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Financial Management Regulations 2014S.R. No. 29/2014

TABLE OF PROVISIONS

Regulation Page

PART 1—PRELIMINARY 1

1 Objective 12 Authorising provision 13 Commencement 14 Revocation 25 Definitions 26 Prescribed authorities 37 Application 3

PART 2—ADMINISTRATION OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE 4

8 Unidentified and surplus money and unpresented cheques 49 Expenditure of Royal Commissions and Boards of Inquiry 4

PART 3—INVESTIGATION OF LOSS OR DAMAGE 6

10 Preliminary notice before investigation 611 Appointment of investigator 612 Relevant employee representation 713 Access to assistance and information 714 Notice to relevant employee 715 Conduct of investigation 816 Witness suspected of causing or contributing to incident 917 Report on completed investigation 918 Copies of report 11

PART 4—INSPECTION OF RECORDS 12

19 Inspection of records of authorities 12__________________

SCHEDULE—Prescribed Authorities 13

═══════════════ENDNOTES 14

1

STATUTORY RULES 2014

S.R. No. 29/2014

Financial Management Act 1994

Financial Management Regulations 2014

The Governor in Council makes the following Regulations:

Dated: 13 May 2014

Responsible Minister:

ROBERT CLARKMinister for Finance

CHIARA EDWARDSActing Clerk of the Executive Council

PART 1—PRELIMINARY

1 Objective

The objective of these Regulations is to facilitate—

(a) economic, effective and efficient financial management; and

(b) the efficient and fair investigation of losses of or deficiencies in public money and loss or destruction of, or damage to, other property of the State.

2 Authorising provision

These Regulations are made under section 59 of the Financial Management Act 1994.

3 Commencement

1

These Regulations come into operation on 17 May 2014.

4 Revocation

The following Regulations are revoked—

(a) the Financial Management Regulations 20041;

(b) the Financial Management (Amendment) Regulations 20062.

5 Definitions

In these Regulations—

employee has the same meaning as in the Public Administration Act 2004;

empowered officer means an accountable officer or a chief finance and accounting officer;

incident means—

(a) loss of or deficiency in public money; or

(b) loss or destruction of, or damage to, other property of the State;

investigation means an investigation under section 57 of the Act;

investigator means a person appointed under regulation 11;

relevant employee, in relation to an investigation, means the employee in relation to whom the investigation is being, or is proposed to be, conducted;

relevant incident, in relation to an investigation, means the incident to which the investigation relates;

the Act means the Financial Management Act 1994.


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6 Prescribed authorities

For the purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of authority in section 3 of the Act, a body specified in the Schedule is prescribed as an authority.

7 Application

(1) These Regulations (other than Part 3) apply to—

(a) all departments; and

(b) the bodies specified in Column 1 of the Schedule with respect to the money specified in Column 2 of the Schedule in relation to the bodies.

(2) Part 3 applies to all departments.

__________________


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PART 2—ADMINISTRATION OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE

8 Unidentified and surplus money and unpresented cheques

(1) Money received that cannot be identified or that is surplus must be paid to the Treasury Trust Fund until the relevant circumstances are clarified.

(2) If a cheque remains unpresented after 15 months after the date it is issued—

(a) the cheque must be cancelled; and

(b) on the day the cheque is cancelled, an amount equal to the face value of the cheque must be paid into the Treasury Trust Fund from the account on which the cheque was drawn.

9 Expenditure of Royal Commissions and Boards of Inquiry

(1) Expenses and obligations may only be incurred or met by a Royal Commission or Board of Inquiry—

(a) if authorised by an Order in Council; and

(b) to the extent of the maximum amount provided in the Order.

(2) The Order in Council must be—

(a) published in the Government Gazette within 14 days after the making of the Order; and

(b) laid before both Houses of Parliament—

(i) within that time; or

(ii) if a House is not sitting, within 14 days after the next meeting of that House.


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(3) The maximum amount referred to in subregulation (1)(b) may be increased by a further Order in Council published and tabled in accordance with subregulation (2).

__________________


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PART 3—INVESTIGATION OF LOSS OR DAMAGE

10 Preliminary notice before investigation

If, under section 57(3) of the Act, an empowered officer directs that an investigation be held, the empowered officer must cause to be served on the relevant employee a preliminary notice—

(a) specifying the name, position and address of the empowered officer; and

(b) informing the relevant employee of the direction that an investigation is to be held; and

(c) specifying, in relation to the relevant incident—

(i) the date and time the incident occurred; and

(ii) all persons involved in the incident; and

(iii) a detailed description of the circumstances of the incident; and

(iv) the nature of any breach of the employee's obligations; and

(d) drawing the attention of the relevant employee to section 57 of the Act and these Regulations.

11 Appointment of investigator

(1) An empowered officer who has complied with regulation 10 must appoint a person to carry out the investigation.

(2) The empowered officer must not appoint as the investigator a person who is, or was at the time of the relevant incident, an empowered officer of the department employing the relevant employee.


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12 Relevant employee representation

(1) A relevant employee may make a written nomination of an employee of the department or another person to assist the relevant employee in relation to the investigation, including by acting on the relevant employee's behalf as required.

(2) Only a person nominated under subregulation (1) may act on the relevant employee's behalf in relation to the investigation.

(3) If a nomination has not been made under subregulation (1) within 7 days after the preliminary notice is served on the relevant employee, the empowered officer may nominate a suitable person to assist the relevant employee during the conduct of the investigation.

13 Access to assistance and information

(1) The empowered officer, on request by an investigator, may make officers available or engage other persons to assist the investigator to conduct the investigation.

(2) For the purposes of conducting and reporting on the investigation, the investigator—

(a) is entitled to full and free access to accounts and records relating to the relevant incident; and

(b) may make copies of, and take extracts from, those accounts and records.

14 Notice to relevant employee

(1) Within 7 days after appointing an investigator, the empowered officer must cause to be served on the relevant employee a notice—


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(a) specifying the name of—

(i) the investigator; and

(ii) the person nominated under regulation 12(3), if applicable; and

(b) specifying the place, date and time appointed for any interview of the relevant employee; and

(c) inviting the relevant employee to make—

(i) a written submission in relation to the relevant incident; or

(ii) a written request that a nominated person be included in the investigation as a witness; and

(d) specifying the period within which, and the address to which, a written submission or request must be sent; and

(e) informing the relevant employee of the relevant employee's entitlement to make an oral submission to the investigator instead of, or in addition to, a written submission.

(2) The relevant employee may make a written submission or request referred to in subregulation (1)(c) within—

(a) the period specified in the notice; or

(b) a different period agreed by the investigator.

15 Conduct of investigation

(1) In conducting an investigation, including any interview of the relevant employee—

(a) the procedure is at the discretion of the investigator; and


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(b) the investigation must be conducted in private with as little formality and technicality and with as much expedition as the matters being investigated permit; and

(c) the investigator is not bound by the rules of evidence; and

(d) any reasonable written request by the relevant employee for the inclusion of a witness in the investigation must be agreed to by the investigator.

(2) In any interview of the relevant employee, the relevant employee must be—

(a) given a reasonable opportunity to make oral submissions; and

(b) invited to make a further written submission.

16 Witness suspected of causing or contributing to incident

If the investigator considers that a witness (other than the relevant employee) who is an employee may have caused or contributed to the relevant incident, the investigator must as soon as practicable notify the witness in writing of section 57 of the Act and the requirements of these Regulations.

17 Report on completed investigation

(1) The investigator must give a report on the investigation to the empowered officer within—

(a) 3 months after completing the investigation; or

(b) such further period as the empowered officer allows.

(2) The investigation report must state all relevant facts and findings.


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(3) In addition, the investigation report must include the following—

(a) reasons for the findings of the investigator;

(b) a statement of any defects in administrative practices and procedures that, in the opinion of the investigator, contributed to the relevant incident;

(c) a statement of the amount that, in the opinion of the investigator, is equal to—

(i) in the case of loss of or deficiencies in money, the amount of the loss or deficiency; or

(ii) in the case of loss or destruction of property, the value of the property lost or destroyed; or

(iii) in the case of damage to property, the expense of repairing the damage to the property or the value of the property, whichever is the less;

(d) if the report contains a finding that the relevant employee has caused or contributed to the relevant incident, particulars of any mitigating circumstances, including the following—

(i) the extent of the work experience of the employee;

(ii) the extent to which the employee was supervised in the performance of those duties of the employee that related to the money or property in relation to which the relevant incident occurred;

(iii) the adequacy of official instructions given to the employee with respect to those duties;


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(iv) the conditions under which, at the time of the relevant incident, the employee was required to perform the employee's duties, including the workload and the facilities for the performance of those duties;

(v) the reliability and efficiency of the employee's work performance generally;

(vi) the amount of any allowances to which the employee was entitled by way of compensation for the assumption of responsibility for public money or other property of the State;

(e) a record of any objection made by the relevant employee or any witness in relation to the procedure followed in the course of the investigation;

(f) the reasons for refusing any request by the relevant employee for a witness to be examined.

18 Copies of report

The empowered officer must send a copy of the investigation report to the relevant employee within 7 days after receiving the report.

__________________


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PART 4—INSPECTION OF RECORDS

19 Inspection of records of authorities

A person employed in the Department of Treasury and Finance may—

(a) inspect the accounting and financial records of an authority; and

(b) report to the Minister—

(i) any lack of uniformity in the form of the accounts; or

(ii) any deficiency in the authority's system of accounts or internal controls.

__________________


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SCHEDULE

PRESCRIBED AUTHORITIES

Regulation 6

Item No.

Column 1Authority

Column 2Specified Money

1 Environment Protection Authority established under section 5 of the Environment Protection Act 1970

Money forming part of the Public Account

2 Roads Corporation established under section 80 of the Transport Integration Act 2010


3 Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation established under section 6 of the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation Act 2011


4 Victorian Health Promotion Foundation established under section 16 of the Tobacco Act 1987


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Sch.

ENDNOTES

Endnotes


14

1 Reg. 4(a): S.R. No. 42/2004 as amended by S.R. No. 152/2006.2 Reg. 4(b): S.R. No. 152/2006.

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