\n- **Parliamentary Budget Office**: $3.9 million (independent budget analysis)\n\n**Key features:**\n- **Emergency top-up power**: The President of the Senate and/or Speaker of the House can approve extra urgent spending (up to $300,000–$1 million per department) if something was forgotten or underestimated.\n- **Four types of funding**: \n  - *Departmental items* — day-to-day running costs (salaries, rent, utilities)\n  - *Administered items* — money for specific programs/outcomes\n  - *Administered assets and liabilities* — capital works and major purchases\n  - *Other departmental items* — equity injections (rarely used)\n- **Self-destruct clause**: The Act automatically repeals itself on 1 July 2028, once it's no longer needed.\n\n**Why it matters:**\nWithout this legislation, the parliamentary departments would have no legal authority to spend money from 1 July 2025. This ensures continuity of democratic institutions even if there's political deadlock over the main budget."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/supply-parliamentary-departments-act-no-1-2025-2026","history":"/api/acts/supply-parliamentary-departments-act-no-1-2025-2026/history","analysis":"/api/acts/supply-parliamentary-departments-act-no-1-2025-2026/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/supply-parliamentary-departments-act-no-1-2025-2026/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/supply-parliamentary-departments-act-no-1-2025-2026/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/supply-parliamentary-departments-act-no-1-2025-2026/documents"}}