Financial Management Act 1996

A territory authority must give the Treasurer a statement (a statement of intent) for each financial year.

A territory authority must consult the responsible Minister in preparing a statement of intent.

A territory authority must show the responsible Minister a copy of the proposed statement of intent, and take into consideration any comment by the Minister, before giving it to the Treasurer.

A statement of intent must be—

in the form the Treasurer requires; and

in a form that facilitates a comparison between—

the proposed statement of intent for the authority; and

the statement of intent for the authority for the previous financial year; and

the estimated results for the authority for the previous financial year; and

as agreed between the relevant person for the authority and the Treasurer; and

provided to the Treasurer within the period the Treasurer requires.

A statement of intent for a financial year must include the following:

the financial statements required under the financial management guidelines;

for a financial statement mentioned in paragraph (a)—budget estimates for each of the next 3 financial years;

a statement of the objectives of the authority for the year and each of the next 3 financial years;

a statement of the nature and scope of the activities to be carried out by the authority during the year and each of the next 3 financial years;

for a territory authority that, during the year, is to be given a capital injection that must be repaid—a statement that—

states that the capital injection is an injection that must be repaid; and

sets out the conditions under which the injection is to be given, including the requirements about the time within which it must be repaid;

the results of any review under section 59 (10) in the previous financial year of an overdraft or credit facility approved for the authority;

any other information the Treasurer directs.

Also, a statement of intent for a prescribed territory authority for a financial year must include a statement that sets out—

the outputs and classes of outputs it is proposed that the authority should provide during the year; and

the performance criteria to be met by the authority in providing the outputs; and

for each output and class of output mentioned in paragraph (a)—

the proposed budget expense and proposed appropriation for the financial year; and

the estimated expense and appropriation for the previous financial year.

In addition, the statement of intent for a territory authority that is not a prescribed territory authority for a financial year must include the following:

the performance criteria and other measures by which the performance of the authority may be assessed against its objectives for the year and each of the next 3 financial years;

an assessment of the performance (or estimated performance) of the authority in the previous financial year against its objectives for that year.

In this section:

if the authority has a governing board—the chair of the governing board; or

if the authority does not have a governing board—the chief executive officer.