Australian Capital Territory Repealed Acts Australian Capital Territory Repealed ActsThis legislation has been repealed.
TABLE OF PROVISIONS PART I--PRELIMINARY SHORT TITLE 1. THIS ORDINANCE MAY BE CITED AS THE AUDIT ORDINANCE 1989.1 2. (1) Section 1 and this section commence on the day on which this Ordinance is notified in the Gazette. 3. (1) In this Ordinance, unless the contrary intention appears—“accounting officer” means a person who— 4. (1) This section applies in relation to the Consolidated Fund and the Trust Fund. 5. (1) The Head of Administration in control of an administrative unit is responsible for making appropriate arrangements for implementing the provisions of this Ordinance, the regulations and any direction given under this Ordinance or the regulations in relation to that unit. PART II--ADMINISTRATION 6. (1) For the purposes of this Ordinance, there shall be an Auditor-General for the Territory. 7. (1) A person appointed under section 6 holds office, subject to this Ordinance, for such period, not exceeding 7 years, as is specified in the instrument of appointment, but is eligible for reappointment. 8. (1) The Auditor-General shall be paid such remuneration and allowances as are prescribed. 9. The Minister may grant leave of absence to the Auditor-General on such terms and conditions as to remuneration or otherwise as the Minister determines. 10. The Auditor-General may resign from office by signed notice given to the Minister. 11. The Minister may, with the consent of the Auditor-General, retire the Auditor-General on the ground of physical or mental incapacity. 12. (1) The Executive may remove the Auditor-General from office on an address praying for his or her removal on the ground of misbehaviour or physical or mental incapacity being presented to the Executive by the Assembly. 13. The Auditor-General holds office on such terms and conditions (if any) in relation to matters not provided for by this Ordinance as are prescribed. 14. (1) The Executive may appoint a person to act as Auditor-General— 15. The staff required to assist the Auditor-General in the performance of his or her functions shall be public servants. 16. (1) The Auditor-General may, by instrument, appoint a person— 17. (1) The Auditor-General shall draw to the attention of the Minister such matters arising out of the exercise of his or her powers and the performances of his or her functions under this Ordinance or the regulations (other than the Auditor-General's powers and functions under Division 2 of Part V) as are, in the opinion of the Auditor-General, of sufficient importance to justify his or her so doing. 18. (1) The Auditor-General may, by notice in writing, require a person to attend before the Auditor-General at a reasonable time and place specified in the notice and there to produce such accounts and records in the person's possession or under the person's control as appear to the Auditor-General to be necessary for the purposes of the carrying out of an examination, inspection or audit by the Auditor-General. 19. Where the Auditor-General reasonably believes that a person is able to give information relating to— 20. The Auditor-General may exercise a power under section 18 or 19 in relation to a person whether or not the person— 21. (1) Without prejudice to the powers conferred by any other provision of this Ordinance, the Auditor-General or an authorised officer— 22. (1) The operation of sections 18, 19, 20, 21, 54 and 66 shall not be limited by any provision (including a provision relating to secrecy) contained in any other law of the Territory (whether made before or after the commencement of this section) except to the extent to which any such other law expressly excludes the operation of any of those sections. 23. The Auditor-General may present to the Chief Minister a case in writing as to any question concerning the powers, functions or duties of the Auditor-General and the Chief Minister shall give the Auditor-General a written opinion on that case. 24. Every accounting officer— 25. An overdraft on a public account at a bank shall not be arranged without the written authority of the Minister. PART III--COLLECTION OF MONEYS AND SECURITIES 26. (1) The Chief Minister may enter into an agreement with any bank, upon such terms and conditions as the Chief Minister thinks fit, for— 27. (1) The Minister— 28. Moneys standing to the credit of the Territory Public Account (not being moneys standing to the credit of the Trust Fund) may be invested by the Minister as if they were moneys to which section 86 applies and that section applies as if the moneys so invested were invested under that section. 29. (1) Except as otherwise provided by this Ordinance, every accounting officer shall, in accordance with directions of the Minister, transmit or pay, daily or at such other intervals as the Minister directs, all public moneys collected or received by the officer— 30. The Minister shall daily pay into the Territory Public Account all public moneys received by him or her. 31. (1) Where money is transmitted or paid by an accounting officer to the Minister or another person in accordance with section 29, the officer shall, upon transmission or payment of the money, give to the Minister or that other person, as the case requires, a statement signed by the officer— 32. (1) Where— 33. (1) Each accounting officer shall, daily or at such other intervals as the Minister directs, transmit all bonds, debentures or other securities collected or received by the officer in the course of carrying on the duties of his or her office to the Minister or to such person as the Minister directs in such manner as the Minister directs. PART IV--PAYMENT OF MONEYS 34. (1) Where a subdivision in a Schedule to an Appropriation Act for a financial year is not divided into items, the Minister may direct in writing that, for the purposes of this Part and of the regulations, that subdivision shall be taken to be divided into notional items set out in the direction. 35. Where, because of a direction under subsection 34 (1), a subdivision referred to in that subsection is to be taken to be divided into notional items, sections 42, 44, 47 and 48 have effect as if those notional items were items of that subdivision. 36. Money shall not be drawn from the Territory Public Account except in the manner provided by this Ordinance. 37. (1) The Minister may make payments from the Territory Public Account in accordance with an appropriation of the Consolidated Fund. 38. (1) Where the Minister has, under subsection 37 (3), authorised the administrative head to draw an amount from the Territory Public Account in respect of any services or purposes, the administrative head may draw the amount from the Territory Public Account and make allocations from the amount in respect of the services or purposes. 39. (1) Subject to subsection (2)— 40. Sections 37 and 38 do not apply in relation to moneys standing to the credit of an account comprised in the Territory Public Account that are available for expenditure by virtue of— 41. (1) The Minister may make such payments as are required— 42. (1) An accounting officer shall not cause or permit an amount to be paid out of— 43. (1) Where an authorised person is satisfied that, by reason of special circumstances, it is reasonable to do so, the person may direct in writing— 44. (1) Where an amount that is, or the total of amounts that are, specified in an item, subdivision or division in a Schedule to an Appropriation Act for a financial year is expressed to be— 45. (1) Where the Minister is satisfied that it is necessary to do so in consequence of a matter for which an administrative unit (in this subsection referred to as the “original unit”) has responsibility becoming a matter for which another administrative unit has responsibility, the Minister may direct, in writing, that all or any of the moneys appropriated by an Appropriation Act that could, if the change of matter had not taken place, lawfully have been issued and applied for a particular purpose, being a purpose related to the performance by the original unit of that matter, may be issued and applied for the corresponding purpose related to the performance by the other administrative unit of that matter and, where such a direction is given, the Appropriation Act has effect, in relation to the issue and application of moneys in accordance with the direction, as if it had appropriated those moneys for that corresponding purpose. 46. Every appropriation made out of the Consolidated Fund for the service of any financial year shall lapse and cease to have any effect for any purpose at the close of that year and any balance of the moneys so appropriated that may then be unexpended shall lapse and the accounts of the year shall then be closed. 47. (1) Expenditure in excess of specific appropriation or not specifically provided for by appropriation may be charged to such heads as the Minister may direct provided that the total expenditure so charged in any financial year, after deduction of amounts retrieved from other specific appropriations, does not at any time exceed the amount appropriated for that year under the head “Advance to the Minister administering the Audit Ordinance 1989”. 48. (1) Money received in a financial year in repayment of expenditure made within that year from an annual appropriation in respect of that year shall be taken in reduction of the expenditure from that appropriation. 49. (1) If the exigencies of the public service render it necessary to alter the proportions assigned to the particular items comprised under any subdivision in the annual Appropriation Act, the Executive may direct, in writing, that there shall be applied in aid of any item that may be deficient a further limited sum out of any surplus arising on any other item under the same subdivision. 50. Where— 51. (1) Where— PART V--AUDIT AND INSPECTION 52. The manager or other person in charge of a bank into which public moneys are paid shall— 53. The Minister shall cause to be kept proper accounts and records of receipts of, and payments out of, public moneys complying with the provisions of this Ordinance and of the regulations concerning the manner in which those accounts and records are to be kept. 54. (1) The Auditor-General shall audit the accounts and records kept in accordance with section 53 and shall ascertain whether— 55. The Auditor-General shall examine the accounts of— 56. The Auditor-General shall— 57. The Auditor-General shall— 58. (1) An administrative unit shall, if so required by the Minister, keep such accounts and prepare such financial statements in respect of such of its operations, and in such form, as the Minister determines, in writing. 59. (1) The Auditor-General may, by notice in writing, require a person— 60. Where the Auditor-General is satisfied— 61. The Auditor-General may dispense with the detailed audit of any accounts or any part of such an audit. 62. In this Division, unless the contrary intention appears—“eligible incorporated company” means an incorporated company over which the Territory is in a position to exercise control; “public authority of the Territory” means— 63. (1) Subject to this section, where— 64. (1) The Auditor-General may carry out, at such intervals as the Auditor-General thinks fit, an efficiency audit of all or any of the operations of— 65. Where moneys are paid in accordance with a law of the Territory by the Territory to a body, other than a public authority of the Territory, by way of financial assistance, on condition that the body will apply the moneys for a purpose specified by that law, an efficiency audit of the operations of the administrative unit or public authority of the Territory responsible for the administration of the grant of that financial assistance may include an examination of the procedures that are being followed by that unit or authority for the purpose of assessing the extent to which the operations in the carrying on of which the moneys are required to be applied are being carried on in an economical and efficient manner. 66. (1) An efficiency audit of operations of a relevant body shall be conducted by the Auditor-General, subject to this Ordinance, in such manner as the Auditor-General thinks fit. 67. (1) Where the Auditor-General carries out an efficiency audit of operations of a relevant body under this Ordinance, the Auditor-General shall prepare and sign a report of the results of the audit. 68. (1) The Auditor-General shall, as soon as practicable after 30 June in each year, prepare a general report concerning the efficiency audits of operations of relevant bodies carried out by him or her during the year ended on that date, together with particulars of the costs incurred by the Auditor-General in the carrying out of those audits and the benefits that have, in the Auditor-General's opinion, been derived from the carrying out of those audits. PART VI--STATEMENTS AND THEIR AUDIT 69. In this Part, unless the contrary intention appears—“aggregate financial statement” means a financial statement prepared in accordance with subsection 73 (1); “declared administrative unit” means an administrative unit in relation to which the Chief Minister has made a declaration for the purposes of subsection 75 (2); “financial statements guidelines” means guidelines in force under section 72; “unitary financial statement” means a financial statement prepared in accordance with subsection 71 (2). 70. (1) The Minister shall, as soon as practicable after the expiration of each quarter, publish a Statement of Financial Transactions, in accordance with a form approved by the Minister, containing financial information with respect to— 71. (1) As soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, the Head of Administration in control of an administrative unit shall submit to the Auditor-General a financial statement for that unit in respect of the financial year. 72. For the purposes of section 71, the Minister may, by writing, make guidelines— 73. (1) As soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, the Minister shall cause to be prepared a financial statement providing— 74. (1) For the purposes of— 75. (1) As soon as practicable after the Auditor-General receives a unitary financial statement, or an aggregate financial statement, the Auditor-General shall examine the statement and shall prepare and sign a report concerning the statement— 76. The Auditor-General shall include in any report made by the Auditor-General under this Ordinance, such information as he or she thinks desirable in relation to audits, examinations and inspections carried out by the Auditor-General pursuant to this Ordinance or another law of the Territory. 77. (1) The Auditor-General shall include in a report under section 75 that relates to an aggregate financial statement— 78. (1) After preparing and signing a report under section 75 that relates to an aggregate financial statement, the Auditor-General shall forward a signed copy of the report to the Assembly within 15 sitting days. 79. After preparing and signing a report under section 75 that relates to a unitary financial statement, the Auditor-General shall give a signed copy of the report to the Minister who has responsibility for the administrative unit in relation to which the statement was prepared. 80. (1) The Auditor-General may, in a report under section 75, or in any special report that the Auditor-General may at any time think fit to make— PART VII--THE CONSOLIDATED REVENUE FUND 81. (1) There is established by this Ordinance a fund to be called the Consolidated Revenue Fund. PART VIII--THE TRUST FUND 82. A separate account, to be called the Trust Fund, shall be kept of all moneys that are placed to the credit of that Fund under such separate heads as may be directed by the Minister. 83. The Chief Minister may not expend any moneys standing to the credit of the Trust Fund except for the purposes of that Fund or under the authority of an Ordinance. 84. (1) The provisions of this Ordinance relating to the issue and expenditure of public moneys and the authority for such issue and expenditure apply to the issue and expenditure of moneys standing to the credit of the Trust Fund, and the Executive has the same authority with respect to such moneys and the expenditure of such moneys as it has with respect to moneys standing to the credit of the Consolidated Fund. 85. (1) There is established by this Ordinance a Trust Account the purpose of which is to make provision for the general administration of the Territory. 86. (1) Moneys standing to the credit of the Trust Fund may be invested by the Chief Minister— PART IX--FINANCIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO PUBLIC AUTHORITIES AND CERTAIN OTHER BODIES 87. (1) In this Part, unless the contrary intention appears—“appropriate Minister”, in relation to an authority, means the Minister responsible for administering the provisions of the law of the Territory under which that authority is established. 88. (1) Where an Ordinance declares a body corporate incorporated for a public purpose by that law to be a public authority to which a Division of this Part (being Division 2 or 3) applies, the provisions of that Division apply in relation to the body corporate subject to such modifications (if any) as are made to those provisions by that Ordinance. 89. (1) The authority may open and maintain an account or accounts with an approved bank or approved banks and shall maintain at all times at least one such account. 90. (1) Moneys of the authority not immediately required for the purposes of the authority may be invested— 91. The authority— 92. (1) The Auditor-General shall inspect and audit the accounts and records of financial transactions of the authority and records relating to assets of, or in the custody of, the authority, and shall forthwith draw the attention of the appropriate Minister to any irregularity disclosed by the inspection and audit that is, in the opinion of the Auditor-General, of sufficient importance to justify his or her so doing. 93. (1) The authority shall, as soon as practicable after 30 June in each year, prepare and submit to the appropriate Minister a report of its operations during the year ended on that date, together with financial statements in respect of that year in such form as the Minister approves. 94. (1) The authority may open and maintain an account or accounts with an approved bank or approved banks and shall maintain at all times at least one such account. 95. The authority— 96. (1) The Auditor-General shall inspect and audit the accounts and records of financial transactions of the authority and records relating to assets of, or in the custody of, the authority, and shall forthwith draw the attention of the appropriate Minister to any irregularity disclosed by the inspection and audit that is, in the opinion of the Auditor-General, of sufficient importance to justify his or her so doing. 97. (1) The authority shall, as soon as practicable after 30 June in each year, prepare and submit to the appropriate Minister a report of its operations during the year ended on that date, together with financial statements in respect of that year in such form as the Minister approves. 98. (1) In this Division, unless the contrary intention appears—“appropriate Minister”, in relation to a privately audited body, means the Minister responsible for administering the provision of the law of the Territory under which that body is established; “company auditor” means a firm carrying on the business of auditing accounts; “privately audited body” means a body corporate whose accounts, records and financial statements are, in accordance with the law of the Territory under which that body is established, subject to inspection and audit by a company auditor. 99. (1) The Auditor-General shall, by notice published in the Gazette, set auditing standards to be complied with by company auditors when inspecting and auditing the accounts and records, or reporting on the financial statements, of privately audited bodies. 100. (1) The Auditor-General may, at any time, inspect and audit the accounts and records of financial transactions of a privately audited body and records relating to assets of, or in the custody of, the body and may draw the attention of the appropriate Minister to any irregularity disclosed by the inspection and audit that is, in the opinion of the Auditor-General, of sufficient importance to justify his or her so doing. 101. (1) Where, whether under this Part or otherwise, a privately audited body is required to submit to the appropriate Minister a report of its operations during a particular period, together with financial statements in respect of that period, the body shall, when submitting the financial statements to the Minister, submit copies of the statements to the Auditor-General. 102. (1) The Auditor-General or a person authorised by the Auditor-General is entitled at all reasonable times to full and free access to— 103. The Auditor-General shall, in the exercise of powers and performance of functions under this Division, avoid, so far as practicable, any duplication of audit work. 104. (1) In this Division—“accounts and records of a body” mean, in the case of the trustee or trustees of a trust, the accounts and records of the trustee or trustees relating to the trust; “body” includes— 105. (1) The functions of the Auditor-General under this Ordinance extend to the carrying out, at the discretion of the Auditor-General— 106. (1) Where the Auditor-General— 107. (1) The Auditor-General shall report on all cases in which, in the opinion of the Auditor-General, the receipt, expenditure or investment of money, or the acquisition or disposal of assets, by a statutory body was not in accordance with the law of the Territory by or under which the body was established unless, in the opinion of the Auditor-General, the cases are not of sufficient importance to justify his or her so doing. PART X--OFFENCES 108. (1) An accounting officer shall not— 109. (1) A person who uses a Territory credit card with the intention of obtaining cash, goods or services otherwise than for the Territory is guilty of an offence punishable, on conviction, by a fine not exceeding $20,000 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 5 years, or both. 110. A person who— 111. (1) Where the Minister is satisfied that a document signed by a person in a specified part of the Commonwealth may be accepted in place of a statutory declaration required by this Ordinance or the regulations, the Chief Minister may certify accordingly. 112. (1) A person shall not fail— 113. A person shall not, knowingly or recklessly— PART XI--LOSS OF AND DAMAGE TO PUBLIC PROPERTY 114. (1) In this Part, unless the contrary intention appears—“Head of Administration” means— 115. (1) Subject to subsection (2) and to any regulations made under subsection (12) and any other regulations made for the purposes of this section, where there occurs a loss of, or deficiency in, public moneys, or the loss or destruction of, or damage to, other property of the Territory, an officer who, by his or her misconduct or by performing any of his or her duties in a grossly negligent manner, causes or contributes to the loss, deficiency, destruction or damage is liable to pay to the Territory an amount equal to— 116. (1) Where the Head of Administration of an officer is satisfied that a loss of, or deficiency in, public moneys, or the loss or destruction of, or damage to, other property of the Territory, occurred in such circumstances as to render the officer liable under section 115 to pay an amount to the Territory in respect of the loss, deficiency, destruction or damage, the Head of Administration shall determine, in writing, that the loss, deficiency, destruction or damage so occurred and his or her assessment of the amount that the officer is liable to pay to the Territory under this Part in respect of the loss, deficiency, destruction or damage. 117. (1) Application may be made to the Australian Capital Territory Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of a determination made by a Head of Administration under subsection 116 (1). 118. (1) Where— 119. The burden of satisfying a court, the Australian Capital Territory Administrative Appeals Tribunal, the Head of Administration or the delegate of the Head of Administration that, by reason of subsection 115 (7) or (9) a person is not liable to pay an amount to the Territory that he or she would otherwise be liable to pay lies on the person who alleges that he or she is not so liable. 120. (1) Section 115 shall not be taken to affect any right of the Territory to recover an amount from an officer otherwise than under this Part, but the Territory shall not recover amounts from the one officer both under this Part and otherwise than under this Part in respect of the same loss, deficiency, destruction or damage. 121. Sections 115 to 120 (inclusive) apply in relation to a prescribed authority as if— 122. (1) Except where the Minister otherwise determines in writing, any payment of remuneration or allowances to a Territory employee shall be made otherwise than in cash. PART XII--MISCELLANEOUS 123. Where, under a provision of a law of the Territory, the Auditor-General is authorised or required to submit a report to a Minister in respect of an authority or other body, being an authority or body declared by the regulations to be an authority or body to which this section applies, a report, in respect of the authority or body, of a kind referred to in the provision, being a report signed by an officer authorised by the Auditor-General to do so, may be submitted to the Minister and shall, when it has been so submitted, be deemed to have been submitted to the Minister by the Auditor-General for the purposes of that provision. 124. (1) The Chief Minister may write-off— 125. (1) The Minister may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Ordinance, prescribing matters— 126. (1) The regulations may— PART XIII--TRANSITIONAL 127. An account maintained in respect of public moneys relating to the Territory pursuant to subsection 20 (3) of the Audit Act 1901 of the Commonwealth, immediately before the date of commencement of this section, continues in existence as if it had been opened pursuant to subsection 26 (3). 128. The bank accounts maintained, immediately before the date of commencement of Part IX, by an authority to which that Part applies, under section 63D or 63J of the Audit Act 1901 of the Commonwealth as that section applied to the authority by virtue of regulations in force under that Act (whether or not that section had been modified by such regulations) continue in existence as bank accounts of the authority as if they had been opened by the authority under section 89 or 94, as the case requires, as that section applies to the authority by virtue of the regulations (whether or not that section is modified by the regulations). 129. A determination made under section 70AH of the Audit Act 1901 of the Commonwealth and having force and effect immediately before self-government day in relation to a person who, on that day, is a Territory employee within the meaning of section 122 of this Ordinance shall, on and after that day, have force and effect in relation to that employee as if the determination had been made by the Minister under that last-mentioned section.