For the year ended 30 June 2021.
In the 2020-21 financial year there:
- were no instances of expenses incurred with Cabinet authority to use imprest supply but without appropriation prior to the end of the financial year (2019-20: $15.118 million)
- were no instances of expenses incurred in excess of appropriation and without prior Cabinet authority to use imprest supply (2019-20: $681.896 million)
- was 1 instance of expenditure incurred outside of appropriation in relation to Paid Parental Leave Payments (2019-20: $nil).
We have identified a breach in the scope of the non-departmental Paid Parental Leave Payments (PPL) appropriation from 1 March 2016, when amendments to the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 2016 became effective, to 1 March 2021.
|
Expenses type and appropriation name |
Amount without or exceeding appropriation |
|---|---|
|
Vote Revenue Benefits or related expenses |
|
| Paid parental leave payments | |
| 2020-21 | $1,450 |
| 2019-20 | $1,800 |
| 2018-19 | $1,600 |
| 2017-18 | $1,250 |
| 2016-17 | $1,200 |
| 2015-16 | $250 |
This is a scope breach, and there have been no subsequent breaches for this appropriation since 1 March 2021.
The scope breach was approved by the Minister of Revenue, but it was identified too late for inclusion in the Appropriation (2020-21 Supplementary Estimates) Bill. Therefore, it is unappropriated and requires validation.
This scope breach is now included in the Report on Unappropriated Expenses and Capital Expenditure tabled in the House of Representatives:
- In 2016, amendments were made to the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act. The amendments included changes to the entitlement and income calculations for parental leave payments for recipients who had multiple employments. In the period 1 April 2016 to 28 February 2021, some payments made by Inland Revenue to a small group of recipients with multiple employers were incorrectly calculated. These recipients potentially either did not qualify as they had not ceased all employment or did not include income from all employers when working out their average weekly income during their eligibility period. The legislative requirements are for all employment to be ceased and for income from all employments to be included to determine entitlement. These payments were not within the parameters of the legislation and therefore were not in the scope of the appropriation. System and process changes have been implemented, with effect from 1 March 2021, to mitigate the risk of future breaches in the scope of this appropriation.