Public Accounts and Audit Committee Act 1951

Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code sets out the general principles of criminal responsibility.

As soon as practicable after the commencement of this subsection and the first session of each Parliament, a joint committee of members of the Parliament, to be known as the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, is to be appointed.

The Committee is to consist of 16 members of the Parliament. 6 members must be members of, and be appointed by, the Senate. 10 members must be members of, and be appointed by, the House of Representatives. The members must be appointed according to the practice of the Parliament for the appointment of members to serve on joint select committees of both Houses of the Parliament.

Each member shall hold office during the pleasure of the House by which he or she was appointed.

Either House of the Parliament may appoint one of its members to fill a vacancy amongst the members of the Committee appointed by that House.

Each member shall cease to hold office when the House of Representatives expires by effluxion of time or is dissolved.

At any time at which:

there is constituted a Standing Committee of the House of Representatives known as the Expenditure Committee; and

the Chair of that Committee is not a member of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit by virtue of an appointment under subsection (2);

There shall be a Chair and a Deputy Chair of the Committee, who shall be elected by the members from time to time and shall hold office as Chair and Deputy Chair during the pleasure of the Committee.

The Chair shall preside at all meetings of the Committee at which he or she is present.

In the event of the absence of the Chair from a meeting of the Committee, the Deputy Chair shall, if he or she is present at that meeting, preside at that meeting.

In the event of the absence of both the Chair and the Deputy Chair from a meeting of the Committee, the members present may appoint one of their number to preside at the meeting, and the member so presiding shall, in relation to the meeting, have all the powers and functions of the Chair.

The Committee may meet at such times and at such places within Australia as the Committee, by resolution, determines or, subject to any resolution of the Committee, as the Chair determines, but shall not meet at any place outside Australia.

At any time when the Chair is absent from Australia or is, for any reason, unable to perform the duties of his or her office or there is a vacancy in the office of Chair, the Deputy Chair may exercise the powers of the Chair under subsection (1).

The Committee may meet and transact business notwithstanding any prorogation of the Parliament.

At a meeting of the Committee 6 members constitute a quorum.

All questions to be decided by the Committee shall be decided by a majority of the votes of the members present.

The Chair or other member presiding shall have a deliberative vote and, in the event of an equality of votes, shall also have a casting vote.

Where the members present do not vote unanimously, the manner in which each member votes shall, if a member so requires, be recorded in the minutes and in the Committee’s report.

The duties of the Committee are:

to examine the accounts of the receipts and expenditure of the Commonwealth, including the financial statements given to the Auditor‑General under paragraphs 42(1)(b) and 48(1)(b) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013; and

to examine the financial affairs of authorities of the Commonwealth to which this Act applies and of intergovernmental bodies to which this Act applies; and

to examine all reports of the Auditor‑General (including reports of the results of performance audits) that are tabled in each House of the Parliament; and

to report to both Houses of the Parliament, with any comment it thinks fit, on any items or matters in those accounts, statements and reports, or any circumstances connected with them, that the Committee thinks should be drawn to the attention of the Parliament; and

to report to both Houses of the Parliament any alteration that the Committee thinks desirable in:

the form of the public accounts or in the method of keeping them; or

the mode of receipt, control, issue or payment of public moneys; and

to inquire into any question connected with the public accounts which is referred to the Committee by either House of the Parliament, and to report to that House on that question; and

to consider:

the operations of the Audit Office; and

the resources of the Audit Office, including funding, staff and information technology; and

reports of the Independent Auditor on operations of the Audit Office; and

to report to both Houses of the Parliament on any matter arising out of the Committee’s consideration of the matters listed in paragraph (g), or on any other matter relating to the Auditor‑General’s functions and powers, that the Committee considers should be drawn to the attention of the Parliament; and

to report to both Houses of the Parliament on the performance of the Audit Office at any time; and

to consider draft estimates for the Audit Office submitted under section 53 of the Auditor‑General Act 1997; and

to consider the level of fees determined by the Auditor‑General under subsection 14(1) of the Auditor‑General Act 1997; and

to consider the level of fees determined by the Auditor‑General under subsection 16(1) of the Auditor‑General Act 1997; and

to make recommendations to both Houses of Parliament, and to the Minister who administers the Auditor‑General Act 1997, on draft estimates referred to in paragraph (j); and

to determine the audit priorities of the Parliament and to advise the Auditor‑General of those priorities; and

to determine the audit priorities of the Parliament for audits of the Audit Office and to advise the Independent Auditor of those priorities; and

any other duties given to the Committee by this Act, by any other law or by Joint Standing Orders approved by both Houses of the Parliament.

Nothing in subsection (1) authorises the Committee to direct the activities of the Auditor‑General or the Independent Auditor.

The duties of the Committee do not extend to:

an examination of the financial affairs of the Australian Capital Territory or the Northern Territory or of the Administration of an External Territory (including the financial affairs of the Administration of an External Territory contained in any of the accounts and financial statements referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (1)); or

an examination of a report of the Auditor‑General that relates to, or in so far as it relates to:

the financial affairs of the Australian Capital Territory or the Northern Territory or of the Administration of an External Territory (including the financial affairs of the Administration of an External Territory contained in any of the accounts and financial statements referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (1)); or

the results of an efficiency audit of operations of the Administration of an External Territory.

For the purposes of subsection (2), an External Territory does not include the Territory of Christmas Island or the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

For the purpose of this section, an authority of the Commonwealth to which this Act applies is:

a body corporate or an unincorporated body established for a public purpose by, or in accordance with the provisions of, an enactment, not being an inter‑governmental body;

a body established by the Governor‑General or by a Minister otherwise than in accordance with an enactment; or

an incorporated company over which the Commonwealth is in a position to exercise control.

Where the parties to an agreement relating to the establishment of an inter‑governmental body consent to the examination, by the Committee, of the financial affairs of that body, the Minister shall notify the fact that they have so consented in the Gazette and the body shall thereupon become an inter‑governmental body to which this Act applies.

Where a party to an agreement relating to the establishment of an inter‑governmental body (being an inter‑governmental body which, by virtue of subsection (4), is an inter‑governmental body to which this Act applies) withdraws its consent to the examination, by the Committee, of the financial affairs of that body, the Minister shall notify the fact that that party has withdrawn its consent in the Gazette and the body shall thereupon cease to be an inter‑governmental body to which this Act applies.

In this section, unless the contrary intention appears:

an Act;

an Ordinance of the Australian Capital Territory; or

an instrument (including rules, regulations or by‑laws) made under an Act or under such an Ordinance.

If the Audit Minister refers a proposed recommendation for an appointment of the Auditor‑General or Independent Auditor to the Committee for approval, the Committee must:

approve or reject the proposal within 14 days after receiving it; or

notify the Audit Minister as provided for in subsection (2).

Clauses 2 of Schedule 1 and 2 of Schedule 2 of the Auditor‑General Act 1997 require proposed recommendations to be referred to the Committee for approval.

The Committee may notify the Audit Minister within 14 days after receiving a proposal that it needs more time to consider the proposal. If the Committee does so, the Committee must approve or reject the proposal within 44 days after receiving it.

The decision to approve or reject a proposal is to be by majority of the members of the Committee for the time being holding office.

If the Committee does not make a decision on a proposal by the required time, the Committee is taken, at that time, to have approved the proposal.

The Committee must notify the Audit Minister of its decision on a proposal as soon as practicable after making the decision.

A notification under this section must be in writing.

The Committee must report to both Houses of the Parliament on its decision on a proposal.

In this section:

The Committee must, in relation to each financial year, prepare a report on the performance of its duties during the year.

The Committee must table the report in each House of the Parliament.

The Committee may appoint a Sectional Committee or Sectional Committees of three or more of its members to inquire into and report to the Committee upon such matters with which the Committee is concerned as the Committee directs.

The provisions of this Act (other than this section and section 5, subsection 7(1) and sections 8, 8A, 8B and 12) apply in relation to a Sectional Committee in the same way as they apply in relation to the Committee.

In applying any of the provisions, a reference to the Chair or the Deputy Chair of the Committee (except a reference in section 22) is instead a reference to the Chair or the Deputy Chair of the Sectional Committee.

At a meeting of a Sectional Committee, a quorum is constituted by:

in the case of a Sectional Committee of no more than 5 members—2 members;

in the case of a Sectional Committee of 6 or 7 members—3 members; and

in the case of a Sectional Committee of 8 or more members—4 members.

A Sectional Committee shall report in writing to the Committee as soon as practicable on each matter referred to that Sectional Committee by the Committee.

A Sectional Committee may sit at any time notwithstanding that the Committee is sitting at the same time.