Portfolio Budget Statements - OFFICE of PARLIAMENTARY COUNSEL

Office of Parliamentary Counsel

Section 1: Entity overview and resources

1.1Strategic direction statement

The Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) was established by the Parliamentary Counsel Act 1970. OPC is the Commonwealth’s principal provider of professional legislative drafting and publishing services.

OPC delivers drafting and advisory services for Bills and subordinate legislation, prepares compilations of laws as amended and publishes laws and instruments on behalf of more than 70 Commonwealth entities. OPC also provides comprehensive, free access to Commonwealth legislation and related material through the ComLaw website.

In 2015–16, OPC will continue to be responsive to government priorities through:

•continuing to maintain a high standard of legislative drafting capability, in particular by providing substantial drafting training to its employees and by engaging in continuous improvement of drafting techniques

•continuing to progress work on practical measures to improve the clarity and accessibility of Commonwealth Acts and subordinate legislation

•continuing to encourage a high standard of legislative drafting proposals by providing advice to other entities on legislative projects and by training staff of policy entities who might be responsible for giving drafting instructions to OPC

•maintaining free online access to up-to-date Commonwealth laws and instruments through ComLaw

•continuing to work with other entities to reduce the regulatory burden, particularly by reducing legislative complexity, ensuring the repeal of spent instruments and assisting entitiesto manage the sunsetting of their legislative instruments.

1.2Entity resource statement

Table 1.1 shows the total resources from all sources.

Table 1.1: Entity resource statement—Budget estimates for 2015–16 as at Budget May 2015

Actual
available appropriation 2014–15
$’000 / Estimate of prior year amounts available in 2015–16 $’000 / Proposed at Budget 2015–16 $’000 / Total estimate 2015–16 $’000
ORDINARY ANNUAL SERVICES(a)
Departmental appropriation
Prior year appropriations(b) / 14,170 / 11,170 / – / 11,170
Departmental appropriation(c) / 16,363 / – / 15,195 / 15,195
s 74 retained revenue receipts(d) / 6,305 / – / 6,290 / 6,290
Total ordinary annual services / 36,838 / 11,170 / 21,485 / 32,655
Total net resourcing for entity / 36,838 / 11,170 / 21,485 / 32,655

All figures are GST exclusive.

(a) Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2015–16.

(b) Estimated adjusted balance carried forward from previous year.

(c) Includes an amount of $0.488m in 2015–16 for the departmental capital budget (seeTable3.2.5 for further details). For accounting purposes this amount has been designated as ‘contributions by owners’.

(d) Estimated retained revenue receipts under section 74 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. Includes an amount of $0.684m in 2015–16 for cost-recovered ComLaw depreciation.

1.3Budget measures

OPC has no new budget measures.

Section 2: Outcomes and planned performance

2.1Outcomes and performance information

Government outcomes are the intended results, impacts or consequences of actions by the government on the Australian community. Commonwealth programmes are the primary vehicle by which government entities achieve the intended results of their outcome statements. Entities are required to identify the programmes that contribute to government outcomes over the budget and forward years.

OPC’s outcome is described below together with its related programme, specifying the performance indicators and targets used to assess and monitor the performance of OPC in achieving government outcomes.

Outcome 1 strategy

OPC contributes to meeting this outcome by:

•providing draft legislation that represents the proposals of the executive government in a form that makes them available for scrutiny, and approval or rejection, by the Parliament

•providing draft legislation that is comprehensible, workable and legally effective

•adopting a consistent layout and format for legislation that is in a form that will enable ready accessibility for the public when published

•maintaining a high standard of legislative drafting capability, in particular by providing substantial drafting training to its employees and by continuously improving drafting techniques

•encouraging a high standard of legislative drafting proposals by providing advice to other entities on legislative projects and by training staff of policy entities who might be responsible for giving drafting instructions to OPC

•preparing timely and accurate compilations of legislation as amended

•publishing laws and instruments on behalf of more than 70 Commonwealth entities in a form that ensures they are accessible to the public.

Outcome 1 expense statement

Table 2.1 provides an overview of the total expenses for Outcome 1, by programme.

Table 2.1: Budgeted expenses for Outcome 1

Outcome 1: A body of Commonwealth laws and instruments that give effect to intended policy, and that are coherent, readable and readily accessible, through the drafting and publication of those laws and instruments / 2014–15 Estimated actual expenses $’000 / 2015–16 Estimated expenses $’000
Programme 1.1: Legislative drafting and publication
Departmental expenses
Departmental appropriation(a) / 21,150 / 20,997
Expenses not requiring appropriation in the budget year(b) / 448 / 624
Total expenses for Outcome 1 / 21,598 / 21,621
2014–15 / 2015–16
Average staffing level (number) / 93 / 98

Note: Departmental appropriation splits and totals are indicative estimates and may change in the course of the budget year as government priorities change.

(a) Departmental appropriation combines ‘Ordinary annual services (Appropriation Bill No. 1)’ and ‘Revenue from independent sources (s 74)’.

(b) Expenses not requiring appropriation in the budget year are made up of depreciation and amortisation expenses of $0.582m and audit fees of $0.042m.

Contributions to Outcome 1

Programme 1.1: Legislative drafting and publication
Programme 1.1 objectives
•To enable the government to carry out its legislative programme through the drafting of all Bills, all legislative instruments to be made or approved by the Governor-General (Federal Executive Council (ExCo) instruments) and a range of other instruments.
•To ensure Commonwealth laws and instruments are freely available and accessible to everyone by publishing those laws and instruments on the ComLaw website.
Programme 1.1 expenses
2014–15 Estimated actual $’000 / 2015–16 Budget $’000 / 2016–17 Forward estimate $’000 / 2017–18 Forward estimate $’000 / 2018–19 Forward estimate $’000
Annual departmental expenses
Legislation / 10,848 / 10,770 / 10,743 / 10,814 / 10,888
Program and project management / 971 / 964 / 962 / 968 / 975
Legislative drafting capability / 2,752 / 2,733 / 2,726 / 2,744 / 2,763
Standardisation and quality control of legislation / 1,619 / 1,607 / 1,603 / 1,614 / 1,625
Publication / 4,960 / 4,923 / 4,911 / 4,943 / 4,976
Expenses not requiring appropriation in the budget year(a) / 448 / 624 / 634 / 624 / 622
Total programme expenses / 21,598 / 21,621 / 21,579 / 21,707 / 21,849

(a) Expenses not requiring appropriation in the budget year are made up of depreciation and amortisation expenses and audit fees.

Programme 1.1 deliverables
Legislation
•Drafting of Bills and ExCo instruments in accordance with government priorities.
•Drafting of private members’ Bills where resources permit.
Program and project management
•Allocation of drafting work in accordance with priorities and management of legislative projects, so as to make optimum use of drafting resources.
Legislative drafting capability
•Training lawyers recruited to OPC in legislative drafting, to ensure the long-term viability of drafting resources.
•Training potential instructors in policy development and preparation of instructions, to ensure efficient use of drafting resources and quality of legislation.
•Legislative drafters maintain and improve drafting skills and knowledge.
Standardisation and quality control of legislation
•Consistently applying drafting standards and conventions to all Bills and ExCo instruments.
•Preparation of a Statute Law Revision Bill to correct technical errors and to remove Acts that no longer have any operation.
•Automatic repeal of solely commencing, amending or repealing legislative instruments and preparation of bulk repeal instruments for other legislative instruments.
•Working with entities to manage the sunsetting of legislative instruments.
Publication
•Timely publication of Acts on ComLaw in accordance with statutory requirements.
•Timely registration of new legislative instruments and gazette notices on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments in accordance with statutory requirements.
•Timely preparation and registration on ComLaw of accurate Act and legislative instrument compilations that are required to be prepared by OPC.
Deliverables / 2014–15 Estimated actual / 2015–16 Budget / 2016–17 Forward estimate / 2017–18 Forward estimate / 2018–19 Forward estimate
Average rating (rating scale 1–5) received on client survey forms for overall satisfaction with the drafting process and draft legislation / ≥4 / ≥4 / ≥4 / ≥4 / ≥4
Programme 1.1 key performance indicators
Legislation
•All Bills and ExCo instruments are drafted in accordance with government priorities and are supplied in accordance with deadlines for legislation processes.
•Private members’ Bills are drafted where resources permit.
•Bills and ExCo instruments reflect sponsors’ policy intentions and are legally effective.
Standardisation and quality control of legislation
•Drafting standards and conventions are applied consistently to all Bills and ExCoinstruments.
Publication
•New legislative instruments and gazette notices lodged for registration are registered promptly on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.
•New Acts are registered promptly on ComLaw.
•Act and legislative instrument compilations are registered promptly on ComLaw.
Key performance indicators / 2014–15 Estimated actual / 2015–16 Budget / 2016–17 Forward estimate / 2017–18 Forward estimate / 2018–19 Forward estimate
Proportion of client surveys that indicate Bills and ExCo instruments reflect sponsors’ policy intentions and are legally effective / 100% / 100% / 100% / 100% / 100%
Proportion of Bills and ExCo instruments where drafting standards and conventions are applied consistently / 100% / 100% / 100% / 100% / 100%
Proportion of legislative instruments and gazette notices that are registered on a specific date as required by lodging entities(a) / 100% / 100% / 100% / 100% / 100%
Proportion of other legislative instruments and gazette notices that are registered no later than two business days after lodgement(a) / 98% / 98% / 98% / 98% / 98%
Proportion of Acts that are registered on ComLaw no later than two working days after receipt of notification of Royal Assent(a) / 98% / 98% / 98% / 98% / 98%
Proportion of Act and legislative instrument compilations required to be prepared by OPC that are registered on ComLaw by the later of 90 days after Royal Assent or making date, or 28 days after commencement of the prospective amendments(a) / 100% / 100% / 100% / 100% / 100%

(a) These key performance indicators have been streamlined since the 2014–15 Budget to allow similar indicators to be combined and better aligned with the 2013–14 indicators.

Section 3: Explanatory tables and budgeted financial statements

Section 3 presents explanatory tables and budgeted financial statements that provide a comprehensive snapshot of entity finances for the 2015–16 budget year. It explains how budget plans are incorporated into the financial statements and provides furtherdetails of the reconciliation between appropriations and programme expenses.

3.1Explanatory tables

3.1.1Movement of administered funds between years

OPC has no administered funds.

3.1.2Special accounts

OPC has no special accounts.

3.1.3Australian Government Indigenous expenditure

OPC has no Indigenous-specific expenses.

3.2Budgeted financial statements

3.2.1Differences in entity resourcing and financial statements

There is no material difference between the entity resourcing and financial statements.

3.2.2Analysis of budgeted financial statements

Comprehensive income statement

OPC is budgeting for a small deficit attributable to the Australian Government in 2015–16 and the forward years. The amount of the deficit for each year is the amount of non-cost-recovered depreciation and amortisation expenses.

The decrease in appropriation funding for 2015–16 is primarily due to the termination of funding for the 2014–15additional estimates measure for drafting resources to support National Security—counter-terrorism.

The decrease in estimated supplier expenditure in 2015–16 is due to a reduction in property expenditure as a result of relocation to a single premises expected in August2015.

Balance sheet

Assets

For 2015–16, financial assets represent 64% of total assets. These funds have been set aside for repayment of employee liabilities as and when they fall due and to fund the future redevelopment of the ComLaw system.

Liabilities

OPC’s primary liability continues to be accrued employee entitlements. For 2015–16, the estimated liability of $6.017m represents 85% of total liabilities.

Equity

The annual departmental capital funding is included in contributed equity.

The decrease in equity across the forward years is due to depreciation and amortisation exceeding the departmental capital budget for asset replacement.

3.2.3Budgeted financial statements tables

Table 3.2.1: Comprehensive income statement (showing net cost of services)
for the period ended 30June

2014–15 Estimated actual $’000 / 2015–16 Budget $’000 / 2016–17 Forward estimate $’000 / 2017–18 Forward estimate $’000 / 2018–19 Forward estimate $’000
EXPENSES
Employee benefits / 15,488 / 15,848 / 16,540 / 16,771 / 16,918
Suppliers / 5,020 / 4,507 / 3,763 / 3,670 / 3,666
Depreciation and amortisation / 1,090 / 1,266 / 1,276 / 1,266 / 1,265
Total expenses / 21,598 / 21,621 / 21,579 / 21,707 / 21,849
LESS:
OWN-SOURCE INCOME
Own-source revenue
Sale of goods and rendering of services / 6,305 / 6,290 / 6,336 / 6,374 / 6,416
Other / 42 / 42 / 42 / 42 / 42
Total own-source revenue / 6,347 / 6,332 / 6,378 / 6,416 / 6,458
Total own-source income / 6,347 / 6,332 / 6,378 / 6,416 / 6,458
Net cost of (contribution by) services / 15,251 / 15,289 / 15,201 / 15,291 / 15,391
Revenue from government / 15,433 / 14,707 / 14,609 / 14,709 / 14,810
Surplus (deficit) attributable to the Australian Government / 182 / (582) / (592) / (582) / (581)
OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
Changes in asset revaluation surplus / – / – / – / – / –
Total other comprehensive income / – / – / – / – / –
Total comprehensive income (loss) / 182 / (582) / (592) / (582) / (581)
Total comprehensive income (loss) attributable to the Australian Government / 182 / (582) / (592) / (582) / (581)
Note: Impact of net cash appropriation arrangements
2014–15 $’000 / 2015–16 $’000 / 2016–17 $’000 / 2017–18 $’000 / 2018–19 $’000
Total comprehensive income (loss) excluding depreciation/amortisation expenses previously funded through revenue appropriations / 588 / – / – / – / –
Less depreciation/amortisation expenses previously funded through revenue appropriations / 406 / 582 / 592 / 582 / 581
Total comprehensive income (loss) as per the statement of comprehensive income / 182 / (582) / (592) / (582) / (581)