Local Government (Financial Assistance) (Final Factor for 2023-24 and Estimated Factor for 2024-25) Determination 2024

The instrument revolves around a small set of legal and arithmetic concepts specified by the Act and given concrete values here. The core statutory concept is the “factor” used under subsection 8(1) of the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995. The instrument produces two such factors: a final factor for 2023-24 (0.7089) and an estimated factor for 2024-25 (0.1777) (ss 5 and 7).

The arithmetic concept under paragraph 8(1)(a) of the Act is a multiplicative index: the ratio of two population estimates multiplied by the ratio of two CPI numbers. The instrument records the population and CPI inputs and the numerical result of that multiplication for each year. For 2023-24 the population ratio and CPI ratio combined to give 1.05807 (s 6(2) and accompanying notes). For 2024-25 the combined ratio produced 1.04936 (s 8(2) and accompanying notes). The instrument identifies the specific ABS publications and dates relied on for population estimates and CPI numbers (notes to ss 6 and 8 specify dates of the ABS publications and the use of the Treasury CPI forecast for the 2024-25 projection).

Paragraph 8(1)(b) of the Act functions here as a rounding rule. The instrument records that, in both calculations, the preliminary factor was modified by increasing the result by 0.0001 because the fifth decimal place exceeded 4 (s 6(3), s 8(3)). That signals an explicit rounding-up at the fifth decimal where the rule applies.

Paragraph 8(1)(c) of the Act provides a mechanism for special circumstances adjustments. In both years the instrument invokes paragraph 8(1)(c) because of the Commonwealth’s decision to bring forward payments across years. The instrument does not substitute arbitrary amounts; instead it prescribes a multiplicative adjustment, given as a formula in each case, which uses labelled monetary components defined in the instrument (for 2023-24, s 6(4); for 2024-25, s 8(4)). Those labels are defined within each provision: for example, “2022‑23 amount” is “all of the payments that were brought forward from the year 2023‑24 to be paid in the year 2022‑23” (s 6(4) definitions). The 2024-25 modification similarly defines “2023‑24 amount” as “85 per cent of the payments that were brought forward from the year 2024‑25 to be paid in the year 2023‑24” and “2024‑25 amount” as the base figure that would have applied absent the Commonwealth’s decision (s 8(4) definitions).

Statistical source concepts are explicit: the instrument repeatedly relies on the Statistician’s population estimates under section 4A (noting publication dates) and on the All Groups Consumer Price Index, specified as the weighted average of the eight capital cities, with publication dates and, for the 2024-25 calculation, the Department of the Treasury’s Budget forecast (s 6(2) notes, s 8(2) notes). The Legislation Act 2003 is invoked for definitional continuity: expressions used in this instrument have the same meaning as under the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995 as in force from time to time, referencing paragraph 13(1)(b) of the Legislation Act (s 4 note).

Finally, a procedural concept: commencement. The instrument declares that the whole instrument commences immediately after registration, dated 28 June 2024 (s 2 and commencement table), and contains a publishing-note that material in the commencement table’s third column is not part of the instrument (s 2(2) note). The instrument thereby fixes effective dates for its numeric determinations.

Direct legal effect: the instrument specifies the factors to be applied under the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995. That Act governs Commonwealth financial assistance to local government; consequently, the immediate legal effect of this Determination is on the calculation inputs to that assistance regime. The entities whose entitlements under the Act are computed using those inputs will experience the operational consequences of these factors. The instrument itself does not list recipients by name or amount; it provides numeric factors to be applied in the statutory payment formula under the Act (see ss 5-8).

Who decides: the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury made the Determination (front matter and s 3). The statutory authority to make the instrument is the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995 (s 3). The instrument also depends on administrative inputs produced by the Australian Statistician and the Department of the Treasury. The instrument’s notes state the dates on which the Statistician made the relevant population estimates and the CPI publications relied on, and for 2024-25 the instrument relies on the Treasury Budget forecast for the CPI (s 6(2) notes 1-4; s 8(2) notes 1-4). Thus, the ABS and Treasury supply data that materially affect the factors that determine payments.

Who pays: the instrument reflects Commonwealth decisions about the timing of payments and the consequential adjustment of factors under the Act. It records that the Commonwealth decided to bring forward certain payments between years , for 2023-24, all payments were brought forward into 2022-23 and 85 per cent of 2024-25 payments were brought forward into 2023-24; for 2024-25, 85 per cent of 2024-25 payments were brought forward into 2023-24 (s 6(4), s 8(4)). Those decisions affect the Commonwealth’s payment timing and therefore the numerator and denominator values used in the paragraph 8(1)(c) adjustments; they also affect the cash flow experienced by recipients under the statutory payments regime.

Who records and audits: agencies tasked with implementing payments under the Act must use these factors. The instrument identifies specific published sources (ABS publications and Treasury forecasts) that should form part of the calculation record (s 6 notes; s 8 notes). Where recipients or auditors seek to verify calculations, they will need access to the same ABS and Treasury publications and to the Commonwealth’s internal records of the amounts “brought forward” and the base figures described in the adjustment formulas, because those monetary components are not enumerated in the Determination itself (s 6(4) and s 8(4) definitions).

Indirectly affected parties: local government budgets and financial planning will be affected to the extent that the factors alter the timing or quantum of Commonwealth financial assistance payable under the Act. The instrument does not itself specify payment schedules, but by changing the factor inputs used under the Act, it will change the computational outcome of entitlements under the statutory regime.

This Determination imposes no new duties, offences or rights on private parties by its own text; its effect is to provide numeric factors and arithmetic adjustments required by the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995. The duties and rights to which it connects are therefore those created and framed by the Act. Within the Determination itself the operative duties are administrative and mechanical: officials applying the Act must use the prescribed numbers and follow the arithmetic steps recorded.

Officials’ duties under this instrument, as recorded, include:

• Applying the final factor 0.7089 in relation to the 2023-24 year for the purposes of subsection 8(1) of the Act (s 5). That is the declared number that must be substituted into the Act’s computation mechanism for that statutory step.

• Applying the estimated factor 0.1777 in relation to the 2024-25 year for the purposes of paragraph 7(3)(b) of the Act (s 7). The instrument expressly frames the 2024-25 figure as an “estimated factor” and links its legal purpose to paragraph 7(3)(b) of the Act.

• Where calculations are reconstructed or audited, officials must be able to show the application of paragraph 8(1)(a) (population and CPI ratios), the paragraph 8(1)(b) modification (increase by 0.0001 where the fifth decimal exceeded 4), and the paragraph 8(1)(c) adjustment (multiplying by the provided algebraic formula to account for payments brought forward). The Determination records each of these steps and the numerical outcomes of the paragraph 8(1)(a) steps (s 6(2), s 8(2); s 6(3), s 8(3); s 6(4), s 8(4)).

• Retaining or referencing the statistical sources cited: the ABS population estimates and CPI publications and, for the 2024-25 calculation, the Treasury CPI forecast, because those sources are expressly listed in the Determination’s notes and are part of how the factor was worked out (s 6 notes; s 8 notes).

Rights are indirect and embedded in the Act: recipients of financial assistance under the Act have an entitlement which will be calculated using these factors. The Determination does not create a private right outside the statutory framework; it supplies the inputs the statute requires. The Determination therefore affects the computation of entitlements but does not itself confer discrete additional rights or benefits beyond being the operative numbers to be used in the Act.

Procedural obligations: the instrument includes commencement particulars (s 2) and a publishing note that column 3 of the commencement table is not part of the instrument (s 2(2)). Those procedural features impose obligations on those promulgating or citing the instrument to treat the table’s descriptive material appropriately and to rely on the date specified for legal effect.

Limits and scope: the instrument limits its own scope to the factors and the arithmetic record. It does not set or declare the base dollar amounts of payments, nor does it state payment timetables or create enforcement mechanisms. Any administrative duty to pay, audit or otherwise implement flows from the Act itself rather than from this Determination.

The Determination contains no penalty, offence, enforcement mechanism or criminal sanction within its text. It is an administrative instrument made under the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995 (s 3) that supplies numeric inputs to statutory payment calculations (ss 5-8). Any enforcement or penalties relating to failures to comply with payment obligations, record-keeping, or misuse of funds would arise, if at all, under provisions of the Act or other Commonwealth laws; the Determination does not create or amend those provisions.

Enforcement implications that are explicit in the Determination are therefore limited to auditability and administrative traceability. The instrument records which statistical sources were relied upon and the dates of those publications (s 6 notes; s 8 notes). That recording creates a contemporaneous evidential trail for administrative review or audit: agencies implementing payments must be able to show that they used the ABS population estimates and CPI numbers (and the Treasury CPI forecast for 2024-25) cited in the Determination if asked to validate the arithmetic that produced the factors.

Because the Determination revises factors under statutory provisions that govern financial assistance, improper application of the factors in computing entitlements could lead to administrative errors with potential budgetary or accountability consequences for implementing departments. However, any sanction, recovery process, or formal enforcement response would be governed by the Act and general Commonwealth financial management and accountability rules; such mechanisms are not described or instituted by this Determination.

Finally, the commencement provision is explicit: the whole instrument is taken to have commenced immediately after registration on 28 June 2024 (s 2). That date fixes the instrument’s operative period and therefore the point from which any administrative obligation to apply the factors would attach. The Determination contains no transitional penalty provisions for failure to apply the factors prior to that date.

This Determination is made under the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995 (s 3) and exists to supply factors required by that Act. It repeatedly references specific subsections and paragraphs of the Act as the legal destination for each numeric determination: subsection 8(1) for the 2023-24 final factor (s 5, s 6(1)), and paragraph 7(3)(b) for the 2024-25 estimated factor (s 7). The instrument therefore functions as an implementing instrument for the Act rather than as a freestanding regime.

The instrument references the Legislation Act 2003. It states that expressions have the same meaning in the instrument as in the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995 as in force from time to time and points to paragraph 13(1)(b) of the Legislation Act 2003 for that rule of construction (s 4 note). That cross-reference establishes that definitions and interpretive rules in the primary statute and the Legislation Act continue to govern how the Determination is read.

Statistical and forecasting law interactions are explicit. The instrument relies on estimates and publications prepared by the Statistician and the Department of the Treasury. It cites the Statistician’s population estimates made for specified dates and the All Groups CPI numbers published on specified ABS dates as inputs to the paragraph 8(1)(a) computations (s 6(2) notes; s 8(2) notes). For the 2024-25 calculation it also relies on the Department of the Treasury’s 2024-25 Budget forecast of the CPI for the 2025 March quarter (s 8(2) note 3). The Determination thus depends on the ABS and Treasury data regimes and on the legal and administrative processes those agencies use to publish official statistics and forecasts. Any change to the availability, timing or content of ABS or Treasury publications could affect the reproducibility of the calculations recorded here.

Administrative law and public finance rules will interact with this Determination in practice. The instrument records that the Commonwealth decided to bring forward payments between years (s 6(4), s 8(4)); such decisions typically implicate government financial management frameworks, appropriation law and budgetary practices. The Determination does not itself amend appropriation or spending laws; it records the arithmetic consequences within the Act’s factor calculation for those policy decisions.

Finally, the Determination’s lack of numeric disclosure for the monetary components used in the paragraph 8(1)(c) adjustments means that the Determination interacts with records held by implementing agencies. The labels “2022‑23 amount”, “2023‑24 amount”, “2024‑25 amount”, and the “final entitlement” base figures are defined in the instrument (s 6(4), s 8(4)) but are not quantified in the text. That creates a practical interaction between this instrument and the internal financial records, parliamentary budget materials or other instruments that set or record those monetary amounts.

The Determination contains a single commencement entry stating that the whole instrument commenced immediately after registration on 28 June 2024 (s 2 and the commencement table). No amendment entries or variation clauses appear in the text provided. The commencement table also includes a note that the table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made and will not be amended to deal with later amendments to the instrument; that is a procedural publishing note rather than an operative amendment (s 2 note).

There are no subsequent variation clauses, saving provisions, or sunset clauses in the Determination itself. The instrument expresses definitive numeric determinations for the two specified purposes (s 5 and s 7) and records the arithmetic steps used to compute them (ss 6 and 8). Because the instrument is statutory in nature and made under the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995, any amendment would require a further determination made under the same Act; this instrument contains no delegated power to alter those numbers later. The instrument does not itself provide a mechanism for amendment or revocation.

The instrument’s notes provide that information in a particular column of the commencement table is not part of the instrument and may be edited in published versions (s 2(2)). That is a publishing convention and not a substantive amendment mechanism. There is no record within the text of prior determinations superseded by this instrument, nor any internal history of earlier values of the factors. The document as presented is therefore a single, self-contained Determination with an effective date and no recorded amendments.

If users require a formal amendment history, they must look to the Commonwealth’s instrument registers and the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995 instrument series for earlier or later determinations. The Determination itself contains no retrospective amendment to prior instruments and provides no transitional amendment provisions; it simply declares the two factors and records the calculation steps used at the time the Determination was made.

The Determination contains no record of litigation, challenges, appeals, judicial review or injunctions. There are no references to court proceedings, tribunal actions or precedent cases in the text. The instrument is an administrative exercise under the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995 and does not itself recount any dispute history.

Because the instrument sets numerical factors that feed into statutory calculations under the Act, disputes could, in theory, arise about their proper application or the adequacy of disclosure for audit purposes. However, the Determination does not report any such disputes, nor does it create a procedural record of internal reviews or legal advice. The instrument’s publication of the arithmetic steps and the cited statistical sources provides an administrative record that would be relevant to any review or challenge, but the instrument does not mention any actual litigation.

For practitioners seeking to know whether this Determination has been litigated, the Determination provides no substantive litigation-related material. Any enquiries about legal challenges would need to proceed to external sources: court records, administrative law filings and public registers. Those sources are outside the text of this Determination and are not supplied within it.

1. The Determination records intermediate and final numbers but omits the monetary amounts used in the paragraph 8(1)(c) adjustments. In both s 6(4) and s 8(4) the instrument defines labels such as “2022‑23 amount”, “2023‑24 amount”, “2024‑25 amount” and the “final entitlement” base figures, and prescribes algebraic multipliers that use those labels. The Determination does not publish the numeric values for those monetary components. That means an external reader cannot independently reproduce the paragraph 8(1)(c) multiplication step without access to the implementing agency’s fiscal figures (s 6(4), s 8(4)).

2. The rounding rule under paragraph 8(1)(b) is applied in both calculations by adding 0.0001 because the fifth decimal place was greater than 4 (s 6(3), s 8(3)). Practically, that is a small adjustment, but it is applied consistently here. Administrators must ensure their own rounding procedures mirror the application recorded in the Determination; otherwise small numeric discrepancies will arise when factors are substituted into downstream statutory calculations.

3. The special circumstances adjustment under paragraph 8(1)(c) is driven by the Commonwealth’s decision to change payment timing between years. The instrument records two related policy facts: for the 2023-24 calculation, the Commonwealth brought forward all payments that would have been made in 2023-24 into 2022-23 and brought forward 85 per cent of 2024-25 payments into 2023-24 (s 6(4)); for the 2024-25 calculation, 85 per cent of 2024-25 payments were brought forward into 2023-24 (s 8(4)). Those timing choices materially affect the algebraic adjustment and therefore the final factor. The Determination provides the algebraic form but not the underlying monetary tallies.

4. Reliance on published statistical sources creates reproducibility requirements. The Determination cites specific ABS publication dates for population estimates and CPI figures and cites a Treasury CPI forecast for the 2024-25 calculation (s 6(2) notes 1-4; s 8(2) notes 1-4). If an implementing agency cannot locate or produce the exact ABS or Treasury publication versions (by date and content as cited), an audit trail may be incomplete. Practitioners should preserve copies or references to the exact ABS and Treasury publications cited.

5. The final and estimated factors differ substantially from the preliminary paragraph 8(1)(a) multiplicative indices. For example, the paragraph 8(1)(a) result for 2023-24 was 1.05807 but the declared final factor is 0.7089 (s 6(2) and s 5). That change reflects the paragraph 8(1)(c) adjustment tied to payment timing. Users should not assume the paragraph 8(1)(a) product is the final operative input; the special circumstances multiplier can materially alter outcome.

6. The instrument is silent on payment scheduling and on whether the numeric factors are to be applied to previously published budget appropriation lines. The Determination only supplies factors for statutory computation; implementing agencies will need to reconcile these factors with appropriations, payment authorisations and internal accounting classifications.

7. Publication and commencement technicality. The commencement table shows the instrument commenced immediately after registration on 28 June 2024 (s 2). The table includes a note that column 3 is not part of the instrument and may be edited in published versions (s 2(2)). Users citing the Determination must rely on the operative text rather than any descriptive material in column 3.

8. Definitions via Legislation Act cross-reference. The instrument notes that expressions have the same meaning as under the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995 as in force from time to time, with reference to paragraph 13(1)(b) of the Legislation Act 2003 (s 4 note). That means changes to the Act’s definitions over time will affect how terms in the Determination are read; practitioners should check the Act’s current text where definitional clarity is required.

For officials implementing payments under the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995, the following compliance checklist is a practical rendering of the Determination’s mechanical requirements. Each step cites the relevant provision in the Determination.

1. Record the Determination and its commencement date. Save the official instrument and note that it commenced immediately after registration on 28 June 2024 (s 2). Treat the instrument as the operative source for the factors specified in ss 5 and 7.

2. Use the declared factors as statutory inputs. Substitute 0.7089 for the 2023-24 final factor under subsection 8(1) of the Act (s 5). Substitute 0.1777 for the 2024-25 estimated factor for the purposes of paragraph 7(3)(b) of the Act (s 7). Ensure downstream calculations in the Act’s payment formula use these values.

3. Maintain documentary evidence of the paragraph 8(1)(a) calculation. Preserve copies or precise citations of the ABS population estimates and CPI publications cited in the Determination’s notes (s 6(2) notes 1-4; s 8(2) notes 1-4). For 2024-25, retain the Treasury Budget CPI forecast referenced (s 8(2) note 3). Keep the intermediate arithmetic demonstrating the paragraph 8(1)(a) product (the Determination records 1.05807 for 2023-24 and 1.04936 for 2024-25 at ss 6(2) and 8(2)).

4. Apply the rounding rule as recorded. If the fifth decimal place in the preliminary factor exceeds 4, increase the factor by 0.0001, as done in the Determination (s 6(3), s 8(3)). Document the rounding decision and the original unrounded value.

5. Implement and document the paragraph 8(1)(c) special circumstances adjustment. For 2023-24 and 2024-25, apply the algebraic multiplier recorded in s 6(4) and s 8(4) respectively. That requires having reliable, auditable figures for the defined components: the various “amounts” described (e.g. “2022‑23 amount”, “2023‑24 amount”, “2024‑25 amount”), and the relevant “final entitlement” or base figure referenced in each formula. Ensure these monetary components are taken from authoritative budgetary or accounting records and are documented.

6. Reconcile with appropriation and budget records. Because the Determination records that payments were brought forward between years, ensure that the monetary amounts used in the paragraph 8(1)(c) multipliers are consistent with the Commonwealth’s appropriation and budget documentation and internal payment authorisations. Maintain a reconciliation table linking the labels used in s 6(4) and s 8(4) to specific appropriation lines, ledger entries or ministerial decisions.

7. Preserve an audit trail. Keep a calculation workbook or ledger that records: (a) the ABS and Treasury sources relied on (publication titles and dates as cited); (b) the paragraph 8(1)(a) multiplication; (c) the paragraph 8(1)(b) rounding step; (d) the paragraph 8(1)(c) multiplication with the monetary inputs and a source for each input; and (e) the final factor substituted into the statutory payment formula. This is necessary because the Determination itself does not publish the monetary inputs used in the paragraph 8(1)(c) adjustment.

8. Communicate to recipients. Local government entities that receive payments under the Act should be informed that these factors are the official inputs for the relevant years. The Determination itself does not set payment schedules; communication should clarify that the factors are inputs to the Act’s calculation and that any payment timing changes reflected in the paragraph 8(1)(c) adjustments reflect Commonwealth decisions to bring forward payments (s 6(4), s 8(4)).

9. Check statutory definitions. If there is any ambiguity about terms used in the Determination, consult the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995 and the Legislation Act 2003 for current definitions and rules of construction, as the Determination adopts the same meanings as the Act (s 4 note).

10. If challenged, use the Determination’s record of sources and arithmetic. The Determination provides the statistical sources, dates and the specific algebraic forms used for adjustments (ss 6 and 8). That material should be the starting point for responding to audits, information requests or legal inquiries about how the factors were arrived at.

By following these steps and preserving source documents and internal accounting records for the amounts referenced in the paragraph 8(1)(c) adjustments, implementing agencies will be able to reproduce and justify the factors recorded in this Determination and to demonstrate compliance with the statutory calculation method mandated by the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995.