Appropriation (Fuel Security Response) Act (No. 2) 2025-2026

The Act organises Commonwealth spending authority using the established appropriation taxonomy (Schedule 2) and adds a short-term, targeted funding mechanism focused on “responding to circumstances relating to fuel security”. The main statutory concepts introduced or used in the Act are the following:

• Item types and how they operate. The Act defines five item categories: State, ACT, NT and local government items; administered items; administered assets and liabilities items; other departmental items; and corporate entity items (s 3). Each type is governed by specific rules describing how the amount may be applied: State items may be applied to payments to jurisdictions (s 7); administered items to contributing towards outcomes (s 8); administered assets and liabilities items to outcomes specified in either this schedule or in the related Appropriation Act (No. 1) (s 9); other departmental items to departmental expenditure (s 10); corporate entity items to payments to corporate entities to be applied for their purposes (s 11).

• Portfolio and additional estimates documents. The Act declares the Portfolio Budget Statements and Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements (together “portfolio statements”) to be relevant documents for the purposes of s 15AB of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (s 4). This makes the portfolio statements part of the interpretative materials that may be used to construe the Act’s provisions, per the Acts Interpretation Act threshold.

• Notional transactions between Commonwealth entities. Section 5 treats notional (intra-Commonwealth) transactions between non‑corporate entities as if they were real transactions for appropriation purposes. The Act notes this aligns with s 76 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

• Finance Minister advance power. Part 3 (s 12) gives the Finance Minister a targeted advance power to amend Schedule 2 by legislative instrument when satisfied there is an urgent need for expenditure in the “current year” that was omitted, understated or unforeseen when the Bill for this Act was introduced. The determination must relate to fuel security (s 12(3)) and the aggregate of such determinations is capped at $1,200 million (s 12(4)). The determination is a legislative instrument but it is explicitly excluded from disallowance and sunsetting provisions (s 12(5)).

• Payment conditions and ministerial control. Section 14 provides that any payment out of money appropriated by a State, ACT, NT and local government item (for outcomes listed in Schedule 1) must be made on terms and conditions determined in writing by the minister specified in Schedule 1, and must comply with any determination in writing by the minister specified in column 4 of Schedule 1 as to amounts and times of payments. The Act clarifies those determinations are not legislative instruments (s 14(4)).

• Special accounts. Section 13 allows amounts to be debited against an appropriation item and credited to a special account if the special account’s purposes are covered by the item.

• Time-limited effect. The Act self‑repeals on 1 July 2028 (s 16), establishing a sunset for the statutory appropriation architecture created by this instrument.

These concepts structure who decides, where the money sits, how intra-government accounting is to be treated, and the limited delegation to executive ministers to adjust allocations within defined constraints. The Act’s drafting also explicitly ties interpretation to portfolio statements and the PGPA Act for the adjustment mechanics (s 4 and s 6 notes), embedding this instrument in the broader public finance regime.

The statute directly and indirectly affects a set of actors identified in the text and schedules. The Act’s mechanisms allocate who pays, who receives, and who decides the conditions and timing of payments. The affected parties include:

• The Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF). Section 15 appropriates the CRF as necessary for the purposes of the Act; operationally the CRF is the source of money that will meet payments under the specified items.

• Non-corporate Commonwealth entities and the High Court. The Act’s definitions include non‑corporate Commonwealth entities and the High Court as “non‑corporate entity” (s 3). Schedule 2 lists amounts in relation to non‑corporate entities; ss 7-10 specify how amounts for non‑corporate entities may be applied, which affects departmental budgeting and administration.

• Corporate Commonwealth entities and Commonwealth companies. The Act defines “corporate entity” to include corporate Commonwealth entities and Commonwealth companies under the PGPA Act (s 3). Section 11 provides corporate entity items may be paid to those entities for application to their purposes, and s 11(2) requires full payment where another Act requires payment of parliamentary appropriations to that entity and Schedule 2 contains a corporate entity item.

• States, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory and local government authorities. “State, ACT, NT and local government items” are defined (s 3) and Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 show the Commonwealth intends to make payments to or for the States, ACT, NT and local government authorities (ss 7, 14; Schedule 1). Section 14 prescribes that such payments must meet terms and conditions determined by specified ministers and be made in accordance with any written payment determinations as to amounts and times.

• Ministers and the Finance Minister. The Finance Minister has a specific delegated power to amend Schedule 2 by determination in urgent circumstances (s 12). Other ministers specified in Schedule 1 determine the terms and conditions applicable to payments and the amounts/timing of payments (s 14; Schedule 1 columns 3-4). The Act therefore affects ministerial administrative practice and decision-making.

• Departments named in Schedule 2. The schedules list specific portfolios (Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water; Foreign Affairs and Trade; Industry, Science and Resources; Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts; Treasury). These departments and their line items are affected by how funds are allocated across outcomes and by requirements on departmental expenditure and administered items (ss 7-11; Schedule 2).

• The public sector accounting and reporting framework. The Act treats notional transactions between non‑corporate entities as real for appropriation purposes (s 5), which affects internal Commonwealth accounting treatment and may require departments to treat intra‑Commonwealth transfers as debits against their appropriations.

• Entities that operate in the fuel sector or are prospective recipients of funds. The Act’s objects are expressed as responding to fuel security circumstances; payments configured through Schedule 2 and the advance power (s 12) will, in practice, determine which actors in the fuel ecosystem (private firms, state agencies, regional authorities) receive funding. The Act itself does not name private firms or specific programs; it provides funding channels (Schedule 2, s 7, s 11) that may flow to them through administrative processes.

• Special accounts. Where a special account’s purpose is covered by an appropriation item, amounts may be debited against the appropriation and credited to that special account (s 13). Entities that administer or receive money from special accounts are thereby affected.

The Act does not create criminal offences, licensing changes, or direct regulatory obligations on private firms. Its effect is governance of Commonwealth spending flows and ministerial powers to determine conditions and timing. Who ultimately receives funds under each item will depend on the ministers’ determinations pursuant to the powers and delegations set out (ss 11, 12, 14; Schedules 1 and 2).

The Act imposes decision-making duties on certain ministers and sets payment rights for particular Commonwealth entities. The principal duties and rights established by the text are:

• Finance Minister’s duties and constraints. Under s 12, the Finance Minister has the duty to determine, by legislative instrument, amendments to Schedule 2 if the Minister is satisfied there is an urgent need for expenditure in the current year that was omitted, understated or unforeseen. The determination must relate to expenditure for the purposes of responding to fuel security (s 12(3)). The Finance Minister’s power is constrained by an aggregate cap of $1,200 million (s 12(4)). The legislative instrument character is explicit (s 12(5)), but the Act removes two checks,disallowance and sunsetting,by excluding s 42 and Part 4 of Chapter 3 of the Legislation Act 2003 from applying to such determinations (s 12(5)).

• Ministers’ duties in relation to payments to jurisdictions. Section 14 requires that payments made out of money appropriated by a State, ACT, NT and local government item for outcomes listed in Schedule 1 must be made on the terms and conditions (if any) from time to time determined in writing by the minister listed in column 3 of Schedule 1. The payments must also conform to any written determinations by the minister listed in column 4 of Schedule 1 concerning amounts and timing (s 14(2)(a)-(b), s 14(3)). The Act also clarifies that those determinations are not legislative instruments (s 14(4)).

• Entitlement of corporate entities. Section 11(1) creates a right for a corporate entity where Schedule 2 contains a corporate entity item: the amount specified may be paid to the entity to be applied for the purposes of the entity. Section 11(2) establishes a stronger right where another Act requires payment of amounts appropriated by Parliament to that corporate entity: in that case, if Schedule 2 contains a corporate entity item for that entity, the entity “must be paid the full amount specified in the item.”

• Departmental application duties. Section 10 directs that an “other departmental item” may be applied for the departmental expenditure of the non‑corporate entity to which it relates. Sections 7-9 likewise set out how State items and administered items/assets and liabilities items are to be applied to achieving outcomes specified in Schedule 2 (ss 7-9). Where portfolio statements indicate particular activities are to be treated as relating to a specified outcome, expenditure for carrying out those activities is taken to be for the purpose of contributing to that outcome (ss 7(2), 8(2), 9(2)). This creates an administrative duty to align expenditure with the declared outcome and the portfolio statements.

• Accounting and intra‑Commonwealth treatment. Section 5 imposes an accounting duty by requiring that notional transactions between non‑corporate entities be treated as if they were real; operationally this means a department may be debited against its appropriation for a notional payment to another non‑corporate entity.

• Rights to special account crediting. Section 13 affords the operational right to debit an appropriation and credit special accounts if the special account’s purpose is covered by an item; this is an accounting flexibility for agencies managing special accounts.

• Interpretive rights. The Act declares portfolio statements to be relevant documents for the purpose of s 15AB of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (s 4). That gives departments and courts a textual basis to consult the portfolio documents in interpreting provisions and understanding intended expenditure coverage.

What the Act does not do in terms of duties and rights: it contains no criminal sanctions, does not create explicit private law rights (for example no contractual entitlement to private third parties is statutorily mandated), and does not allocate regulatory control over fuel supply operators. The Act’s duties are administrative and financial: determine amounts and conditions, apply appropriations, and treat notional transactions as real for appropriations. Rights created are primarily financial entitlements for specified Commonwealth entities and procedural rights to rely on ministerial determinations where Schedule 2 references apply.

The Act as enacted contains no express criminal penalties, civil fines or administrative sanctions. Its enforcement and compliance mechanisms operate through the parliamentary appropriation and executive decision-making architecture rather than through penalty clauses. The following enforcement-related features appear in the text:

• Appropriation as the primary enforcement mechanism. Section 15 appropriates the Consolidated Revenue Fund as necessary for the Act. That appropriation is the legal basis that permits payments to be made. Enforcement of the Act therefore operates through the availability (or non-availability) of appropriation funds for specified purposes in Schedule 2 and any subsequent Finance Minister determinations under s 12.

• Ministerial determinations and administrative controls. The Act imposes obligations on ministers to make determinations in writing for the terms and conditions of payments (s 14). Those determinations are administrative instruments (the Act explicitly states they are not legislative instruments, s 14(4)). The Act therefore places practical compliance responsibility on ministers and the officials who implement their written determinations.

• Legislative instrument character with limited parliamentary oversight. Determinations by the Finance Minister to amend Schedule 2 are expressly characterised as legislative instruments (s 12(5)). Ordinarily such instruments are subject to parliamentary disallowance and sunsetting; the Act explicitly removes those checks by providing that neither s 42 (disallowance) nor Part 4 of Chapter 3 (sunsetting) of the Legislation Act 2003 applies to the Finance Minister’s determinations under s 12(2) (s 12(5)). This is a control on the usual oversight mechanisms and limits parliamentary procedural remedies in relation to those determinations.

• Accounting treatment of intra‑Commonwealth transactions. Section 5 requires notional transactions between non‑corporate entities be treated as if they were real transactions. The text notes “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” (s 5 note). The PGPA Act s 76 is referenced in the note for consistency. This enforces budgetary discipline by ensuring intra‑Commonwealth transfers are reflected against specific appropriations.

• No statutory enforcement for misuse set out in this Act. The Act contains no express provision creating investigatory powers, audit referral mechanisms beyond the normal Commonwealth financial framework, or sanctioning mechanisms for improper use of funds. Enforcement in practice will rely on existing government audit and accountability frameworks under the PGPA Act, and any fraud or misuse would be addressed under general criminal or civil law outside this statute; the Act itself does not purport to create separate penalties.

• Time-limited statutory effect. The Act’s repeal at the start of 1 July 2028 (s 16) removes the legal basis for the appropriations thereafter. The sunset provides a temporal enforcement boundary: after repeal, the appropriations in Schedule 2 will no longer have effect (subject to standard PGPA and appropriation adjustment rules).

In sum, the Act’s enforcement architecture is administrative and fiscal, relying on appropriations, ministerial written determinations, and the standard Commonwealth financial management and accountability regime. It limits parliamentary oversight of Finance Minister determinations under s 12 by excluding disallowance and sunsetting, and contains no independent penalty regime within its text.

The Act sits explicitly within the Commonwealth’s existing public finance architecture and references other statutes and instruments that govern appropriations and interpretation. The text identifies several concrete interactions:

• Interaction with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act). The Act uses definitions from the PGPA Act to identify corporate and non-corporate entities (s 3). The note to s 5 refers to s 76 of the PGPA Act as consistent with treating notional transactions as real. Section 6 also notes that ss 74-75 of the PGPA Act provide for adjustment of amounts appropriated by this Act. The practical consequence is the Act’s appropriation items will be administered in accordance with PGPA obligations on financial management, reporting, and adjustment procedures.

• Interaction with the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. Section 4 declares the portfolio statements to be relevant documents for the purposes of s 15AB of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, which permits the use of declared documents in interpretation. This affects statutory construction: courts and officials may consult the portfolio statements as part of interpreting ambiguous provisions of the Act.

• Interaction with the Legislation Act 2003. Section 12(5) characterises a Finance Minister determination under s 12(2) as a legislative instrument. However, the Act excludes the operation of s 42 (disallowance) and Part 4 of Chapter 3 (sunsetting) of the Legislation Act 2003 for those determinations. That modifies the ordinary interaction between legislative instruments and parliamentary oversight mechanisms, reducing available parliamentary procedural checks on such determinations.

• Link to Appropriation (Fuel Security Response) Act (No. 1) 2025‑2026. Section 9(1)(b) expressly permits amounts in an administered assets and liabilities item to be applied for outcomes specified in Schedule 1 to the Appropriation (Fuel Security Response) Act (No. 1) 2025‑2026. This creates a direct statutory connection between the two appropriation Acts for the fiscal year.

• Interaction with special accounts under the PGPA Act. Section 13 allows crediting appropriations to special accounts where the special account purpose is covered by an item. Special accounts are governed by the PGPA Act and the Act of Parliament establishing each special account; this provision permits movement between appropriation items and special accounts in accordance with those frameworks.

• Reliance on ministerial written determinations outside the legislative instrument framework. Section 14 provides that terms and conditions and determinations as to amounts and timing of payments by ministers under Schedule 1 are not legislative instruments (s 14(4)). This means the determinations are administrative actions that operate outside the Legislation Act’s procedural regime, although they will nonetheless be subject to any relevant administrative law or statutory constraints outside this Act.

• Appropriation adjustments and PGPA Act ss 74-75. The Act’s notes and s 6 make explicit that adjustments under the PGPA Act may operate in relation to amounts appropriated by this Act. The PGPA Act contains processes for re-appropriation, transfers and other adjustments which will therefore be the procedural route for some changes beyond the Finance Minister’s s 12 determinations.

Overall, the Act embeds itself within the existing appropriation and public finance system (PGPA Act, Acts Interpretation Act, Legislation Act) while modifying certain oversight features for a limited class of Finance Minister determinations. It relies on existing definitions, adjustments, and accounting rules under the PGPA Act and creates linkages to the first Fuel Security Response appropriation Act.

As enacted, the Act contains a brief internal amendment and commencement record and schedules; the legislative text itself does not record prior amendments. The points the Act records about its own history and temporal operation are:

• Assent and commencement. The Act indicates it was assented to on 1 April 2026 and that, per s 2(1), the whole Act commences on that date. The commencement table in s 2 states “The day this Act receives the Royal Assent. 1 April 2026.”

• Temporary duration and repeal. Section 16 provides that the Act is repealed at the start of 1 July 2028. This sets the Act’s operational lifespan and constitutes an automated repeal clause.

• Schedule change mechanism. Part 3 (s 12) supplies a formal mechanism for the Finance Minister to amend Schedule 2 by legislative instrument where an urgent need arises within the current year. The Act therefore contains a built-in delegated amendment pathway that permits the schedule,the operative list of appropriations,to be updated without an amending Act of Parliament, subject to specified conditions and a capped aggregate amount ($1,200 million, s 12(4)). The determination is treated as a legislative instrument, but the disallowance and sunsetting mechanisms of the Legislation Act 2003 do not apply to it (s 12(5)).

• Notes about Schedule 2 adjustments. Section 6 includes two notes: Note 1 states items in Schedule 2 can be adjusted under Part 3 (i.e., s 12); Note 2 mentions ss 74-75 of the PGPA Act also provide for adjustment of amounts appropriated by this Act. These notes point to procedural amendment pathways outside the statute itself.

• Relationship to Appropriation (Fuel Security Response) Act (No. 1) 2025-2026. Section 9(1)(b) allows amounts in administered assets and liabilities items to be applied for outcomes specified in Schedule 1 to Appropriation (Fuel Security Response) Act (No. 1) 2025-2026, indicating the present Act is designed to operate alongside an earlier appropriation Act in the same thematic area. Changes to Schedule 1 of Act (No. 1) could have practical effects on the application of items in this Act.

The statute contains no recorded prior amendments; the only express modification mechanism provided is the Finance Minister’s determination power under s 12 and the general adjustment powers within the PGPA Act referenced in s 6 notes. There is no historical amendment log in the text provided beyond commencement and repeal dates, and the Act’s own temporary repeal date creates an end point for any further amendment absent new legislation.

The text of the Appropriation (Fuel Security Response) Act (No. 2) 2025-2026 contains no references to judicial decisions, and the schedule and provisions do not cite case law. The Act itself is an appropriations instrument rather than a regulatory or enforcement statute typically associated with litigation. Based on the text:

• No cases are named in the Act. The statutory text contains only legislative provisions, notes pointing to the PGPA Act and to s 15AB of the Acts Interpretation Act, references to the Legislation Act 2003, and the Appropriation (Fuel Security Response) Act (No. 1) 2025-2026. It contains no judicial authorities or litigation references.

• No judicial review or dispute-resolution mechanism is established within the Act specific to its determinations. Ministerial determinations under s 12 are legislative instruments by the Act’s own description (s 12(5)), but the Act excludes disallowance and sunsetting under the Legislation Act 2003. Administrative law remedies (for example, judicial review in the Federal Court) would remain available in the ordinary way for decisions subject to public law principles, but the Act does not itself create or restrict judicial review rights. The Act’s text does not specify internal dispute mechanisms or specialised tribunals.

• Possible sources of litigation would be immigration of standard Commonwealth financial law disputes or administrative law challenges to ministerial determinations where aggrieved parties claim lack of power, error of law, or procedural unfairness. The Act’s text, however, does not record any litigation and contains no express limitations on judicial review or legal challenges, beyond removing parliamentary disallowance and sunsetting for the Finance Minister’s s 12 instruments (s 12(5)).

Given the Act’s appropriation character, litigation arising directly from it would likely concern whether a minister’s use of delegated powers complied with the thresholds in the statute (for example, whether an “urgent need” existed, whether expenditure was “unforeseen” or omitted, and whether determinations “relate to” fuel security as required by s 12), or disputes about statutory interpretation under s 15AB and the declared portfolio statements (s 4). The Act itself does not provide a litigation record or precedents.

The Act contains several drafting and operational features that are potential sources of confusion, operational misalignment, or constrained oversight. The following are concrete “gotchas” derived from the statute’s text:

• Apparent schedule total mismatch. Section 6 states “The total of the items specified in Schedule 2 is nil.” Yet Schedule 2, and its summary rows, record numeric amounts across portfolios (for example a “Total: 6,688,495” figure in the printed summary). The Act also contains notes that Schedule 2 can be adjusted under Part 3 (s 6 note) and references to PGPA adjustment powers. Practitioners should not assume the label “nil” in s 6 means no money is to flow; instead the schedule text and the Act’s notes must be reconciled as a drafting and sequencing matter when advising clients. The Act’s text leaves room for operational interpretation as to which figures are authoritative at any point in time, and the Finance Minister’s determinations under s 12 may amend Schedule 2.

• Finance Minister determinations are legislative instruments but not subject to disallowance or sunsetting. Section 12(5) characterises s 12 determinations as legislative instruments, but then excludes s 42 (disallowance) and Part 4 of Chapter 3 (sunsetting) of the Legislation Act 2003 from applying. This reduces parliamentary oversight of potentially material adjustments to expenditure and eliminates the automatic expiry mechanism that applies to many other legislative instruments. The practical effect is that significant budgetary changes within the $1,200 million cap can be made by the Finance Minister without the usual parliamentary procedural checks.

• Narrow statutory test for the advance power. The Finance Minister’s s 12 power is limited to expenditure that is “urgent” and either omitted/understated or unforeseen until after the last practicable day to provide for it in the Bill before introduction. These are fact-sensitive thresholds. Advising departmental clients will require contemporaneous documentation demonstrating the omission, understatement or forecast error, and why the expenditure was “urgent”, because the Act conditions exercise of the power on the Minister’s satisfaction of those facts (s 12(1)).

• Ministerial determinations controlling payment terms and timing are not legislative instruments. Section 14 requires payments to jurisdictions be made on terms and conditions determined by the minister specified in Schedule 1, and any determinations as to amounts and timing must be in writing. But those determinations are expressly not legislative instruments (s 14(4)), meaning they are not subject to the Legislation Act’s central notice, registration and parliamentary processes. That structure may make it harder for third parties to locate or challenge the precise terms governing their entitlements.

• Notional transactions treated as real. Section 5 requires notional transactions between non‑corporate entities to be treated as if they were real transactions for appropriation purposes. Agencies should be aware this creates tangible debits against appropriations even when no cash is physically transferred from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. Accounting treatment and intra-departmental budget adjustments will therefore need to reflect the notional debit.

• Mandatory payment to corporate entities in certain circumstances. Section 11(2) says that where another Act requires a corporate entity be paid amounts appropriated by Parliament for its purposes and Schedule 2 contains a corporate entity item, that entity must be paid the full amount specified. This creates a statutory entitlement exercisable by the corporate entity if the precondition is met. Departments should check whether any corporate entity is covered by such other Acts and Schedule 2 items.

• Repeal date may limit multi-year projects. The Act is repealed on 1 July 2028 (s 16). Appropriations which are intended to fund multi-year programs must be planned with the repeal date in mind; after repeal the appropriation authority will no longer exist unless continued or replaced by new legislation or by incorporation into other appropriation Acts under PGPA mechanisms.

• Interpretive reliance on portfolio statements. Section 4 declares portfolio statements a “relevant document” for s 15AB of the Acts Interpretation Act. This means portfolio statements can be used to construe the Act, which could incorporate programmatic intent or activity descriptions into statutory interpretation. Legal advisers should therefore review the portfolio statements that the Act expressly incorporates when advising on the scope of outcomes and permitted expenditure.

• Limited statutory audit and sanction language. The Act contains no express audit or sanction provisions; compliance and oversight will therefore rest with existing PGPA and general law frameworks. Practitioners should consider PGPA reporting obligations and Auditor‑General scrutiny rather than seeking enforcement clauses in this Act.

These features are operational facts in the statute; they shape how the appropriation is implemented and how decisions will be justified, documented and reviewed.

Compliance under the Act is primarily administrative and accounting. Departments, corporate entities, ministers and other recipients should follow the statute’s express procedural and documentation paths. Practical compliance steps based on the Act’s text are:

• Treat the Consolidated Revenue Fund as the funding source. Section 15 appropriates the CRF as necessary. Departments must ensure claims, disbursements and accounting entries are aligned with CRF appropriation rules and PGPA requirements.

• Check applicable Schedule 2 items and their headings. The Act designates specific items in Schedule 2 by portfolio and item type (s 3; Schedule 2). Agencies should identify whether they are a non‑corporate or corporate entity under the PGPA Act definitions adopted by s 3 and then use the relevant rules: State items for payments to jurisdictions (s 7), administered items for contributing towards outcomes (s 8), administered assets and liabilities items for outcomes in this Act or in Appropriation Act (No. 1) (s 9), other departmental items for departmental expenditure (s 10), and corporate entity items as payments to corporate entities (s 11).

• Observe ministerial written determinations for terms and timing. For any payments out of State, ACT, NT and local government items related to Schedule 1 outcomes, payments “must be made on the terms and conditions (if any) from time to time determined” by the minister in column 3 of Schedule 1, and “must be made in accordance with any determination in writing” made by the minister in column 4 as to amounts and timing (s 14(2)). Departments should obtain, retain and rely on the written determinations that specify payment conditions, amounts and timing, and ensure their disbursement systems only release funds in accordance with those written instructions. Note these determinations are not legislative instruments (s 14(4)), so departments must maintain internal records as the public register requirements do not apply in the same way.

• Account for notional transactions as real debits. Section 5 requires treating notional transactions between non‑corporate entities as if they were real. Compliance requires recording such notional payments in agency financial statements and appropriation ledgers in accordance with the PGPA Act (the Act’s note mentions s 76 PGPA). Agencies must coordinate with central finance to reflect these debits against relevant appropriations even where no CRF cash movement occurs.

• Corporate entities’ entitlement and payment rights. Where Schedule 2 contains a corporate entity item for a corporate entity, s 11(1) permits payment to the entity for its purposes. Where another Act requires parliamentary appropriations to be paid to that corporate entity, and Schedule 2 contains a corporate entity item for it, the entity “must be paid the full amount” specified (s 11(2)). Corporate entities and Finance officials should verify whether any other statute creates such a cross‑reference and ensure payment follows the mandatory direction.

• Monitor and observe the Finance Minister’s advance power parameters. The Finance Minister may amend Schedule 2 by determination for urgent unforeseen or omitted expenditure related to fuel security, capped at $1,200 million in the aggregate (s 12(1)-(4)). Departments seeking to rely on such an amendment should prepare evidence demonstrating urgency and that the expenditure was unforeseen or omitted when the Bill was introduced. Agencies should also monitor the Federal Register of Legislation for any Ministerial determinations under s 12, noting they are legislative instruments but exempt from disallowance and sunsetting (s 12(5)).

• Use portfolio statements in interpreting allowable activity. Section 4 makes the portfolio statements relevant documents under s 15AB. Departments should align program design and expenditure classifications with the Portfolio Budget Statements and Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements that the Act references; these documents may be used to justify that particular activities are treated as contributing to specified outcomes (ss 7(2), 8(2), 9(2)).

• If crediting to special accounts, ensure purposes align. Section 13 allows amounts to be debited against an appropriation item and credited to a special account if the account’s purposes are covered by the item. Agencies must ensure the special account statute and purposes permit the crediting, and record the transactions consistently with PGPA accounting rules.

• Timeframe and continuity planning. The Act ceases at the start of 1 July 2028 (s 16). Departments and program managers must plan for continuity or transition of funding beyond that date through other appropriation vehicles or new legislation.

• Maintain records of ministerial determinations and internal approvals. Because s 14 determinations are not legislative instruments and s 12 determinations are excluded from disallowance and sunsetting, administrative transparency will rely on departmental record-keeping and PGPA reporting obligations. Departments should keep contemporaneous documentation justifying the exercise of delegated powers and the basis for payments to meet internal audit expectations and potential external audit scrutiny.

These steps are derived from the statutory duties and rights the Act creates. Compliance in practice will also require adherence to the PGPA Act’s broader financial management duties and any other relevant statutes that apply to particular recipients or programs.