This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
Jurisdiction
Commonwealth
Act Number
89 of 1994
Collection
act
Plain English Summary
6/10 complexity
What This Law Does
This is an Appropriation Act — essentially, the Commonwealth Government's "permission slip" to spend public money. Without Parliament passing this kind of Act, the Government cannot legally spend money from the national purse (called the Consolidated Revenue Fund — think of it as Australia's main government bank account).
Specifically, this Act:
Authorises the Government to spend up to $5,013,781,000 (just over $5 billion) during the financial year ending 30 June 1995
This is a second appropriation for that year (the "(No. 2)" tells you that a first appropriation Act was passed earlier in the budget cycle — this one covers additional or capital/services spending not included in the main budget)
Who does this affect?
Virtually every Australian, because the money funds federal government services across 20 departments, including:
Health services — Medicare, mental health, HIV/AIDS programs, dental care for health card holders, cancer screening
Housing — crisis accommodation, social housing, the Better Cities Program
Education & training — computer equipment for employment services, language programs, new training wage measures
Social security — compensation payments to pensioners for fringe benefit changes
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
Environment — Great Barrier Reef management, World Heritage properties, the Daintree, Sydney 2000 Olympic Games infrastructure
Primary industries — wine industry grants, Landcare, the Murray-Darling Basin, rural adjustment
Transport — road and rail infrastructure, National Rail Corporation equity
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs — $200 million for land purchase for Indigenous Australians
Defence-adjacent — war graves (Kokoda Memorial), veterans' hospital transfers
Key structural features:
Schedule 1 sets out which government payments to States must meet specific conditions, and which Minister controls those conditions and payment timing
Schedule 2 is the detailed spending breakdown — it lists every department and every line item of spending, divided into: Capital Works & Services, Payments to States/Territories, and Other Services
A $175 million "Advance to the Minister for Finance" is included — this is a safety valve allowing the Finance Minister to spend on urgent, unforeseen needs (or things accidentally left out of the budget) without waiting for Parliament to pass another law
Section 6 is unusual: it specifically overrides a requirement under the Industry Commission Act 1989 that normally requires an Industry Commission report before the government can give financial assistance to the wine industry for more than 2 years. This lets the Minister pay cash grants to winemakers for 1994–95 through 1996–97 even without that report
Why does it matter?
This Act is the legal foundation for billions of dollars of government spending. Without it, the Government would have no authority to pay for hospitals, schools, roads, environmental programs, or public servants. It is a routine but constitutionally essential part of how Australia's federal finances work each year.