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Commonwealth legislation
This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
The 1914 regulations set the Royal Australian Navy’s financial rulebook, governing how public money is held, paid, banked, recorded and audited across ships and shore establishments. They apply to naval pay and accounts officers, commanding/officer‑in‑charge roles, all pay recipients, and the Director of Navy Accounts.
By enforcing secure cash handling, standardized pay procedures, bank controls, procurement oversight and audit reporting (with penalties for carelessness), the rules protect taxpayers, ensure timely pay, and maintain accountability for naval expenditure.
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Direct links to the current provisions in Naval Account Regulations.
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
STATUTORY RULES.
1914. No. 18.
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NAVAL ACCOUNT REGULATIONS UNDER SECTION 63a OF THE AUDIT ACT 1901-1912.
I, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL in and over the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the Audit Act 1901-1912 to come into operation forthwith. Such Regulations shall supersede the Provisional Naval Account Regulations (Statutory Rules 1913, No. 175) under the said Act made on the Seventeenth day of June, One thousand nine hundred and thirteen.
Dated this 13th day of February, One thousand nine hundred and fourteen.
DENMAN,
Governor-General.
By His Excellency’s Command,
P. McM. GLYNN,
For the Treasurer.
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NAVAL ACCOUNT REGULATIONS (SECTION 63a (1) OF THE AUDIT ACT 1901-1912).
“NAVAL EXPENDITURE.”
“63a.—(1.) Notwithstanding anything in this Act contained the Governor-General may make such regulations and arrangements as he thinks necessary or convenient relating to the expenditure of moneys for the purposes of the Australian Navy and Naval Establishments, and to any matters incidental thereto, including the receipt, care, custody, and management of moneys, the due accounting for moneys, the keeping of books and accounts, the furnishing of statements, returns, and vouchers, and the inspection, record, and audit of books, accounts, statements, returns and vouchers.
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PART I.—PRELIMINARY.
Application of Regulations.
1. These regulations may be cited as the Naval Account Regulations, and shall apply to the receipt and expenditure of public moneys in His Majesty’s Australian Ships and in Naval Establishments and Offices. The general provisions of the Audit Act 1901-1912 and of the Treasury Regulations thereunder shall also apply when not inconsistent with these Regulations.
(Note.—The black lines in the margin indicate new provisions or amendments of previously existing Regulations.)
2. These Regulations are divided into parts as follows
Part I.—Preliminary.
Part II.—Receipt and expenditure of Public Moneys in His Majesty’s Australian Ships.
Part III.—Receipt and expenditure of Public Moneys in His Majesty’s Australian Naval Establishments and Offices.
Part IV.—Miscellaneous.
3. All Naval Account Regulations heretofore made, whether provisional or otherwise, are hereby repealed as from the date of the coming into operation of these Regulations.
Definitions.
4. In these Regulations unless the contrary intention appears:—
“Accountant Officer” means the Officer in charge of cash, victualling, and clothing duties.
“Accounts Officer” means the Officer responsible for the receipt and payment of Public Moneys in a Naval Establishment or office.
“Certifying Officer” means the Officer appointed by the Naval Board to certify accounts and approve the payment thereof.
“Commanding Officer” means the Officer in actual command of one of His Majesty’s Australian Ships.
“Director of Navy Accounts” means the Officer appointed to be Director of Navy Accounts in the office of the Naval Administration, or such person as may be appointed by the Naval Board to perform the duties of the position during his absence.
“Minister” means the Minister of State for Defence.
“Naval Board” means the Board of Administration for the Naval Forces.
“Naval Secretary” means the Officer appointed to be the Secretary of the Naval Board of Administration.
“Officer-in-Charge” means the Officer in charge of a Naval Establishment or Office, or District Naval Officer appointed to command a District.
“Prescribed” means prescribed by these Regulations, or by the Treasurer, or by the Naval Board.
“Treasurer” means the Treasurer of the Commonwealth.
PART II.—RECEIPT AND EXPENDITURE OF PUBLIC MONEYS IN H.M.A. SHIPS.
Accountant Officer.
5. The Accountant Officer of a ship, under the direction of the Commanding Officer, shall be responsible for collecting, receiving and disbursing moneys for or on behalf of the Commonwealth, and he shall perform all the duties required of him as laid down in these Regulations.
Cash Account.
6. (1). The Accountant Officer shall keep a Cash Account, Form A.S. 29, in duplicate, which shall contain a complete record of his daily receipts and payments of public funds.
(2) Every item, whether of receipt or payment, shall be entered daily by the Accountant Officer himself in its actual order of occurrence, so that by striking a balance the amount which should be in his hands may be ascertained at any time.
(3) The cash account shall be balanced on the last day of each month, on the Accountant Officer being superseded, and on the ship being paid off.
Banking Accounts.
7. (1) Banking Accounts are not to be opened without the approval of the Treasurer.
(2) An application to the Naval Board for permission to open a Banking Account is to state fully the name and branch of the Bank proposed, and the reason for its choice, also the necessity for opening the Account.
Money Chests.
8. (1) All public money in charge of the Accountant Officer shall be kept in the money chests provided, and these chests shall be used for storage of public money only. The Accountant Officer shall be held responsible for any loss of such money, and no explanation will be admitted in respect of any loss which may occur unless and until it is satisfactorily proved that the public money had always been kept in the chests provided for the purpose, and that the keys had always been kept in his personal custody.
(2) When a key of a money chest is missing, the proper lock should at once be so altered that the missing key may be rendered useless. On a money chest becoming from this or any other cause insecure, the Accountant Officer shall at once report the circumstances to the Commanding Officer in order that a survey may be held on it, the report of which shall be transmitted for the information of the Naval Board with a statement of the measures adopted for the better security of the public money.
Collections.
9. (1) The Accountant Officer is responsible for collecting and bringing to account in the manner prescribed in these Regulations moneys due to the Commonwealth. He shall give proper printed receipts for all amounts received.
(2) In the case of fines or other amounts due to the Commonwealth by Officers and men serving on board His Majesty’s Australian Ships, or whose names are borne on a Ship’s ledger for purposes of pay, the Accountant Officer shall debit the amount on the ship’s ledger against the pay of the person concerned.
(3) All books of receipt forms shall be obtained from the Director of Navy Accounts.
10. Moneys received by an Accountant Officer on behalf of the Commonwealth shall be stored in the Public Money Chest with other public moneys, and may be used for payment of accounts, as if such money had been advanced to the Accountant Officer for that purpose.
Deposits.—Canteen and Other Funds.
11. (1) Men desirous of depositing money in the hands of the Accountant Officer for custody only, are to be permitted to do so, provided that when the amount at deposit in any specific case exceeds a sum of £50, the authority of the Commanding Officer shall be obtained.
(2) Transactions of this nature are to be recorded by the Accountant Officer on Form A.S. 37 as they occur, and the correctness of each entry is to be attested on the form by the signature of a Lieutenant or other Officer of the Military Branch, one of whom is always to be present whenever deposits or withdrawals take place. The Form A.S. 37 is to be produced at the time the money in the hands of the Accountant Officer is verified in accordance with Regulation 24.
(3) Money deposited in this manner is to be stored in a separate money chest from that in which Public Funds are kept.
(4) All moneys in the charge of the Accountant Officer belonging to the Ship’s Fund, Service Canteen, Wine and Mess Funds, and any sums held by him in custody for a Canteen tenant, are similarly to be kept in the separate chest, apart from the balance of public funds.
(5) The Commonwealth shall not be liable to make good losses which may occur in respect of any of the deposits referred to in this Regulation, and all persons before depositing money are to be so informed.
Advances.
12. (1) The Treasurer may arrange for Accountant Officers to obtain necessary advances of money from the Commonwealth Sub-Treasury of any State or of the Northern Territory, or in such other manner as he may direct.
(2) Applications for advances of money are to be made out on Form A.S. 5/N.A.1.
(3) Applications, which must be approved by the Commanding Officer, shall show the estimated amount required for expenditure, and the balance of public money in the hands of the Accountant Officer at the date of application.
(4) Applications are to be for so many pounds sterling—fractions of a pound are not to be demanded.
(5) Applications are to be made out in duplicate; the original form being retained by the officer advancing the money, and the duplicate, after the notice on the back has been signed, forwarded on the day of payment to the Director of Navy Accounts by the Officer advancing the money.
13. In order to insure that the balance of public money on board His Majesty’s Australian Ships is at all times kept at as low a figure as is consistent with the requirements of the Service, the following directions are to be observed by Accountant and Commanding Officers in connexion with all demands for cash:—
(a) With the approval of the Commanding Officer, the Accountant Officer may apply for the money required for the ship for one month, but when arrangements can conveniently be made, money should be applied for twice monthly. Supplies are, as a rule, to be drawn as near the date of payment of wages as is practicable.
(b) Accountant Officers may apply for the money required for the ship for a longer period than one month, in exceptional circumstances, subject to the approval of the Naval Board.
(c) A month’s requirements will ordinarily be less than £8 per head of the numbers borne in the complement, and, except in the cases of flagships, depôt ships, and ships on detached or miscellaneous services, all demands for cash are to be considered with reference to this standard by the Officers authorized to approve them.
(d) If on any occasion it is considered necessary to exceed this standard, an explanation of the circumstances is to be given on the back of Form A.S.5,/N.A.1 on which the demand for the money is approved. In flagships, depôt ships, and ships on detached or miscellaneous services, where no similar standard can be applied, the probable requirements are to be estimated on the basis of current or anticipated expenditure.
14. In cases where a ship is going out of commission or where for any reason the balance of public money on board is much in excess of the anticipated requirements of the service, the Commanding Officer shall notify the Director of Navy Accounts at the earliest date in order that arrangements may be made for the balance of public money, or the amount in excess of anticipated requirements, to be lodged to the Commonwealth Public Account, or otherwise brought to account.
Payment of Accounts.
15. (1) Under the authority of the Commanding Officer, the Accountant Officer shall pay out of the public money in his charge all amounts due for pay and authorized allowances, and all authorized contingent and incidental expenditure.
(2) All accounts shall be certified as to correctness by the Commanding Officer and the Accountant Officer before payment.
(3) Details of all accounts for contingencies are to be given on the prescribed forms, and the necessary acquaintance for payment taken on the form. Accounts for purchase of stores shall be prepared on Form A.S. 22, and all the information and certificates required by the form shall be given.
(4) Except as may be otherwise provided in these Regulations, the Accountant Officer shall obtain a proper receipt in writing for every payment made.
(5) Payment may be made to persons authorized by power of attorney, to executors and administrators on production of probate or letters of administration, or to any person other than the original claimant to whom the Naval Board approves of payment being made.
(6) The Accountant Officer shall advance to the Medical Officer, subject to the approval of the Commanding Officer, such an amount as may be necessary to provide for extra fresh diet and small expenses for the sick. This advance is not to appear as a credit entry in the Abstract Cash Account, but the approved requisition and Medical Officer’s receipt are to be kept in the money chest. The Medical Officer shall from time to time render an account, with supporting sub-vouchers, detailing the payments which he has made. The Accountant Officer shall then reimburse, through the Cash Account, the amount expended.
16. (1) All accounts are to be distinguished by numbers commencing with No. 1 on the first day of each quarter. All vouchers should correspond in size with Monthly Cash Account, and, when forwarded into office, should be securely attached to the Cash Account, and not folded more than one-half lengthwise. On the face of every voucher the nature of the transaction and the authority for payment are to be distinctly shown—i.e., the Financial Regulation, Naval Board, or other authority.
(2) Documents forwarded in support of items of receipt are to be distinguished by letters of the alphabet commencing with letter “A” on the first day of each quarter. When the alphabet is exhausted, it is to be recommenced as often as may be required, the series of letters being then distinguished as “A2,” “B2,” and so on.
(3) Vouchers are not to be endorsed, but the letters and numbers assigned to each are to be noted on the upper right-hand corner.
(4) If the Accountant Officer be superseded or removed before the termination of the quarter, his successor is to commence with a new series of letters and numbers for the vouchers appertaining to his account.
17. All Accounts are to be prepared in duplicate. The original vouchers are to be forwarded with the Cash Account for the month in which the payments have been made (excepting ledgers, which are to be transmitted into office at the earliest opportunity after the end of the quarter). The duplicate Accounts, which are to be distinctly marked as such, are to be retained by the Accountant Officer, ready to be produced in the event of his being called upon to furnish them. An acquittance for any amount paid shall not be taken on the duplicate account.
18. Fractional parts of a penny are to be excluded from totals of all vouchers and lists, and are not to be inserted either on the debit or credit side of the Cash Book, or Abstract Cash Account.
19. Foolscap is to be used for accounts and vouchers for which printed forms are not supplied.
20. Vouchers for carriage or boat hire are to be supported by receipts in all cases where the expenditure exceeds 5s., and a certificate is to be given on the claim as to the necessity for the expenditure. A separate entry need not be made in the Cash Account for each transaction, but the amounts paid for each month may be scheduled on Form A.S. 27, and the total entered in the Cash Account. Similarly, vouchers for incidental expenditure are to be supported by receipts and certificates and scheduled separately on Form A.S. 27.
21. (1) Where the Commanding Officer considers that, in the interests of the Service, it is desirable to pay the amount of any fine inflicted on a member of the ship’s company in a Civil Court, the Accountant Officer shall do so out of the public money in his charge.
(2) Every amount paid in these circumstances shall be charged on the ledger against the pay of the rating concerned, and the receipt of the Court, which must accom
This is an opening excerpt, not the complete document.