Appropriation Act (No. 3) 1995-96

Key technical rules the Act sets:

• Net appropriations (Section 6): Some agencies can "top up" their budget by keeping money they earn from commercial activities (like selling goods or services), rather than returning it to Treasury.
• Employment subsidy schemes (Section 7): Departments running approved job schemes can receive payments credited back to their running costs budget.
• Transition rules for new bodies (Sections 8–11): If certain new statutory bodies (like the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, or a National Film and Sound Archive) were created before 30 June 1996, this Act reorganises the money so the new body gets its share rather than the parent department holding all of it.
• Salary increases (Section 4): If public sector salaries increase under the prior Appropriation Act (No. 1), those increases also apply to positions covered by this Act.
• Post-year-end corrections (Section 13): Even after the financial year closes, the Minister can fix accounting errors in the books, as long as no money is actually lost from the public accounts.

Part 2 — A Law Within a Law

The Act contains a contingency provision: if the Financial Management and Accountability Act (a major overhaul of Commonwealth financial administration) came into force before 30 June 1996, then this Act would automatically update itself — swapping out old references to "Departments" for "Agencies" and adjusting which accounting frameworks apply. This was a deliberate design to future-proof the legislation during a period of administrative reform.