The Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2025-2026 authorises payments from the Consolidated Revenue Fund to meet the ordinary annual services of the Australian Government for the remaining seven months of the 2025-26 financial year and gives effect to approved 2025-26 Budget measures, savings and machinery-of-government changes.
It re-introduces lapsed Supply and Appropriation Bills, updating allocations to reflect the 2025 Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Outlook, selected election commitments, terminating measures and direct appropriations for two new Commonwealth entities.
The Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2025-2026 proposes to appropriate specified sums for:
Key features:
The Bill reflects machinery-of-government changes effective 13 May and 1 July 2025, variations from the 2025 PEFO, $800 million of savings on consultants and contractors, selected terminating measures and direct appropriations for the Defence and Veterans’ Services Commission and the Australian Naval Nuclear Power Safety Regulator.
The Constitution requires separate appropriation bills for ordinary annual services (ss 53–54), ensuring that Parliament exercises its fundamental power of the purse. Passing this Bill honours that legal mandate and upholds democratic accountability.
Stable government funding is essential to maintain core public services—from health and social support to national defence and regulatory bodies. Without timely appropriations, departments and agencies would lack the legal authority to meet payroll, deliver benefits and enforce laws, risking disruption to the peace and order of society [Judgment].
The Bill also reflects responsible fiscal management: it incorporates updated economic forecasts (PEFO variations), election-mandated savings and targeted funding for emerging priorities, all subject to parliamentary scrutiny through the AFM reporting and Portfolio Budget Statements. This balance of adaptability and oversight promotes both efficient administration and democratic legitimacy.
While appropriations are necessary, the Bill’s complexity—with hundreds of line items, notional transactions and cross-portfolio machinery-of-government adjustments—makes effective parliamentary scrutiny nearly impossible. Aggregating diverse programs into a single supply Bill risks obscuring significant spending decisions from public view [Judgment].
The Advance to the Finance Minister (AFM) mechanism grants up to $400 million of discretionary spending authority that is exempt from disallowance, undermining the Parliament’s constitutional role to control expenditure. Although accompanied by reporting requirements, AFM allocations occur without the same level of debate and can erode long-term fiscal discipline.
Moreover, by re-introducing lapsed Bills with only minor adjustments, the Government effectively sidelines fresh mandate and debate on nearly identical appropriations. This procedural shortcut diminishes transparent legislative engagement and weakens democratic accountability over how the public’s money is allocated.
2025-07-30
House of Representatives
Before House of Representatives
Unspecified
Finance
Democratic Institutions, Financial Regulation