This determination rests on a small number of discrete statutory concepts set out in its own text. First is the concept of "general purpose financial assistance." The instrument expressly states that the amounts are "to be paid to the States for the purpose of making a grant of general purpose financial assistance to those States" (paragraph 3 and the table heading). The determination therefore classifies these payments as untied, general purpose financial assistance rather than payments for a specified program or tied-purpose grant.

Second is the concept of a ministerial determination under the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009. The maker identifies the legal power exercised: Michael Sukkar "make[s] this determination under subsection 9(1) of the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009." The instrument itself does not reproduce subsection 9(1) so the determination stands as an exercise of a statutory power referenced but not recited in full in the text provided. Practically, the instrument is a delegated legislative act by the Minister setting payment amounts.

Third is the concept of a scheduled payment date. The table is headed "General purpose financial assistance for payment on 22 June 2020." That label functions as the timing mechanism: the determination identifies both the amounts and the date associated with those amounts. Separately, paragraph 2 sets commencement as the day the instrument is made, which is 16 June 2020 per the maker's signature block; the operative payment date in the body of the instrument is 22 June 2020. These are two distinct temporal facts in the instrument: commencement (legal operation) and scheduled disbursement (payment).

Fourth is the list of jurisdictions as recipients. The table lists New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory. The instrument uses the word "States" in paragraph 3, but the table includes the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory. The determination therefore treats each named jurisdiction as a recipient line even where the specified amount is a dash indicating no measurable payment for that entry.

Fifth is the arithmetic and presentation of amounts. The table presents positive dollar figures for Western Australia ($37,980,542.21) and Australian Capital Territory ($3,389,761.66), and a grand total ($41,370,303.87). All other listed jurisdictions show a dash rather than a numeric figure. The document does not explicitly define the dash; in this instrument context the dash functions to denote zero or nil payable for the named jurisdiction on this payment line. The determination does not elaborate on rounding, currency conversion, indexation or other financial post-processing: the figures are presented with cents to two decimal places.

Finally, the instrument contains no text in the body imposing conditions, reporting obligations, clawback mechanisms, offsets, or enforcement sanctions. The core concepts are therefore narrow: (a) ministerial power under s 9(1) to determine amounts; (b) classification as general purpose financial assistance; (c) recipients and amounts on a specified payment date. Practitioners should treat the determination as a single-purpose payment schedule rather than a comprehensive funding agreement or grant contract.

Primary parties named in the determination are the Commonwealth (as payer by implication), the Minister who made the determination, and the listed jurisdictions as recipients. The instrument opens with the maker's statement: "I, Michael Sukkar, Minister for Housing and Assistant Treasurer, make this determination under subsection 9(1) of the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009." That identifies the decision-maker who exercises the statutory power to specify payments. The determination directs that "The amounts specified in the following table are to be paid to the States" (paragraph 3). The express recipients are the eight named jurisdictions appearing in the table: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory, and Northern Territory.

For most listed jurisdictions the table shows a dash; for Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory it shows specific dollar amounts. Therefore the immediate financial beneficiaries of this determination, on the face of the table, are Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory in the stated amounts, with a total of $41,370,303.87. The instrument therefore affects state and territory budget positions by increasing the Commonwealth to state/territory flow for those two jurisdictions on the stated payment date.

Secondary actors affected, though not named in the instrument, include the Commonwealth administrative machinery responsible for executing payments and reconciling accounts, and the receiving agencies within each jurisdiction that account for Commonwealth general purpose revenue. The document does not specify which Commonwealth department or account will execute the payment nor the receiving bank accounts. It is therefore likely that relevant treasury or finance officers in the Commonwealth and the recipient jurisdictions will be operationally affected as they implement the payment and record it in their financial systems.

The determination does not set duties for private persons or private sector entities. It does not create obligations for grant recipients beyond payment. It also does not specify reporting or accountability mechanisms that would impose ongoing obligations on the states or their agencies. Where the determination is silent on administrative mechanics, practical implementation affects finance teams and legal counsel advising on appropriation, receipt, accounting and disclosure.

Finally, the instrument may be relevant to auditors and financial statement preparers in the affected jurisdictions. The appearance of a discrete cash receipt on 22 June 2020 in the amounts stated will have to be reflected in state and territory reporting. However, the determination itself contains no instruction on accounting classification beyond the phrase "general purpose financial assistance." That phrase will guide how the funds are categorised in recipient financial statements, but the instrument does not specify accounting standards or disclosure practices.

The determination principally creates two legal facts: an instruction to pay specified amounts, and a declared purpose for those payments. Paragraph 3 states: "The amounts specified in the following table are to be paid to the States for the purpose of making a grant of general purpose financial assistance to those States." Read plainly, that establishes (1) a right of the listed jurisdictions to receive the amounts stated in the table, and (2) a duty on the Commonwealth to pay those amounts as specified.

The instrument itself does not define or detail ancillary rights and duties. It does not impose conditions on the use of the funds, it does not specify reporting requirements, and it does not provide for any post-payment audit, clawback or enforcement regime. Accordingly, the rights created are limited and concrete: the recipient jurisdictions have a claim to the precise dollar amounts recorded in the table, and the Commonwealth has a duty to effect payment. The document does not, however, specify remedies or enforcement processes if payment is not made.

The instrument is made under subsection 9(1) of the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009, which is the legal authority the Minister asserts. The determination does not reproduce subsection 9(1) or cross-reference other provisions of the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009. Therefore the particulars of any procedural duties for the Minister in making the determination, or any statutory constraints on exercise of the power, are not contained in the instrument and cannot be read into the text provided. Practitioners should therefore treat the determination as the Minister's formal exercise of a power; the underlying statutory duties or procedural prerequisites, if any, will be located in the Act.

Timing duties are implicit. The table is headed "for payment on 22 June 2020." The determination also states that it commences on the day it is made (paragraph 2). The maker's block is dated 16 June 2020. Thus the instrument legally takes effect on 16 June 2020 and specifies payment on 22 June 2020. That establishes a narrow operational duty: the Commonwealth must effect payment on the date specified and for the amounts specified. The instrument does not specify payment method, account details, or whether partial payments are permissible.

There are no duties placed on recipients within this determination text. The funds are described as general purpose financial assistance, a category that by the instrument's terms carries no attached conditions within this document. Recipients therefore have the right to the funds and broad discretion in their use, insofar as the determination itself does not constrain that use. Any further duties on recipients would need to be found in other instruments, agreements, or legislation; they are not in this determination.

Finally, the determination contains no explicit rights or privileges for third parties, nor does it create private enforceable rights in individuals. Its practical legal effect is to alter fiscal positions by directing Commonwealth payments to named jurisdictions; it does not create stand-alone regulatory obligations beyond payment.

The determination contains no provisions that create penalties, sanctions, or enforcement mechanisms. The text is short and procedural: it names the instrument (paragraph 1), sets commencement (paragraph 2), and directs payment amounts and purpose (paragraph 3 and the table). Nowhere in the document are provisions that specify what happens if the Commonwealth fails to pay, if a recipient misapplies funds, or if post-payment rectification is required. The instrument does not set out any administrative processes, remedies, or enforcement routes.

Because the determination does not include such enforcement clauses, any enforcement or penalty regime would have to be found elsewhere: in the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 (the statutory power under which the instrument is made), in the relevant appropriation or payments legislation, or in separate grant agreements or administrative arrangements. The determination itself is silent on those matters. Practically, that means the instrument functions as a payment instruction rather than a self-contained compliance instrument.

For practitioners, this silence is material. If a Commonwealth payments unit, Treasury officer or Minister concludes that enforcement provisions are required to secure accountability for a particular transfer, those would need to be imposed by separate arrangements. Similarly, if recipients or auditors are concerned about improper use of funds, the determination does not itself provide a statutory basis for clawback or sanction. Therefore, any questions about recourse in case of non-payment, misapplication or dispute must be referred to the underlying Act or to other instruments or contractual arrangements not reproduced in this document.

The instrument’s lack of enforcement mechanisms also has practical consequences for oversight. The absence of reporting obligations or specified audit rights in the determination means that, at least as between the Commonwealth and the recipients in this instrument, there is no express statutory requirement for recipients to account to the Commonwealth under the terms of this determination. That situation leaves accountability to be exercised through general financial management regimes, appropriations law, or separate agreements.

In short, the determination instructs payment but does not construct a penalty or enforcement architecture within its text. Any enforcement or remedy therefore depends on other statutory or administrative instruments outside the determination as reproduced here.

The determination states its legal source: it is made under subsection 9(1) of the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009. That is the only statutory cross-reference in the text. The determination does not reproduce subsection 9(1) or any other provisions of that Act, so its precise positioning, scope, and constraints under the Act must be read from the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 itself. The instrument therefore functions as an exercise of delegated legislative power, the contours of which are defined by the enabling Act.

Beyond that single express reference, the instrument is silent on interaction with appropriation statutes, Treasury directions, payments rules, or state law. It does not state the appropriation authority for the payment, the account from which funds are to be drawn, or any cheques to be written, nor does it state whether payments are subject to Commonwealth financial management laws or directions. That absence means the determination should be treated as a component of a larger federal financial management framework: in practice, execution of the payment will be administered under Commonwealth financial administration law and appropriation acts even though those are not recited in the instrument.

The table lists both states and territories, but paragraph 3 speaks of "to be paid to the States." The determination thus uses terminology that overlaps but does not explicitly reconcile constitutional or statutory definitions of "State" and "Territory." Any legal effect that turns on the classification of recipient (for example, differing legal status between states and territories for certain grants) is not addressed in the instrument itself. Where such distinctions matter for legal rights, obligations or accounting classification, they will need to be resolved by reference to the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 and other relevant statutes.

The instrument does not purport to amend, repeal, or affect any particular state law or grant agreement. It simply records a Commonwealth decision to pay funds for general purpose financial assistance. Therefore, interaction with state budgeting, tax, or expenditure law is procedural rather than substantive within the determination: the funds will enter the recipient governments’ financial systems and be subject to those governments’ applicable laws and accounting practices.

Finally, the determination does not specify whether it interacts with other determinations issued under the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009. It is numbered (No. 136) and dated (June 2020), indicating it is part of a series of such instruments, but the document does not reference other determinations, nor does it state that it replaces or varies any previous instrument. Any operation among multiple determinations , for example, aggregation of payments or offsetting , is not addressed within this instrument and would require examination of the Act and any other relevant instruments.

The instrument as supplied contains no amendment history entries. The document identifies itself as "Federal Financial Relations (General Purpose Financial Assistance) Determination No. 136 (June 2020)" and is dated 16 June 2020. Paragraph 2 states that the determination "commences on the day on which it is made." There is no textual material in the supplied document indicating prior versions, variations, revocations, or later amendments. No schedule or "Note" section records modifications or prior instruments replaced by this determination.

The repetition in the supplied text (sections repeating the Name of determination, Commencement and Determination headings and the payment table) appears to be duplication of the same instrument content, rather than an explicit amendment. Those duplications do not contain differing figures or dates; they reproduce the same table and the same paragraph headings. The maker's signature block shows the maker's name and the date 16 June 2020, but the instrument does not include retrospective amendment language.

Given the lack of recorded amendments in the text, the operative amendment history visible from this document is empty: No amendments recorded; instrument made 16 June 2020; instrument commences when made. If a user needs the full legislative history of No. 136, that information is not contained in this determination and must be obtained from the official legislative database or the Federal Register of Legislation, which will typically record commencement, any variations, and whether the instrument has been superseded or repealed. Those records are outside the text provided here.

Where amendment history matters for legal advice or audit tracing, the practitioner should note that this instrument does not purport to repeal or vary prior determinations, nor to be a variation of earlier instruments; it stands on its face as a discrete determination. Any temporal relationship to other determinations will therefore need to be located in external legislative records not reproduced in the document.

The determination as provided contains no references to litigation, judicial consideration, or disputes. There are no annotations, footnotes, or remarks indicating that the instrument has been the subject of judicial review or other court proceedings. The document is an administrative exercise of power recorded as a ministerial determination and does not itself contain or summarise any litigation history.

That absence is material for practitioners. Because the instrument contains no litigation record, any questions about judicial challenge, interpretation conflicts, or precedent arising from this or similar determinations must be researched separately in case law or Federal Court and High Court databases. The determination’s text does not indicate that it has been the target of legal challenge or that any litigation has interpreted its language.

For practical purposes, absence of a litigation history in the instrument suggests that the determination operated as a standard payment instrument without contested legal issues recorded in the text. However, the instrument’s silence does not prove that no litigation exists; it simply records none. If litigation history is relevant to advice or compliance risk assessment, counsel should search reported and unreported cases, tribunal decisions, and administrative review records concerning the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 and attendant determinations.

This determination presents several drafting and operational features that can cause confusion unless carefully noted.

1. Dashes in the table. Most jurisdictions are shown with a dash rather than a numeric amount. The instrument does not define the dash. In context the dash operates to indicate that no amount is payable to those jurisdictions on this payment line. Do not treat a dash as an omission to be completed later; the document’s arithmetic (the total equals the sum of the two numeric entries) confirms it functions as nil.

2. Narrow set of payees. Although the heading and paragraph 3 speak in terms of "the States," only Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory are allocated positive amounts on this payment date. Practitioners should not assume that all jurisdictions receive funds from this determination. Check the table: Western Australia $37,980,542.21 and Australian Capital Territory $3,389,761.66; total $41,370,303.87.

3. Terminology mismatch. Paragraph 3 speaks of "the States," while the table lists both states and territories. The instrument does not reconcile the terminology. If legal rights or obligations depend on whether a recipient is a "State" rather than a "Territory," that distinction will need to be resolved by reference to the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 or other statutes, not by this determination.

4. Two dates: commencement and payment. Paragraph 2 states the instrument "commences on the day on which it is made." The maker's dated signature block reads 16 June 2020. The table, however, is headed for payment on 22 June 2020. Do not conflate commencement and disbursement; the instrument takes legal effect on the date it is made but schedules the cash movement for a later date. Operational teams must therefore reconcile legal authority with cash management timing.

5. No appropriation or execution details. The determination instructs payment but does not specify the appropriation source, account details, or who will effect the payment. This is a common feature of such instruments, but operationally it means that Treasury or finance executives must locate the appropriation authority and the administrative mechanism for payment elsewhere. If a lawyer or accountant is checking auditable trails, expect to find appropriation and payment execution records in parallel documents, not within this determination.

6. No conditions or reporting. The determination contains no text attaching conditions to the funds, nor any reporting or audit clauses. If a client assumes the Commonwealth retains reporting rights or clawback mechanisms, that assumption will not be supported by this determination alone. Any such accountability must be established by other documents.

7. Repetition and formatting. The supplied text duplicates headings and the payment table. That repetition is present in the document and can cause confusion in automated processing. For drafting or compliance work relying on machine parsing, treat the instrument as a single determination despite the duplicated blocks.

8. Single-purpose instrument. This determination is narrowly focused on a single payment date and fixed amounts. It is not a multi-year funding agreement. If a user expects ongoing payments or indexation, those features are not in this instrument.

Being aware of those points avoids misreading the instrument and prevents erroneous assumptions about universal payments, conditions, or administrative mechanics.

For Commonwealth payment authorities and administrators

1. Observe timing. The instrument commences on the day it is made (paragraph 2; maker’s date 16 June 2020) and specifies payment on 22 June 2020 per the table heading. Ensure that cash management and payment execution processes are scheduled to effect the transfers on or before 22 June 2020.

2. Pay the specified amounts. The table sets two positive amounts: Western Australia $37,980,542.21 and Australian Capital Territory $3,389,761.66, total $41,370,303.87. The instruction in paragraph 3 is to pay those amounts "to the States for the purpose of making a grant of general purpose financial assistance to those States." Ensure transfers match the table precisely.

3. Reconcile appropriation and authority. The determination does not itself specify appropriation authority or the specific account to debit. Administrators should confirm that appropriation authority exists and follow Commonwealth financial management rules to authorise the cash movement, keeping an auditable record linking the payment to this determination.

4. Document payment execution. Because the determination contains no execution mechanics, maintain records that show: the legal basis (this determination and the enabling subsection 9(1) citation), the payment run instruction, bank account details, and reconciliations showing the amounts were paid to the named jurisdictions. This provides the audit trail that the instrument itself does not include.

For recipient jurisdictions (state and territory finance teams)

1. Expect receipt and classify it. The instrument describes funds as "general purpose financial assistance" (paragraph 3). On receipt, classify the amounts in financial statements consistent with your jurisdiction’s accounting policies as general purpose revenue, and note the payment source and date (22 June 2020).

2. Do not assume conditions. The determination does not attach or specify conditions, reporting, or clawback. Unless separate agreements impose conditions, these funds arrive as general purpose assistance. If your jurisdiction receives funds and there is any expectation of conditions from the Commonwealth, secure that expectation in writing from the Commonwealth because this instrument contains no such terms.

3. Maintain reconciliation and audit-ready records. Keep documentation that links the cash receipt to this determination and to any internal appropriation or budget entries. Where auditors require supporting documentation for Commonwealth payments, the determination and bank entries will form the core evidence.

For lawyers and compliance officers

1. Note the instrument’s legal basis. The maker states it is issued under subsection 9(1) of the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009. If you need to advise on the limits of the power, the decision-making process, or possible challenges, examine subsection 9(1) and related provisions in the Act; those provisions are not printed in the determination.

2. Check for related instruments. Because this determination contains no conditions or enforcement text, check whether other determinations, instruments, memoranda of understanding or grant agreements sit alongside it and impose obligations or reporting. Do not assume the determination alone is the full legal architecture for the funding.

3. Clarify terminology where necessary. If your advice depends on whether a recipient is a "State" or "Territory", reconcile how the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 defines those terms and how the Commonwealth administratively treats territories in funding instruments. The determination itself does not resolve that issue.

4. Prepare for audits and parliamentary reporting. Even if the instrument is silent on reporting, parliamentary or auditing scrutiny of Commonwealth payments is likely. Keep contemporaneous records demonstrating that the Minister's determination and subsequent payment execution were consistent with applicable procedures and appropriation law.

Operational checklist (minimum)

• Confirm the maker and date: Michael Sukkar, 16 June 2020.
• Confirm the payment date: 22 June 2020.
• Confirm recipients and amounts: WA $37,980,542.21; ACT $3,389,761.66; total $41,370,303.87.
• Confirm appropriation authority and prepare payment instruction.
• Execute payment and reconcile bank entries against the amounts and determination.
• Retain a complete folder linking the determination, payment instruction, appropriation, bank confirmation, and reconciliation.

Following these steps aligns operational activity with the instrument’s narrow legal prescription while recognising that the determination does not itself supply ancillary financial management details.