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Portfolio budget statements

Portfolio Budget Statements 2005-06

Environment and Heritage Portfolio
Budget Initiatives and Explanations of Appropriations 2005-06
Budget Related Paper No. 1.7
ISSN 1448-1219 (Online), 1448-1200 (Print)

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Agency Budget Statements (continued)
Department of the Environment and Heritage (continued)

Section 4 - Other Reporting Requirements

4.1: PURCHASER-PROVIDER ARRANGEMENTS

DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND HERITAGE
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY
NATURAL HERITAGE TRUST

CROSS AGENCY OVERVIEW

The Australian Government has provided over $1.3 billion to extend the Natural Heritage Trust (Trust) for six years from 2002-03 to 2007-08. The 2005-06 Budget provides for expenditure of $310.0 million for the Trust in 2005-06.

The Departments of the Environment and Heritage (DEH) and Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) have a cross-portfolio arrangement to administer the Trust. The Trust expenditure package is a $3 billion investment which is promoting an integrated long-term approach to the conservation and sustainable management of Australia's land, water, native vegetation and biodiversity.

The Trust has three overarching objectives. These are:

  1. biodiversity Conservation - the conservation of Australia's biodiversity through the protection and restoration of terrestrial, freshwater, estuarine and marine ecosystems and habitat for native plants and animals;
  2. sustainable Use of Natural Resources - the sustainable use and management of Australia's land, water and marine resources to maintain and improve the productivity and profitability of resource based industries; and
  3. community Capacity Building and Institutional Change - support for individuals, landholders, industry and communities with skills, knowledge, information and institutional frameworks to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource use and management.
RESPONSIBILITY

The Minister for the Environment and Heritage and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry jointly determine policy and major funding allocations from within the Trust.

The DEH and the DAFF have established a cross-portfolio unit, the Australian Government Natural Resource Management Team, to jointly implement the Trust.

CONTROL ARRANGEMENTS

The DEH and the DAFF are jointly responsible for the administration of the Trust, through the joint Australian Government Natural Resource Management Team.

RESOURCING

All the Trust's financial resources are included in the agency report of the Environment and Heritage portfolio.

Total funding for the Trust in 2005-06 is $310.0 million. The DEH will provide to the DAFF (through Section 31 of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997) $7.6 million in 2005-06 to fund the administration costs incurred in implementing the Trust.

PERFORMANCE AGAINST OUTCOMES AND OUTPUTS
Quantity
Quality
Efficiency

DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND HERITAGE
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY
NATIONAL ACTION PLAN FOR SALINITY AND WATER QUALITY

The DEH and the DAFF have a cross-portfolio arrangement in respect of the administration of the National Action Plan Salinity and Water Quality (NAP). The NAP is a $1.4 billion Commonwealth-State Territory programme that, over eight years, will continue to fund the development of integrated regional/catchment natural resource management plans and implementation of targeted high priority actions to address salinity, particularly dryland salinity, and deteriorating water quality in priority regions across Australia.

The goal of the NAP is to motivate and enable regional communities to use coordinated and targeted action to:

RESPONSIBILITY

The Minister for Environment and Heritage and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry jointly determine policy and major funding allocations from within the NAP.

The DEH and the DAFF have established a cross-portfolio unit, the Australian Government Natural Resource Management Team, to jointly implement the NAP.

CONTROL ARRANGEMENTS

The DEH and the DAFF are jointly responsible for the administration of the NAP, through the joint Australian Government Natural Resource Management Team.

RESOURCING

Total funding for the NAP in 2005-06 is $172.4 million which will be appropriated directly to the DAFF. The DAFF will provide to the DEH (through Section 31 of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997) $1.048 million in 2005-06 to fund the administration costs incurred in implementing the NAP.

PERFORMANCE AGAINST OUTCOMES AND OUTPUTS
Quantity
Quality
Efficiency

A monitoring and evaluation strategy is in place for NAP delivery in each State and Territory. The administration of the NAP is consistent with comparable grants and natural resource management programmes.

DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND HERITAGE
DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL PARKS

CROSS AGENCY OVERVIEW

The DEH has a purchaser-provider arrangement for the provision of corporate services under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Director of National Parks (DNP).

The Secretary of the DEH allocates funds to the DNP for the outcome: conservation and appreciation of Commonwealth reserves.

RESPONSIBILITY

The Secretary of the DEH is responsible for ensuring that the funds appropriated for the purchase of the DNP's outputs are provided to the Australian National Parks Fund. The DNP is responsible to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage.

CONTROL ARRANGEMENTS

The DNP is a Commonwealth authority and is subject to the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997.

RESOURCING

The DEH funding to the DNP in 2005-06 is $40.808 million.

PERFORMANCE AGAINST OUTCOMES AND OUTPUTS

Refer to the DNP Section of this document.

DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND HERITAGE
OFFICE OF THE RENEWABLE ENERGY REGULATOR

CROSS AGENCY OVERVIEW

The DEH has a cross agency agreement with the Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator (ORER) whereby the DEH provides a range of corporate services on a commercial basis.

RESPONSIBILITY

The Secretary of the DEH is responsible for ensuring that the agreed transactional corporate services are provided to the ORER.

CONTROL ARRANGEMENTS

The DEH is subject to the provisions of Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997.

PERFORMANCE AGAINST OUTCOMES AND OUTPUTS

Refer to ORER Section of the document.

4.2: COST RECOVERY ARRANGEMENTS

SUMMARY OF COST RECOVERY IMPACT STATEMENT

The DEH is committed to implementing the Australian Government's formal cost recovery policy. In accordance with this policy the DEH will adhere to the Australian Government's cost recovery guidelines when:

Summaries of Cost Recovery Impact Statements completed in 2004-05 are outlined as follows:

End-use regulations for refrigeration and air-conditioning industries under the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989

The Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989 introduced a power for the Australian Government to create regulations for the sale, purchase, storage, use or handling of ozone depleting substances (ODS) and synthetic greenhouse gases (SGG). The Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Amendment Regulations 2004 (No. 2) came in to effect on 1 January 2005.

Refrigeration and air-conditioning tradespeople including automotive technicians, persons installing split system domestic air conditioners and people wholesaling refrigerant gas, will be required to have a licence. Additionally, organisations that wish to buy and sell ODS and SGG for use in the refrigeration and air-conditioning industries must hold an authorisation for this.

The new national licensing system will replace State and Territory licensing systems, except in Queensland where no compatible system is in place. The charges will be set at either the same or at a lower level than the existing charges. In addition, technicians that operate across State and Territory borders will require only one national licence or authorisation instead of one in each State and Territory, as well as not being required to be reassessed and relicensed upon moving within Australia.

Imposing cost recovery charges on the businesses and individuals that will be the subject of the regulation is the most cost effective way of recovering costs for these activities. These fees will be recovered by charging an application fee for each licence and authorisation. The scheme proposes a flat rate fee for refrigerant handling licences of $100 over two years and a flat fee for refrigerant trading authorisations of $320 over two years. There are approximately 50,000 tradespersons in Australia that will require a licence under this scheme and approximately 15,000 businesses that will require an authorisation. The total revenue expected to be received by the Commonwealth is $4.92 million.

Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards Scheme Cost Recovery Impact Statement Summary

Objective

The Australian Government is introducing a cost recovery arrangement to place the mandatory national Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) Scheme on a long-term sustainable funding platform. The WELS Scheme was announced by the Australian Government in the 2003-04 Budget as part of the Urban Environment initiative. This scheme will inform consumers about the amount of water used by water-consuming devices (eg clothes washing machines) and establish minimum performance requirements.

Description

A single five-year fee of $1,500 will be charged to manufacturers when registering their products and renewing licenses with the Australian Government Regulator. Initially these products will include clothes washing machines, dishwashers, toilets, showers, taps and urinal systems.

Justification

The new arrangements are efficient and cost effective. Consumers will benefit from knowing the water efficiency of their purchases and also from the information and technical support that will be available through the WELS Scheme.

Legislative Authority

The Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards Act 2005 includes the provisions for the imposition of fees and charges through regulations.

Review Date

The Australian Government Regulator, in consultation with a State and Territory advisory committee, will review the fees and the costs of administering the WELS Scheme annually. An additional independent review will also be conducted every five years. The WELS Scheme has been approved under the Australian Government's Cost Recovery Policy.

4.3: AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT INDIGENOUS EXPENDITURE

Please refer to the Portfolio Table 1: Australian Government Indigenous Expenditure in the Portfolio Overview Section.

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