SÍNDROME DE ASPERGER

Section 83 of the Constitution provides that no amount may be paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund except under an appropriation made by law. After reviewing the circumstances of certain Section 83 breaches in 2010-11, the Australian Government considered that there was a risk of non-compliance with Section 83 of the Constitution in circumstances where payments are made that do not accord with conditions included in the relevant legislation. This could primarily occur with payments made from special appropriations and special accounts.

During 2011-12, government agencies developed individual plans to review exposure to risks of not complying with statutory conditions on payments from appropriations to their agency. As a result of that investigation, legislation was amended by the

Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Act (No 2) 2012 (FFLA Act No 2). The

amendment ensured that payments made under certain Acts with a special appropriation would not be subject to Section 83 breaches in the future.

During 2012-13 and 2013-14, agencies continued to monitor their level of compliance with Section 83 of the Constitution across all legislation for which they have legislative responsibility. During 2012-13 additional legal advice was received that indicated there could be breaches of Section 83 under certain circumstances with payments for long service leave, goods and services tax and payments under determinations of the Remuneration Tribunal. Australian Government agencies have reviewed, or are in the process of reviewing their processes and controls over payments for these items to minimise the possibility for future breaches as a result of these payments. In general, agencies have determined that there is a low risk of the certain circumstances mentioned in the legal advice applying to their agency, although some breaches have been reported.

The following table shows the number and value of actual and potential breaches identified in 2013-14, and amounts recovered to date, for those agencies that have reported actual or potential non-compliance with Section 83 of the Constitution:

Notes to the financial statements

99

Commonwealth controlled entity Actual breaches Potential breaches Recovered

Value Value /Waived

No. $'000 No. $'000 $'000

Attorney-General's Department - - 132 252 -

Australian Customs and Border Protection

Service 355 1,819 - - 714

Australian Financial Security Authority 1 3 - - -

Australian Taxation Office 2 - - - -

Department of Defence - - 503 625 638

Department of Education, Employment and

Workplace Relations - - 89,375 28,683 2,198

Department of Education - - 1 125 -

Department of Finance 33 69 - - 69

Department of Health 13 317 n/a (a) 18,463 9,670

Department of Human Services 4 28 - - 7

Department of Industry 1 162 25,776 30,410 9,090

Department of Social Services 1 784 1,316,037 895,805 459,316 Department of the Prime Minister

and Cabinet 2 117 - - 116

Department of the Treasury 9 5 - - 5

Department of Veterans' Affairs - - n/a (a) 50,177 n/a (a) Total 421 3,304 1,431,824 1,024,540 481,824 (a) The number of potential breaches has not been quantified.

It is important to note that it is not possible in all instances to fully remove the potential for Section 83 breaches under existing legislation. In many cases the Australian Government relies on information provided by payment recipients to calculate and pay appropriate entitlements, and this information is not always timely or accurate.

The Australian Government continues to have regard to developments in case law, including the High Court’s most recent decision on Commonwealth expenditure in

Williams v Commonwealth [2014] HCA 23, as they contribute to the larger body of law

relevant to the development of Commonwealth programmes. In accordance with its general practice, the Government will continue to monitor and assess risk and decide on any appropriate actions to respond to risks of expenditure not being consistent with constitutional or other legal requirements.

During the 2013-14 financial year, The High Court in Williams v Commonwealth [2014]

HCA 23 held that payments made under the National Schools Chaplaincy and Student

Welfare Programme were invalid on the grounds that they were not supported by a Commonwealth constitutional head of power. Consequently, the payments so made became debts owed to the Commonwealth. However, the Minister for Finance, the Hon Mathias Cormann, after considering all relevant matters, waived those debts

under s34(1)(a) of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 on 19 June 2014.

The amount waived was $156.1 million (this is a separate amount to the Section 83 breaches reported above).

Notes to the financial statements

100

Note 2: Taxation revenue

2014 2013 2014 2013

$m $m $m $m

Income taxation

Individuals and other withholding taxes

Gross income tax withholding 157,761 150,297 157,761 150,297

Gross other individuals 37,561 36,283 37,561 36,283

less Refunds (27,407) (26,801) (27,407) (26,801)

Total individuals and other withholding taxation 167,915 159,779 167,915 159,779

Fringe benefits tax 4,285 3,970 4,285 3,970

Company tax 68,764 67,923 68,625 67,811

Superannuation funds 6,147 7,473 6,147 7,473

Resource rent taxes 1,785 1,914 1,785 1,914

Total income taxation revenue 248,896 241,059 248,757 240,947 Indirect taxation

Sales taxes

Goods and services tax 55,517 50,202 55,517 50,202

Wine equalisation tax 826 716 826 716

Luxury car tax 476 431 476 431

Total sales taxes 56,819 51,349 56,819 51,349

Excise duty

Petrol 5,925 6,079 5,925 6,079

Diesel 8,603 8,640 8,603 8,640

Beer 1,948 1,958 1,948 1,958

Other excisable products 9,171 9,032 9,171 9,032

Of which: Other excisable beverages(a) 879 914 879 914

Total excise duty revenue 25,647 25,709 25,647 25,709 Customs duty

Textiles, clothing and footwear 789 676 789 676

Passenger motor vehicles 921 892 921 892

Excise-like goods 6,258 5,458 6,258 5,458

Other imports 1,633 1,500 1,633 1,500

less Refunds and drawbacks (319) (354) (319) (354)

Total customs duty revenue 9,282 8,172 9,282 8,172

Carbon pricing mechanism 4,744 5,047 4,744 5,047

Other indirect taxation

Agricultural levies 491 476 491 476

Other taxes 3,329 2,730 3,329 2,730

Total other indirect taxation revenue 3,820 3,206 3,820 3,206

Mirror taxes 498 484 498 484

less Transfers to States in relation to

mirror tax revenue (498) (484) (498) (484)

Mirror tax revenue - - - -

Total indirect taxation revenue 100,312 93,483 100,312 93,483 Total taxation revenue 349,208 334,542 349,069 334,430 General Government Australian Government

Notes to the financial statements

101

Note 3: Sales of goods and services

2014 2013 2014 2013

$m $m $m $m

Sales of goods 1,453 1,283 8,247 7,367

Rendering of services 3,645 3,878 11,489 11,000

Operating lease rental 68 46 111 81

Other fees from regulatory services 3,409 3,679 3,409 3,679 Total sales of goods and services revenue 8,575 8,886 23,256 22,127

Cost of goods sold 552 490 893 840

General Government Australian Government