Australian Capital Territory Numbered Regulations

FINANCE REGULATIONS (NO. 8 OF 1989)

TABLE OF PROVISIONS

   1.      PART I̶PRELIMINARY Citation  
   3.      A reference in a provision or part of a provision of these Regulations to an authorised officer shall, in the application of that provision or part of a provision to, or in relation to, matters arising in an administrative unit, be read as a reference to an officer who is authorised for the purposes of that provision or part of a provision by the head of administration.  
   5.      All moneys paid into or out of the Territory Public Account during any financial year shall be deemed to be the receipts or the payments, respectively, of that financial year.  

   PART II--RECEIPTS OF PUBLIC MONEYS APPOINTMENT OF RECEIVERS AND COLLECTORS

   7.      When no payment is made to a receiver by a collector during the period for which he or she is required to make payment of collections, he or she shall furnish to the receiver at the proper time a collector's statement in accordance with Form 1 with the word “Nil” written on it.  
   8.      The head of administration shall ensure the safe custody of all fixed deposit receipts, bonds, debentures, savings bank deposit books and other securities which come into his or her possession or control or into the possession or control of any officer under his or her authority.  
   9.      A receiver who pays money to the credit of the Territory Public Account shall, on the same day, forward to the designated office a statement in accordance with Form 2, together with the collector's statements received by him or her.  
   12.     Every receiver shall see that the total of the amounts shown on the accountable receipts for any day agrees with the total of the receiver's statement for that day.  
   13.     Where a repayment is made—  
   14.     Except in cases where the administrative head otherwise determines, particulars of all Government property authorised to be sold shall be forwarded to the Auditor-General in accordance with Form 5.  
   15.     Receivers and collectors shall maintain records of their collections.  
   18.     Unless the administrative head otherwise approves, licence forms and forms of receipt, and the counterparts of those forms, shall be numbered in consecutive order so that each form bears the same number as that on the counterpart to which it relates.  
   19.     Where an officer has given a receipt or acknowledgement in accordance with regulation 17 for moneys received, the officer may, if the administrative head permits, give a duplicate of that receipt or acknowledgement, or give another receipt or acknowledgement, for those moneys but that other receipt or acknowledgement shall not be given on a form referred to in that regulation.  

   PART III--OBLIGATIONS INVOLVING EXPENDITURE OF PUBLIC MONEYS

   21.     The rights and liabilities of the parties to an obligation of a kind referred to in subregulation 20 (1) are not affected by reason of the fact that the obligation was incurred in contravention of that subregulation.  

   PART IV--PAYMENT OF PUBLIC MONEYS

   25.     After regulation 24 has been complied with in relation to a request to spend money from the Public Account, the request shall be submitted for approval of the proposed expenditure to the Minister or an officer appointed by the Minister for the purposes of this regulation.  
   26.     Accounts for general expenses shall be prepared in accordance with Form 6.  
   27.     An officer shall afford every facility to claimants to enable them to prepare their accounts correctly and obtain prompt payment.  
   28.     An officer shall not submit a claim for a periodic or progress payment under a contract to a certifying officer for certifying under subsection 42 (2) of the Ordinance unless the head of administration or an authorised officer has certified—  
   37.     When an account has been certified, the certifying officer shall forward it to the authorising officer.  
   39.     An endorsement on or addition to any form of order or other authority shall not render the form irrevocable or in any way alter its effect in substance.  
   40.     An officer shall not, without the approval in writing of the Minister, act as agent or attorney for the receipt of moneys payable by the Territory to a person other than another officer.  
   42.     An authorising officer shall not authorise the payment of an account for an advance except an advance of 1 of the following kinds:  
   44.     An advance shall be charged—  
   46.     An authorising officer shall keep a register of advances and shall enter in that register particulars of all advances other than an advance referred to in paragraph 42 (g), the payment of the accounts for which are authorised by him or her.  
   49.     Where a person to whom a standing advance has been made applies for reimbursement of the advance or part of the advance, that person shall furnish to the authorising officer—  
   51.     The head of administration shall cause to be prepared at such intervals and in respect of such periods as the Minister directs a statement under the respective heads of expenditure (except an account of Trust Fund) of the amounts which will probably require to be expended on account of the administrative unit.  
   55.     The head of administration shall appoint officers who shall ensure that each claim on the administrative unit for the payment of an amount is, after payment of the claim in accordance with regulation 61, returned promptly to the authorising officer who authorised payment of the amount to which the claim relates.  
   56.     The head of administration shall cause the public moneys held by, and the accounts of, each accounting officer to be examined from time to time in order to ensure that public moneys collected or received by the accounting officer—  
   59.     Unless the administrative head otherwise requires, a paymaster shall not pay an account unless the payment of it has been authorised by an authorising officer.  
   60.     An officer shall not obtain signatures to blank forms of account or orders for payment, or to acquittances or receipts before the actual payment of the account, or to acquittances or receipts which are not properly filled in.  
   62.     A paymaster shall, in accordance with directions given by the administrative head, record payments into and from each drawing account operated by him or her.  
   64.     Where the payment of an account is duly authorised, unless the administrative head otherwise requires, the paymaster shall draw a cheque for the payment of the account and verify the correctness of the cheque by comparing the particulars on it with the particulars relating to the payment shown on the account.  
   65.     All cheques drawn by a paymaster shall, unless the Minister otherwise directs, be countersigned by an officer appointed for the purpose either by the head of administration or an authorised officer who shall, upon making the appointment, advise the bank of the name of the officer so appointed.  
   67.     Where a cheque drawn on a drawing account is returned unclaimed, the cheque shall be paid to the bank account known as the Territory Public Account, unless the present address of the payee can be ascertained promptly.  
   68.     A paymaster or any other accounting officer shall not issue a duplicate cheque except with the approval of the Minister.  
   72.     A paymaster shall promptly pay to the Territory Public Account all cheques cashed from his or her counter cash advance and shall furnish to the authorising officer an account in accordance with Form 6 for reimbursement of his or her advance.  
   73.     Every paymaster shall, on the last working day of each financial year, pay the unexpended balance of his or her counter cash advance to the Territory Public Account.  
   74.     Every paymaster shall keep a Counter Cash Advance Cash Book in accordance with Form 17.  
   75.     The Minister may establish designated offices wherever he thinks fit.  

   PART V--LOSSES OF, AND DAMAGE TO, PUBLIC PROPERTY

   79.     For the purposes of paragraph 121 (c) of the Ordinance, the office prescribed in respect of a prescribed authority is the office of the person who has, under an enactment, in relation to the branch or part of the Public Service, comprising the staff of the prescribed authority, the powers of, or exercisable by, a head of administration so far as those powers relate to that branch or part.  

   PART VI--MISCELLANEOUS ACCOUNTS KEPT BY ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS TO BE SUBJECT TO INSPECTION

   80.     The Minister may from time to time direct an officer of the administrative unit under the control of the administrative head to inspect the account books and forms used by any accounting officer and report to him or her the result of the inspection.  
   83.     The prescribed amount for the purposes of paragraph 51 (1) (b) of the Ordinance is $4,000.  
   84.     All cases (except those submitted by the Auditor-General) in which a legal interpretation of the Ordinance or of these Regulations is desired shall be submitted through the administrative head.  
   85.     An officer appointed under the Ordinance or these Regulations to perform duties connected with the receipt or payment of public moneys shall—  
   86.     The head of administration shall—  
   87.     If any accounting officer or person subject to the provisions of the Ordinance commits any breach of these Regulations, the Minister may impose a penalty not exceeding $10 upon that accounting officer or person.  
           SCHEDULE