Tasmania Grant Act 1936

Tasmania Grant Act 1936

This is a short, single-purpose Commonwealth law that gives money to the State of Tasmania.

What it does:

• It authorises the Australian federal government to pay £600,000 (six hundred thousand pounds) to Tasmania as financial assistance — meaning a grant to help the state cover its expenses
• The money is paid in equal monthly instalments over the financial year starting 1 July 1936
• The funds come directly from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (the federal government's main bank account, into which taxes and other revenue are collected)

Who it affects:

• Primarily the State of Tasmania and the Commonwealth of Australia
• Indirectly, Tasmanian residents who benefited from state government services funded by the grant

Why it matters: This Act is a historical example of vertical fiscal equalisation — the practice of the wealthier federal government redistributing money to states that cannot fully fund themselves through their own tax revenues. Tasmania, as a smaller and less economically powerful state, has historically relied on Commonwealth grants. This Act was one of many annual grant acts passed during the 1930s to support Tasmania's budget. While the dollar amount is modest by today's standards, it reflects an important and ongoing feature of Australian federalism: the Commonwealth collects most of the nation's tax revenue and shares it with the states.