Circular No 2011/01 - Ministerial Council for Federal Financial ...

Federal Financial Relations Circular 2011/01
19. If advice is not provided on or before the indicative return dates, the payment will be paid in
the subsequent month. There is limited flexibility with return dates as there are a number of
processes the Treasury needs to undertake subsequent to receipt of the APAFs to facilitate payment
on the specified date. Each month the Treasury undertakes quality assurance of the APAFs,
prepares and obtains Ministerial sign-off for the determination under the Federal Financial
Relations Act 2009, and prepares and uploads information on Govdex. The time needed to
adequately complete these processes has been taken into consideration when setting deadlines for
the provision of APAFs.
National Partnerships
20. To assure the Treasurer that National Partnership payments are accurate, appropriate and have
legal authority, the APAF must be certified by an authorised certifier.
21. Authorised certifiers will explicitly:
• provide assurance that the relevant Commonwealth Minister (or delegate) has determined that
the project payments can be paid in accordance with expenditure and performance reporting
arrangements set out in relevant National Partnership agreements and in accordance with
paragraph D31(c) of the Intergovernmental Agreement on Federal Financial Relations (IGA);
• provide assurance that Commonwealth Ministers and agencies have complied with the
Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act) and relevant FMA
Regulations before payments are made. The APAF explicitly requires certifiers to confirm
that agreements underlying the payments have been approved in accordance with FMA
Regulations (specifically Regulations 9 and 10) (Federal Finances Circular 2009/03 details
FMA obligations);
• confirm that the amounts recommended for payment are accurate and that appropriate control
processes are in place within the agency to support accurate advice (refer to Appendix B for
details on what is meant by accuracy and controls);
• confirm that National Partnership Agreements have been signed by jurisdictions for each
payment, using a drop down menu built into the APAF; and
• confirm that Implementation Plans (where relevant) have been agreed with jurisdictions for
each payment, using a drop down menu built into the APAF.
22. Agencies must advise the Treasury if there are no payments intended to be made for a month
by completing a nil APAF signed by an authorised certifier.
23. As confirmed in monthly APAFs, all payments must be supported by a relevant National
Partnership Agreement (or other written agreement), signed by relevant jurisdictions and the
Commonwealth and, where applicable, an Implementation Plan which outlines arrangements for
payments to the States and Territories. The COAG Reform Fund Act 2008 requires that payments to
the States and Territories may not be made without a written agreement specifying the terms and
conditions under which payment is made. Consequently, these National Partnership Agreements
and Implementation Plans must be provided to the Treasury, otherwise no payment can be made.
These agreements and Implementation Plans will be posted on the Federal Financial Relations
website – www.federalfinancialrelations.gov.au.
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