Treasury Corporation of Victoria (Prescribed Agencies) Regulations 2024

These Regulations prescribe specified corporate bodies as “prescribed agencies” for the purposes of the definition in section 3 of the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992. The stated objective is to “prescribe certain bodies as bodies to which the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992 applies” (regulation 1). The instrument does not itself set out the substantive obligations, powers, duties or financial mechanisms that will follow from that prescription; it operates by adding named entities to the set of bodies to which the parent Act applies.

Mechanically, the Regulations:

• identify the authorising power under which they are made, namely section 44 of the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992 (regulation 2);
• fix an operative commencement date for the principal instrument (14 July 2024) (regulation 3; Endnotes);
• revoke earlier instruments that performed the same function (regulation 4);
• list the corporate bodies that are now prescribed (regulation 5), including company names and Australian Company Numbers (ACNs), as amended on 15 October 2024 by S.R. No. 112/2024 (see Table of Amendments and the annotations in reg 5).

The list of prescribed bodies in regulation 5 is expressed in discrete paragraphs, each naming the entity and providing its ACN. Reg 5 carries margin annotations that record which subparagraphs were amended or inserted by S.R. No. 112/2024 (reg. 3 of that amending rule), making the amendment trail explicit within the text of the regulation itself. The Endnotes record administrative details: the principal Statutory Rule (S.R. No. 68/2024) was made by the Governor in Council on 2 July 2024 and came into operation on 14 July 2024; the instrument will sunset on 2 July 2034, ten years after the day of making, under section 5 of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994 (Endnotes, General information). The amending Statutory Rule S.R. No. 112/2024 was made and commenced on 15 October 2024 (Table of Amendments).

In short, the Regulations perform a definitional, administrative function: they expand the set of corporate bodies to which the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992 applies by explicit, named prescription. The precise legal effects of that expansion , the rights, duties, liabilities or financial arrangements that attach to a “prescribed agency” , are not contained in the Regulations themselves; they will be found in the parent Act and other connected legislative materials.

The instrument uses a small number of discrete statutory mechanisms. The main concepts that structure it are the prescription of bodies, the use of an authorising provision, the revocation of earlier instruments, and the lifecycle management of subordinate legislation through commencement and sunset rules.

1. Prescription: Regulation 5 performs the core substantive act of naming certain bodies “prescribed” for the purposes of the definition of “prescribed agency” in section 3 of the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992. The regulation lists each body by corporate name and ACN. The list as published includes:

   • Agriculture Victoria Services Pty Ltd (ACN 006 598 198) (reg 5(a));
   • Rolling Stock Holdings (Victoria) Pty Limited (ACN 104 780 056) (reg 5(b));
   • SEC Energy Pty Ltd (ACN 670 408 134) (reg 5(c), inserted by S.R. No. 112/2024);
   • SEC Infrastructure Pty Ltd (ACN 670 408 125) (reg 5(d), inserted by S.R. No. 112/2024);
   • SEC Victoria Pty Ltd (ACN 670 408 116) (reg 5(e), inserted by S.R. No. 112/2024). Those entries are the discrete objects of the regulation.

2. Authorisation: The Regulations are made under an express provision of the parent Act: regulation 2 records that these Regulations are made under section 44 of the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992. The instrument therefore exercises delegated rule-making power granted by the parent Act.

3. Commencement: Regulation 3 fixes when the Regulations come into force, namely 14 July 2024. The Endnotes add administrative detail: the rule was made on 2 July 2024 and came into operation on 14 July 2024.

4. Revocation and substitution: Regulation 4 expressly revokes three earlier Statutory Rules that previously fulfilled the same function (the 2014 Regulations and two amending instruments from 2015 and 2017). The revocation mechanism replaces prior prescriptions with the new list and removes the earlier statutory instruments from the active body of subordinate legislation.

5. Amendments and annotations: The text of regulation 5 includes annotations noting which paragraphs were amended or inserted by S.R. No. 112/2024 (reg. 3(a)-(c)). The Table of Amendments in the Endnotes reproduces the amending instrument’s metadata (date of making and date of commencement). This creates an internal, traceable amendment history for users reading the consolidated rule.

The Regulations directly affect the corporate entities that are named in regulation 5. As at the consolidated version dated 15 October 2024, those named entities and their Australian Company Numbers are:

• Agriculture Victoria Services Pty Ltd, ACN 006 598 198 (reg 5(a));
• Rolling Stock Holdings (Victoria) Pty Limited, ACN 104 780 056 (reg 5(b));
• SEC Energy Pty Ltd, ACN 670 408 134 (reg 5(c), inserted by S.R. No. 112/2024);
• SEC Infrastructure Pty Ltd, ACN 670 408 125 (reg 5(d), inserted by S.R. No. 112/2024);
• SEC Victoria Pty Ltd, ACN 670 408 116 (reg 5(e), inserted by S.R. No. 112/2024).

Those five bodies are the immediate subjects of the prescription: the Regulations explicitly designate them as “prescribed agencies” for the purposes of the definition in section 3 of the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992 (reg 5). The Regulations therefore change the statutory status of those named entities; what that change entails in terms of obligations, rights or exposure to powers depends on the parent Act itself (the Regulations do not contain those substantive provisions).

Indirectly affected parties include:

• officers, directors and management of the named corporations, who must determine the legal and governance consequences of the new status;
• creditors, counterparties and contracting parties whose rights and obligations may be influenced by the entities’ newly prescribed status under the parent Act;
• advisers and compliance professionals who must reconcile corporate governance, reporting and financing arrangements with the implications of being a “prescribed agency” under the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992;
• public and private counterparties dealing with those entities, who will need to account for the changed statutory framework in contracts and risk assessments.

The Regulations also affect administrators of statutory registers and legislative databases. The instrument expressly revokes the earlier 2014 Regulations and their amending instruments (reg 4), which changes the current corpus of subordinate legislation that practitioners must consult when advising or arranging finance or other transactions involving the formerly prescribed bodies.

Finally, the Governor in Council is the recorded maker of the instrument (Endnotes, General information), so the decision to prescribe is an executive action taken under delegated statutory power. The amending instrument S.R. No. 112/2024, made and commenced on 15 October 2024 (Table of Amendments), added three SEC-related entities and amended earlier entries; that amendment changed who is affected from 14 July 2024 to 15 October 2024 as between the original and amended versions.

The Regulations themselves do not create detailed duties or rights; they operate to declare that certain bodies are “prescribed agencies” within the meaning of the definition in section 3 of the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992 (regulation 5 and regulation 1). Consequently, the substantive duties, rights, restrictions or financial mechanics that attach to those bodies will be derived from the parent Act and other related instruments, not from these Regulations.

What the instrument does provide that is relevant to duties and rights:

• It establishes legal status by reference: the named entities are now within the scope of the parent Act by virtue of being prescribed (reg 5). Any duty, right or power that the parent Act confers on, or imposes upon, “prescribed agencies” will, subject to the parent Act’s text, apply to the named entities from the operative date(s).
• It sets the operative dates for the prescription: the principal instrument commenced 14 July 2024 (reg 3; Endnotes), and an amending instrument (S.R. No. 112/2024) changed the list on 15 October 2024. Practitioners must therefore track the timing of the listing to determine from which date any parent-Act obligations applied to each entity.

What the Regulations do not do and where care is needed:

• No provision in these Regulations defines or elaborates the duties, liabilities, borrowing limits, reporting obligations, indemnities, immunities, or other legal consequences that may flow from being a “prescribed agency”. The text is limited to prescription and to housekeeping matters (authorisation, commencement, revocation).
• Because the instrument operates by reference, the proper analysis of operative duties and rights requires reading the relevant provisions of the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992 itself, including section 3 (definition) and any sections that apply to prescribed agencies. The Regulations refer to those sections but do not reproduce them (reg 1 and reg 5).

For practitioners advising affected entities, the immediate practical consequence is that the identification of “prescribed agency” status in regulation 5 triggers a statutory check: review the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992 to identify all consequences of that status. The Regulations make the identification explicit and provide traceable amendment and commencement metadata that determine the dates from which those consequences may operate.

The Regulations contain no penalty or enforcement provisions. There are no fines, offences, enforcement agencies or compliance regimes specified in the text of these Regulations. The instrument is entirely prescriptive and administrative in form: it lists bodies to which the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992 will apply (regulation 5) and contains standard provisions about authorisation (regulation 2), commencement (regulation 3) and revocation (regulation 4). The Endnotes supply ancillary information about making and sunsetting but do not create penalties.

Accordingly, any enforcement mechanisms, offences, sanctions, compliance obligations or administrative remedies relevant to the named bodies will be located in the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992 or other connected legislation, not in these Regulations. The Regulations are a vehicle for bringing entities into the scope of the parent Act; they do not in themselves impose enforceable duties with specified penalties.

Two compliance-related implications follow from the instrument's structure:

• Because the Regulation operates by reference to the parent Act, enforcement (including who enforces, what contraventions attract penalties, and what remedies are available) will depend on the parent Act’s text and any delegated instruments that implement enforcement procedures.
• The revocation of earlier Regulations (regulation 4) may have altered the status of previously prescribed bodies or the particulars of how enforcement applied prior to revocation. Practitioners must therefore consult both the historical instruments and the parent Act to determine continuity and transitional enforcement arrangements.

For readers seeking penalties or enforcement detail, the appropriate next step is to consult the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992, and any regulations or administrative instruments made under it that deal with compliance, contraventions and enforcement powers. The Statutory Rule that prescribes agencies does not itself contain enforcement or penalty machinery.

The Regulations are an instrument of subordinate legislation that operates in a web of statutory relationships. The text records several explicit interactions with other laws and statutory instruments:

1. Parent Act linkage: The Regulations are made under section 44 of the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992 (regulation 2). Their operative effect is to apply the parent Act to named entities by prescribing them for the purposes of the definition of “prescribed agency” in section 3 of that Act (regulation 5). The technical interaction is therefore definitional: the Regulations expand the universe of entities governed by the parent Act.

2. Revocation of prior subordinate instruments: Regulation 4 revokes the earlier Treasury Corporation of Victoria (Prescribed Agencies) Regulations 2014, and two amending instruments from 2015 and 2017. That revocation removes those instruments from the active corpus and replaces their effect with the new consolidated prescribing instrument. For historical or transitional questions, the revoked instruments are relevant because they show previous prescriptions and any transitional arrangements they contained.

3. Subordinate Legislation Act 1994 (sunset): The Endnotes state that the Statutory Rule will sunset 10 years after the day of making, on 2 July 2034, pursuant to section 5 of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994. This is an interaction of lifecycle management across subordinate legislation: unless remade or otherwise preserved, the instrument will expire on that date by operation of the Subordinate Legislation Act. Practitioners must therefore track the instrument’s lifecycle against the Subordinate Legislation Act timetable.

4. Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984 (ILA) consequences: The Endnotes reproduce interpretive rules from the ILA about headings, examples, notes and punctuation forming part of a Statutory Rule made on or after 1 January 2001. Those interpretive effects influence how courts and administrators are to read the text of the Regulations: headings and notes included in the Statutory Rule form part of the Rule (Endnotes, Interpretation). The Endnotes also record that other material printed after the Endnotes , explanatory memoranda, tables of provisions and notes , do not form part of the Statutory Rule (ILA s.36(3) and related paragraphs). That interaction affects reliance on explanatory materials versus the legal text for interpretive or evidential purposes.

5. Amendment instruments and consolidated reading: The Regulations incorporate amendments introduced by S.R. No. 112/2024. The Table of Amendments shows the metadata for that amending instrument. The annotated text in reg 5 includes parenthetical notes indicating which paragraphs were amended or inserted by the amending Statutory Rule. For users, this creates an internal statutory cross‑reference and shows how subordinate instruments amend one another.

The instrument includes both revocation of prior subordinate rules and a clearly signposted amendment made shortly after the original making. The amendment history as recorded in the text and Endnotes is as follows:

1. Revocations (regulation 4):

   • The Treasury Corporation of Victoria (Prescribed Agencies) Regulations 2014 (S.R. No. 101/2014, as amended) were revoked (reg 4(a); Endnotes 3. Explanatory details, item 1).
   • The Treasury Corporation of Victoria (Prescribed Agencies) Amendment Regulations 2015 (S.R. No. 5/2015) were revoked (reg 4(b); Endnotes 3. Explanatory details, item 2).
   • The Treasury Corporation of Victoria (Prescribed Agencies) Amendment Regulations 2017 (S.R. No. 80/2017) were revoked (reg 4(c); Endnotes 3. Explanatory details, item 3).

   The revocation clause therefore removes the prior statutory instruments that previously prescribed agencies, making the 2024 Regulations the operative text for the prescription of agencies.

2. Original making and commencement:

   • The Treasury Corporation of Victoria (Prescribed Agencies) Regulations 2024 are S.R. No. 68/2024. They were made by the Governor in Council on 2 July 2024 and came into operation on 14 July 2024 (Endnotes, General information; regulation 3).

3. Subsequent amendment (S.R. No. 112/2024):

   • An amending Statutory Rule, the Treasury Corporation of Victoria (Prescribed Agencies) Amendment Regulations 2024, S.R. No. 112/2024, was made on 15 October 2024 and commenced on the same date (Table of Amendments).
   • The consolidated text shows the effects of that amending instrument. The annotations in reg 5 indicate:
     • Reg 5(a) was amended by S.R. No. 112/2024 reg. 3(a);
     • Reg 5(b) was amended by S.R. No. 112/2024 reg. 3(b);
     • Reg 5(c) through reg 5(e) were inserted by S.R. No. 112/2024 reg. 3(c).
   • The Table of Amendments records the amending instrument’s metadata (date of making and date of commencement: 15.10.24).

4. Sunset provision:

   • The Endnotes state that the principal Statutory Rule will sunset ten years after the day of making, that is, on 2 July 2034, pursuant to section 5 of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994 (Endnotes, General information). This imposes a temporal limit on the Regulations unless they are remade, saved, or replaced before that date in accordance with the Subordinate Legislation Act.

The Statutory Rule and its Endnotes do not record any litigation history. There are no cases, judicial determinations, disputes, or appeals noted in the text or Endnotes of the consolidated Regulation. The document is an administrative, prescriptive instrument that records making, commencement, revocation and amendment metadata; it does not include or summarise judicial treatment of the instrument or of the statutory treatment of “prescribed agencies.”

Because the Regulations operate by reference to the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992, any litigation that turns on the legal consequences of being a “prescribed agency” would be decided by reference to the parent Act, related subordinate legislation, contractual documents and factual matrices. None of that material or any judicial pronouncements are supplied in this Statutory Rule or its Endnotes.

For practitioners seeking litigation history relevant to the legal effects of prescription under the parent Act, the necessary sources are:

• the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992 itself and any cases interpreting its provisions;
• judicial decisions that deal with the legal consequences of being a prescribed agency under the parent Act;
• any administrative or tribunal decisions involving the Treasury Corporation of Victoria or prescribed agencies.

None of those authorities is reproduced or summarised in the text before you. The absence of litigation references in the instrument should therefore be treated as silence: there is no litigation history recorded here, and the statutory text and the parent Act are the starting points for any dispute analysis.

Several practical pitfalls and points of caution arise from the text and structure of these Regulations. These are matters of legal risk management and interpretation rather than policy judgement, each supported by the instrument’s text:

1. The Regulations are definitional, not substantive. The instrument prescribes bodies; it does not state what being prescribed means in operational terms. The legal consequences of prescription are in the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992, not in these Regulations (reg 1; reg 5). Do not treat the Regulation as self-contained authority for obligations, borrowing powers or immunities.

2. Timing and staggered impact. The principal Regulation came into operation on 14 July 2024 (reg 3; Endnotes). The amendment that added three SEC-named entities and amended two entries was made and commenced on 15 October 2024 (Table of Amendments). Different entities therefore entered the statutory category on different dates. When advising, confirm the specific commencement date applicable to the entity in question.

3. Revocation may change earlier status or transitional expectations. These Regulations revoke the 2014 Regulations and two amending rules from 2015 and 2017 (reg 4). If clients rely on historical arrangements or transitional protections contained in the older instruments, those may have been removed or replaced. Check the revoked instruments for any transitional provisions, and do not assume continuity.

4. Precision of corporate identification. The list in reg 5 provides company names and ACNs. Small errors in name or ACN can produce materially different legal effects. Always cross‑check the exact entity name and ACN against corporate registers to ensure you are advising on the correct corporate vehicle.

5. Amendment annotations are part of the consolidated text. The consolidated regulation includes parenthetical notes showing which paragraphs were amended or inserted by S.R. No. 112/2024 (see reg 5 annotations). Those annotations record provenance but also indicate that the list is dynamic. Do not rely on a copy that predates the amendment without checking the Table of Amendments and the amending Statutory Rule.

6. Sunsetting: the Statutory Rule will sunset on 2 July 2034 under the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994 (Endnotes). This creates a time limit on the prescriptive instrument itself. If the parent Act depends on the continued existence of a delegated instrument for prescription, stakeholders should monitor for re‑making or replacement before the sunset date.

Compliance in relation to these Regulations is essentially two-step: (A) identify whether an entity is prescribed and the relevant operative date; and (B) determine and implement the obligations and administrative actions that flow from prescription under the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992. The Regulations provide the “who and when”; the parent Act provides the “what to do.” Practical compliance steps, grounded in the text, are as follows.

A. Verify prescription and timing

1. Confirm identity by name and ACN. Use reg 5 which lists the entities and their ACNs. Ensure that your client’s corporate details exactly match the entry in reg 5 (for example, Agriculture Victoria Services Pty Ltd, ACN 006 598 198; Rolling Stock Holdings (Victoria) Pty Limited, ACN 104 780 056; and the three SEC entities with their ACNs as listed).
2. Confirm operative date. For the principal instrument, the commencement date is 14 July 2024 (reg 3; Endnotes). For any amendments (notably S.R. No. 112/2024), check the Table of Amendments and the annotation in reg 5 to identify when each addition or change took effect (S.R. No. 112/2024 was made and commenced on 15 October 2024).
3. Check revocation consequences. Where your client was previously subject to the earlier 2014 Regulations or subsequent amending instruments, verify whether any transitional provisions applied and whether those were preserved, removed, or superseded by the revocation in reg 4.

B. Determine substantive obligations and rights 4. Read the Treasury Corporation of Victoria Act 1992. The Regulations operate by reference to the parent Act. Identify every statutory provision that applies to “prescribed agencies” under section 3 and adjacent or implementing sections. Compile a list of reporting obligations, approvals, borrowing or guarantee requirements, financial accounting or audit obligations, powers of the Treasury Corporation, and any other operational or governance consequences imposed by the parent Act. 5. Identify ancillary subordinate instruments. Where the parent Act itself delegates particulars (for example to other regulations, Ministerial directions or administrative rules), identify and obtain those instruments to ensure full compliance. 6. Update governance and compliance records. Board minutes, corporate registers, company constitutions, lender notifications and contract schedules should be updated to reflect the new statutory status and any new reporting or consent regimes that apply.

C. Practical administrative steps 7. Notify stakeholders. If the parent Act requires notification to particular officers, to the Treasury Corporation, to creditors or to counterparties, prepare and serve the necessary notices. If the parent Act does not specify, consider good‑governance disclosure to major stakeholders regarding the change in statutory status. 8. Review contracts and financing arrangements. Assess whether being a “prescribed agency” has implications for security, encumbrances, debt covenants, or contractual warranties. Engage lenders early where the entity’s statutory status might affect financing documentation. 9. Seek written guidance where necessary. If the parent Act or its administrative practice leaves ambiguities, consider engaging with the Treasury Corporation of Victoria or obtaining formal legal advice. The Regulations provide the designation; the parent Act and administrative practice supply the interpretation and operational detail. 10. Track the sunset and amendment timetable. The Endnotes indicate a sunset on 2 July 2034 (Subordinate Legislation Act 1994 s.5). If an entity’s long‑term planning depends on the continuity of the prescription, monitor whether the Statutory Rule is remade or preserved prior to that date.