Commonwealth Numbered Acts

AUDIT AMENDMENT ACT 1979 No. 8 of 1979 - SECT 3

3. Section 2 of the Principal Act is amended-

(a) by inserting after the definition of ''accounting officer'' the following
definition:
'' 'Auditor-General's Office' means the branch of the Australian Public
Service under the direct control of the Auditor-General;'';

   (b)  by omitting the definitions of ''Department'' and ''public moneys''
        and substituting the following definitions:

'' 'Department' means-

   (a)  a Department of State; or

   (b)  a Department of the Parliament,

and includes a prescribed authority;

'enactment' means-

   (a)  an Act;

   (b)  an Ordinance of the Australian Capital Territory; or

   (c)  an instrument (including rules, regulations or by-laws) made under an
        Act or under such an Ordinance;

'information storage device' means-

   (a)  a computer;

   (b)  papers or other materials on which there are marks, symbols,
        perforations or other indicators having a meaning for persons
        qualified to interpret them;

   (c)  a disc, tape or other device on which information may be stored; or

   (d)  a device, whether electronic or otherwise, capable of storing
        information;

'officer' means-

   (a)  a person who is employed by the Commonwealth;

   (b)  a person who-

        (i)    constitutes, or is acting as a person constituting, a
               prescribed authority;

        (ii)   is, or is acting as, a member of a prescribed authority or is a
               deputy of such a member; or

        (iii)  is employed by a prescribed authority;

   (c)  a member of the Defence Force;

   (d)  a Commonwealth Police Officer;

   (e)  a member of the Police Force of the Australian Capital Territory; or

   (f)  a person employed by the Commonwealth (other than a person referred to
        in a preceding paragraph of this definition) who is included in a
        class of persons employed by the Commonwealth declared by the
        regulations to be a class of persons to whom this paragraph applies;

'Ordinance', in relation to the Australian Capital Territory, includes a law
of a State that applies, or the provisions of a law of a State that apply, in
the Territory by virtue of an enactment;

'prescribed authority' means a body corporate, or an unincorporated body,
established for a public purpose by or under an enactment, being a body-

   (a)  that is declared by the regulations to be a prescribed authority for
        the purposes of this Act; or

   (b)  that is included in a class of bodies so established declared by the
        regulations to be a class of prescribed authorities for the purposes
        of this Act;

'public moneys' means revenue, loan, trust and other moneys received or held
by any person for or on behalf of the Commonwealth or a prescribed authority,
and includes all moneys forming part of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the
Loan Fund or the Trust Fund;'';

(c) by adding ''or a prescribed authority'' at the end of the definition of
''stores'';

   (d)  by omitting the definition of ''the Commonwealth Public Account''; and

   (e)  by adding at the end thereof the following sub-sections:

''(2) A reference in this Act to an Appropriation Act for a financial year
shall be read as a reference to an Act (whether cited as an Appropriation  Act
or otherwise) for the appropriation of moneys out of the Consolidated Revenue
Fund for the service of that financial year or for specified expenditure in
respect of that financial year.

''(3) For the purposes of this Act, where a person collects, receives or holds
a cheque or other instrument ordering or authorizing the payment of moneys,
being an instrument of a kind that may be lodged with a bank for the purpose
of enabling the bank to collect the moneys so payable and credit those moneys
to an account with the bank, the person-

   (a)  shall be deemed to have collected or received, or to hold, as the case
        may be, an amount of moneys equal to the sum so payable; and

   (b)  if the moneys so payable would, if they had been collected, received
        or held by him as moneys, be public moneys, shall be deemed to have
        collected or received, or to hold, as the case may be, an amount of
        public moneys equal to the sum so payable.

''(4) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears, a reference to an
efficiency audit of operations of a body or person shall be read as a
reference to-

   (a)  an examination of the functions performed by, and the operations
        carried on by, the body or person for the purpose of forming an
        opinion concerning the extent to which those operations are being
        carried on in an economical and efficient manner; and

   (b)  an examination of the procedures that are followed by the body or
        person for reviewing operations carried on by the body or person, and
        an evaluation of the adequacy of those procedures to enable the body
        or person to assess the extent to which those operations are being
        carried on in an economical and efficient manner.

''(5) In sub-section (4), a reference to a body shall be read as including a
reference to a Department of State and a Department of the Parliament.

''(6) For the purposes of this Act-

   (a)  a provision of this Act authorizing the Auditor-General or another
        person to have free access to, or to search, accounts or records shall
        be taken to authorize the Auditor-General or other person, in a case
        where accounts or records are kept by means of an information storage
        device, to have free access to, or to search, as the case may be, the
        information contained in the accounts or records, or in such extracts
        from the accounts or records as the Auditor-General or other person
        requests-

        (i)    in a form directed by the Auditor-General or other person; or

        (ii)   if the Auditor-General or other person has not given a
               direction for the purposes of sub-paragraph (i)-in a form that
               can be understood by sight;

   (b)  a person who is entitled, by or under this Act, to take a copy of, or
        extracts from, accounts or records is entitled, in a case where
        accounts or records are kept by means of an information storage
        device, to take a copy of, or extract from, the information contained
        in the accounts or records-

        (i)    in a form directed by the person; or

        (ii)   if the person has not given a direction for the purposes of
               sub-paragraph (i)-in a form that can be understood by sight;

   (c)  a requirement under this Act to produce accounts or records to the
        Auditor-General or to another person shall be taken to include a
        requirement to produce, in a case where the accounts or records are
        kept by means of an information storage device, the information
        contained in the accounts or records, or in such extracts from the
        accounts or records as the Auditor-General or other person requests-

        (i)    in a form directed by the Auditor-General or other person; or

        (ii)   if the Auditor-General or other person has not given a
               direction for the purposes of sub-paragraph (i)-in a form that
               can be understood by sight; and

   (d)  a provision of this Act authorizing or requiring the Auditor-General
        to inspect, examine or audit accounts or records shall, in a case
        where the accounts or records are kept by means of an information
        storage device, be taken to include a requirement authorizing or
        requiring the Auditor-General to be provided with the information
        contained in the accounts or records, or in such extracts from the
        accounts or records as the Auditor-General requests-

        (i)    in a form directed by the Auditor-General; or

        (ii)   if the Auditor-General has not given a direction for the
               purposes of sub-paragraph (i)-in a form that can be understood
               by sight.

''(7) Without limiting the powers of the Auditor-General, or of a person
authorized by the Auditor-General, under any other provision of this Act,
where the Auditor-General, or a person authorized by the Auditor-General, is
entitled, under another provision of this Act, to inspect, examine or audit
any accounts or records and those accounts or records are kept by means of an
information storage device, the Auditor-General or person so authorized is
entitled to be provided with such reasonable facilities for access to that
information storage device as he deems necessary for the performance of his
functions under this Act.''.