Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act. Australia

Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act

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jurisdiction under this Act.

Court means:

(a) the Federal Court of Australia; or

(b) the Supreme Court of a State or Territory.

director means:

(a) for a Commonwealth authority that has a council or other governing body — a member of the governing body; or

(b) for a Commonwealth authority that does not have a council or other governing body — a member of the authority; or

(c) for a Commonwealth company — a person who is a director of the company for the purposes of the Corporations Act 2001.

enabling legislation, in relation to a Commonwealth authority, means the Act, regulations or Ordinance by or under which the authority is incorporated.

Finance Minister means the Minister who administers this Act.

Finance Minister’s Orders means Orders made under section 48.

financial statements includes consolidated financial statements.

financial year:

(a) means, for a Commonwealth authority:

(i) a period of 12 months commencing on 1 July; or

(ii) if the enabling legislation specifies another period of 12 months as the financial year for the authority for the purpose of this Act — a period of 12 months as so specified; and

(b) means, for a Commonwealth company, the company’s annual accounting period.

GBE or government business enterprise means a Commonwealth authority or Commonwealth company that is prescribed by the regulations for the purpose of this definition.

general law means the principles and rules of the common law and equity.

General Policy Order means an Order made under section 48A.

involved: a person is involved in a contravention if, and only if, the person has:

(a) aided, abetted, counselled or procured the contravention; or

(b) has induced, whether by threats or promises or otherwise, the contravention; or

(c) has been in any way, by act or omission, directly or indirectly, knowingly concerned in or party to the contravention; or

(d) has conspired with others to effect the contravention.

Minister includes the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

officer, in relation to a Commonwealth authority, means:

(a) a director of the authority; or

(b) a senior manager of the authority.

responsible Minister means:

(a) for a Commonwealth authority — the Minister who is responsible for the authority; or

(b) for a Commonwealth company:

(i) the Minister who is prescribed by the regulations as the Minister responsible for the company; or

(ii) if no Minister is prescribed — the Minister who is responsible for the company.

senior manager means:

(a) in relation to a Commonwealth authority — a person (other than a director of the authority, a Minister, or an APS employee engaged as an employee for the purposes of an Agency other than the authority) who:

(i) makes, or participates in making, decisions that affect the whole, or a substantial part, of the operations of the authority; or

(ii) has the capacity to affect significantly the authority’s financial standing; and

(b) in relation to a Commonwealth company — a person (other than a director or secretary of the company, a Minister, or an APS employee engaged as an employee for the purposes of an Agency other than the company) who:

(i) makes, or participates in making, decisions that affect the whole, or a substantial part, of the operations of the company; or

(ii) has the capacity to affect significantly the company’s financial standing.

SMA or statutory marketing authority means a Commonwealth authority that is prescribed by the regulations for the purpose of this definition.

Statutory Agency has the same meaning as in the Public Service Act 1999.

subsidiary, in relation to a Commonwealth authority or Commonwealth company, means an entity that is controlled by the Commonwealth authority or Commonwealth company. For this purpose, entity and control have the same meanings as in the accounting standard that applies for the purpose of deciding whether a company has to prepare consolidated financial statements under the Corporations Act 2001.

wholly-owned Commonwealth company has the meaning given by section 34.

6 Civil penalties

Schedule 2 deals with the civil consequences of contravening civil penalty provisions.

Part 3 Reporting and other obligations for Commonwealth authorities

Division 1 Preliminary

7 Meaning of Commonwealth authority

(1) In this Act, Commonwealth authority means either of the following kinds of body that holds money on its own account:

(a) a body corporate that is incorporated for a public purpose by an Act;

(b) a body corporate that is incorporated for a public purpose by:

(i) regulations under an Act; or

(ii) an Ordinance of an external Territory (other than Norfolk Island) or regulations under such an Ordinance;

and is prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph by regulations under this Act.

(2) None of the following are Commonwealth authorities:

(a) Corporations Act companies;

(b) corporations registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006;

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1), all money that a body holds is taken to be held by it on its own account, unless the money is public money as defined in section 5 of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997.

8 Role of Auditor-General

(1) The Auditor-General is to be the auditor of each Commonwealth authority.

(2) The Auditor-General is to audit the financial statements of each subsidiary of a Commonwealth authority (there are exceptions to this — see subsection 12(4)).

Note: If the Auditor-General is not the subsidiary’s auditor, this means that the Auditor-General has to do an audit of the statements in addition to that done by the subsidiary’s auditor.