Determination of the GST Revenue Sharing Relativities for 2018-19 in Accordance with the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009

This instrument is a Treasurer’s determination, made under section 8 of the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009, setting the GST revenue sharing relativity factor for each State and Territory for the 2018‑19 payment year. The preamble states the legal basis: "Section 8 of the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 allows the Treasurer to make a determination of the GST revenue sharing relativity for a State, for a payment year" (preamble; s 8 referenced). The instrument is signed by Scott John Morrison as Treasurer and dated 4 July 2018.

The determination lists one numeric relativity factor for each State and Territory for the 2018‑19 payment year. The factors in the table are:

• New South Wales: 0.85517
• Victoria: 0.98670
• Queensland: 1.09584
• Western Australia: 0.47287
• South Australia: 1.47727
• Tasmania: 1.76706
• Australian Capital Territory: 1.18070
• Northern Territory: 4.25816

Mechanically, the instrument performs one discrete legal action: the Treasurer "hereby DETERMINE[s]" those relativity factors for the stated payment year (preamble and operative sentence). It identifies the instrument’s scope (each State for the 2018‑19 payment year) and the relationship to the Act (exercise of power under s 8). The document itself does not set out any formula for how these numbers were calculated, nor does it include provisions about how those numbers are to be applied in arithmetic terms to a GST pool. The text of the determination is limited to naming the factors, showing the signature and the date.

What the instrument does not do in express terms: it does not state the monetary amounts payable to any State, it does not detail the GST pool or payment mechanism, it does not specify any conditions, offsets, or adjustments beyond the listed relativity numbers, and it does not include enforcement provisions or penalties. Its operative effect is the formal setting of the relativity numbers for the payment year specified, pursuant to the Act (s 8). The instrument appears to be a single exercise of discretion of the Treasurer over that statutory power for that payment year.

If a practitioner needs to know downstream application (how these factors turn into dollar payments), those mechanics are not contained in this determination text. The instrument is evidence of the exercise of the s 8 power and the exact numeric relativities for 2018‑19; it should be read together with the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 and any payment rules or administrative processes the Commonwealth uses to apportion the GST pool under the Act.

The instrument engages a few narrow but conceptually important ideas that the text itself invokes. These are:

• Treasurer’s determination power (s 8). The instrument expressly relies on "Section 8 of the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009" as the enabling power. The form of the instrument is a determination by the Treasurer , the Act therefore confers an executive administrative discretion to set relativity factors for specified payment years. The document does not reproduce s 8 or additional Act text, so the exact scope and limits of that statutory power are not restated in the instrument itself.

• GST revenue sharing relativity factor. The term used in the table is "GST Revenue Sharing Relativity Factor" for the 2018‑19 payment year. The instrument supplies one numeric factor per State/Territory. The text does not define the term within the instrument, nor does it set out the units or the arithmetic application method. It is therefore a label plus numeric values; the legal and fiscal machinery that translates those figures into payments is external to this document.

• Payment year. The instrument is explicitly limited to the "2018‑19 payment year." The instrument thereby operates in time: it answers which factors apply in that specified payment year only. The determination does not purport to set multi‑year rules or any automatic future adjustment. The use of "payment year" rather than "financial year" is the language chosen in the instrument; any interpretation of that phrase in practice will depend on the Act and payment procedures.

• State and Territory specificity. The table lists each State and Territory by name and assigns each a single factor. The instrument treats each named jurisdiction discretely; there is no aggregation or grouping within the table.

• Administrative provenance and authentication. The instrument is signed and dated: "SCOTT JOHN MORRISON" and "Dated: 4 July 2018." That authentication is part of the instrument’s legal force as a determination made by the person occupying the Treasurer role at the date stated.

Conceptually, the instrument is a classic executive determination: it sets parameters (the relativity factors) that will, when applied through payment rules or administrative steps, alter the distribution of GST revenue among jurisdictions. The instrument itself is minimal: it does not provide underlying method, background data, explanatory memorandum, or statutory text beyond the citation of s 8 as the source of power.

Primary legal subjects named in the instrument are the States and Territories listed in the table. That is:

• New South Wales
• Victoria
• Queensland
• Western Australia
• South Australia
• Tasmania
• Australian Capital Territory
• Northern Territory

The immediate practical effect of the instrument concerns recipients of Commonwealth GST revenue sharing. The instrument determines relativity factors that will be applied, through the Commonwealth’s payment processes, to allocate GST revenue across the jurisdictions for the 2018‑19 payment year. The determination therefore affects the Commonwealth (as disbursing authority), the State and Territory treasuries (as recipients), and any bodies that rely on GST distributions in their budgets, including state agencies and service delivery programmes funded from those distributions.

Indirectly, the determination can affect state budgeting decisions, fiscal planning and intergovernmental negotiations. Although the instrument does not state downstream consequences, changes in GST relativity factors change the relative size of Commonwealth transfers to States and Territories, which in turn can affect each jurisdiction’s available revenue and its capacity to run programs or set taxes. The instrument does not itself address these downstream policy choices; it supplies a numeric parameter used in the Commonwealth’s transfer calculation.

Other affected actors in practice , though not named in the instrument , include accountants and finance teams within Commonwealth and State government departments, who will implement the numbers in payment systems and accounting ledgers for the 2018‑19 payment year. Practitioners in those roles need to ensure systems reflect the precise numeric factors and the effective date of the determination (signed 4 July 2018).

The instrument does not specify any compliance obligations for private persons or private entities. Its reach is administrative and financial between levels of government. There are no penalties, licences, or direct regulatory conditions imposed on businesses or individuals by the text of the determination.

Finally, journalists, researchers and legal advisers who track intergovernmental fiscal flows are affected in the sense that the determination supplies the official, signed, dated, and published numeric relativities for 2018‑19. The instrument is the evidentiary source for the Treasurer’s exercise of the s 8 discretion for that payment year.

The determination itself creates a duty only in an administrative sense: the Treasurer has exercised a power under section 8 of the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 to determine the GST revenue sharing relativity for each State for the 2018‑19 payment year. The instrument does not create new statutory duties for third parties, nor does it create new private rights of action in its text.

From the content of the instrument, the following operative duties and rights can be asserted as matters of legal fact:

• The Treasurer’s duty (or power exercised) under s 8: the text records the Treasurer’s action of determining the relativity factors for the payment year. The document shows the exercise of that administrative discretion; it does not set out any conditions attached to that power in the Act. Practitioners should read the Act to identify any statutory constraints, review mechanisms, or required consultation that may constitute ancillary duties linked to the exercise of s 8.

• Commonwealth administrative duty to apply the determination in payment processes: the determination is the formal setting of the parameters that the Commonwealth will use to apportion GST revenue. While the instrument does not itself contain an express duty to pay or a schedule of payments, the practical legal inference is that the Commonwealth will use these relativity factors for the 2018‑19 payment year as part of its GST distribution process. The instrument does not specify mechanics or timing beyond the payment year label.

• No private entitlements stated: the instrument does not create individual rights or entitlements enforceable by private parties. The rights that flow from this document are the jurisdictions’ claim to have the Treasurer’s stated factors applied in the Commonwealth’s distribution system. If a State or Territory considered the Treasurer had not complied with statutory rules in exercising s 8, any legal challenge would depend on the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 and public law remedies; nothing of that process is set out in the determination itself.

• Record and evidentiary function: the determination is the formal record of the Treasurer’s decision. That supports administrative rights to rely on the determination when preparing budgets, making payments, and auditing fiscal positions for the 2018‑19 payment year. The signed date (4 July 2018) and the signature of the Treasurer give the document its administrative authenticity.

The instrument is silent about review, appeal, or challenge procedures. It does not grant rights to alter the factors nor does it state that the factors are subject to ministerial amendment or legislative ratification. Any statutory review or judicial review avenues would derive from the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 or general administrative law principles, not from this determination text.

The document contains no penal clauses, sanctions, or enforcement procedures. It is a signed administrative determination that sets numeric parameters; it does not itself prescribe penalties for non‑compliance or enforcement mechanisms. The text neither establishes offences nor imposes regulatory obligations on private parties.

Practical enforcement and effect are administrative rather than disciplinary. The instrument’s primary enforcement mechanism is its status as an authoritative determination by the Treasurer under s 8 of the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009: the Commonwealth’s payment machinery is expected to implement the stated relativity factors when distributing GST revenue for the 2018‑19 payment year. The document does not specify who must implement the numbers, the timing of payments, or reconciliation procedures; those operational details would sit with the Commonwealth’s finance processes and the Act’s broader payment framework.

If a dispute arose about whether the determination had been applied correctly in payment calculations, the instrument itself does not set out a remedy route. Any legal remedy would arise from the Act or general administrative law, not from language in the determination. The determination does not state whether it is or is not subject to judicial review. The text does not identify any monitoring, auditing, or reporting obligations tied to the determination.

In summary, the determination imposes no penalties and no direct enforcement provisions within its own text. Its enforceability is operational: it becomes the administrative standard for calculating GST revenue sharing for the stated payment year and must be implemented by the Commonwealth finance agencies responsible for making the payments.

The determination expressly invokes the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 as its legal base (preamble referencing s 8). The instrument is therefore an exercise of power conferred by that Act. As this determination is confined to setting numeric relativity factors, it interacts with other laws and administrative instruments principally through the Act’s broader scheme and the Commonwealth’s payment mechanisms.

From the text we can establish these interactions or relationships:

• Federal Financial Relations Act 2009, s 8. The instrument is made under the authority the Act gives the Treasurer to determine a GST revenue sharing relativity for a State for a payment year. The instrument itself does not reproduce s 8 or other provisions of the Act. Practitioners must consult the Act to understand limits on the Treasurer’s power, whether consultation is required, and how the Act directs the factors to be used in payments.

• Commonwealth payment rules and budgets. The determination’s numeric factors are inputs to the Commonwealth’s process for distributing GST revenue. The determination does not itself alter taxation law or GST law; rather, it operates within the intergovernmental fiscal framework established by the Act. The instrument does not identify or modify taxation statutes.

• Administrative law (judicial review, procedural fairness). The instrument does not mention any review or appeal rights. If a State or other interested party considered the determination to be unlawful because the Treasurer exceeded or misapplied s 8, any legal action would be under administrative law grounds against the decision under the Act, not under the determination’s text. The determination contains no certification that it is immune from review.

• State laws and budgets. The instrument interacts indirectly with State legal and fiscal arrangements because the Commonwealth’s distributions affect State revenue streams. The instrument does not purport to change State laws; any impact on State expenditures, taxes or statutory obligations will occur through the economic effect of altered Commonwealth funding.

• Intergovernmental agreements and procedural instruments. The instrument does not reference any agreements or schedules outside the Act. Where the Commonwealth and States have standing intergovernmental arrangements that reference GST distribution procedures, those arrangements will need to operate with the Treasurer’s determined factors for 2018‑19. The determination does not amend or supersede any such agreement on its face; it provides the numeric inputs that such arrangements will use where applicable.

The instrument as printed contains a single dated determination for the payment year 2018‑19. The determination text itself does not record any prior determinations, amendments to this determination, or a history of changes. It does not include an effective‑from clause beyond the stated payment year nor does it provide for automatic revision.

What the instrument does show about its history:

• It is a 2018 determination (dated 4 July 2018) issued by the Treasurer. The text appears twice in the provided source (duplicate copies), but that duplication is a matter of presentation rather than legal substance.

• The determination cites the enabling statute, Federal Financial Relations Act 2009. The instrument does not itself amend that Act, nor does it record any amendment to the determination prior to, contemporaneous with, or following the signature. There are no appended schedules or amendment clauses.

Absent any text in the determination referring to prior determinations or subsequent amendments, the document should be treated as a stand‑alone s 8 determination for 2018‑19. If a practitioner needs the full amendment or version history of GST relativity determinations across payment years, they must consult the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 itself and the historical series of Treasurer’s determinations or Commonwealth records. That information is not contained in or summarised by this single determination.

Because the determination does not provide revision procedures, any future change for the same payment year would need its own enabling instrument. Likewise, a change of Treasurer or a later instrument purporting to alter the 2018‑19 relativities would need to identify its statutory basis and any superseding date; none of that appears here.

The determination text does not record any litigation or refer to any court or tribunal decisions. It contains no citation to cases and makes no mention of legal challenges. The instrument is a record of the Treasurer’s exercise of the s 8 power; it does not report any disputes or judicial outcomes.

From the document itself we can only conclude that no litigation history is provided or noted within the instrument. If a reader seeks litigation that challenges the Treasurer’s exercise of s 8 or the particular relativities for 2018‑19, that material would need to be searched for in court records, legal databases or administrative law reports. The determination text is silent on whether there were consultations, disagreements between jurisdictions, or subsequent legal challenges.

Practitioners looking for precedent or litigation bearing on the lawfulness of relativity determinations should consult the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009, general administrative law, and public law case law external to this determination. The determination itself contains no litigation narrative or references.

The instrument is short and plainly drafted, but there are a number of practical issues and traps for the unwary that arise from what the document includes and, importantly, what it omits. These "gotchas" are matters of documentary mechanics, administrative process and interpretive caution:

• Narrow scope: the determination is limited to "the 2018‑19 payment year." It does not say whether the factors apply to a fiscal year, a calendar year, or some other payment schedule. Practitioners should not assume these factors apply outside the stated payment year. Confirm how the Commonwealth defines "payment year" in the Act or payment rules before applying the numbers to accounting periods.

• No formula in the instrument: the determination supplies the relativity numbers but does not set out the arithmetic by which those factors convert into dollar payments from the GST pool. Do not attempt to compute payment amounts from this instrument alone. You must consult the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 and the Commonwealth’s payment procedures for the calculation method and the size of the GST pool for that year.

• Precision matters: the factors are given to five decimal places (for example, New South Wales 0.85517). Where payment systems require rounding or truncation, an explicit policy decision is necessary. The instrument does not say whether payments should be rounded, and if so, to what precision. Accounting systems must implement appropriate rounding rules and retain supporting records showing how rounding was applied.

• Identifiers and naming: the instrument lists jurisdictions by name. Ensure your systems match the naming conventions exactly. For example, "Australian Capital Territory" and "Northern Territory" are listed individually; do not assume the Commonwealth will aggregate or alias these entries. Mistakes in mapping jurisdiction codes to names can cause misallocation.

• Date and retroactivity: the determination is dated 4 July 2018. It does not state an effective date other than the payment year label. If a State’s accounts were prepared on a different cut‑off or if payments were made before or after that date, verify which payment runs the factors should apply to. Do not assume the date of signature equals the date of first application for all administrative purposes without checking the Act and payment procedure.

• No statement on procedural fairness or consultation: the instrument does not say whether States were consulted, nor does it note compliance with any consultation obligations. If a jurisdiction disputes the factors, the determination itself provides no procedural background or record of consultation.

For Commonwealth, State and Territory finance officers, and for advisers engaged in intergovernmental fiscal work, the practical compliance steps stemming from this determination are administrative and record‑keeping tasks. The instrument does not create compliance obligations for private parties, so "compliance" here means ensuring the determination is correctly applied in payments and accounting for the 2018‑19 payment year. Recommended steps, reflecting what the instrument authorises and what it omits, are:

1. Record retention and authentication

   • Store the signed determination (dated 4 July 2018, signed by Scott John Morrison) in the official determinations register. Keep a scanned, time‑stamped copy linked to the payment year 2018‑19 records. The signed instrument is the authoritative record that the Treasurer set the numeric factors.

2. Map the factors into payment systems

   • Enter the exact relativity factors (to the same decimal precision) into the Commonwealth’s GST distribution models and state finance systems: NSW 0.85517; VIC 0.98670; QLD 1.09584; WA 0.47287; SA 1.47727; TAS 1.76706; ACT 1.18070; NT 4.25816. Ensure the jurisdiction codes and names used by the payment system match the wording in the instrument to avoid misallocations.

3. Confirm application rules under the Act

   • Before performing any calculations, consult the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 to determine how the relativity factors are meant to be applied in the calculation of GST distributions. The determination itself does not specify the calculation method or the GST pool amount, so do not compute payments from this instrument alone.

4. Decide and document rounding conventions

   • The instrument provides numbers to five decimals. Establish and document a rounding policy (for example, to cents on payments) and justify it in the payment run documentation. Keep records showing precisely how the five‑decimal factors were translated into payment amounts.

5. Align timing and payment windows

   • Confirm which payment runs for the 2018‑19 payment year are affected. Use the Act and the Commonwealth’s treasury payment calendar to determine when the factors should be used. Reconcile payments against the instrument for each affected payment run.

6. Audit and reconciliation