Program 1.4: General revenue assistance
Program objective
The objectives of program 1.4 are to make general revenue assistance payments to the States and Territories. General revenue assistance payments consist of:
- payments of revenue received from the GST, which, in accordance with the Intergovernmental Agreement, the Commonwealth administers on behalf of the States, and which are provided without conditions for each State and Territory to spend according to their own budget priorities;
- payments to the Australian Capital Territory to assist in meeting the additional municipal costs which arise from Canberra’s role as the national capital and to compensate for the additional costs resulting from the national capital planning influences on the provision of water and sewerage services;
- payments to Western Australia to compensate for the loss of royalty revenue resulting from the removal in the 2008-09 Budget of the exemption of condensate from crude oil excise;
- payments to Western Australia as a share of royalties collected by the Commonwealth under the Offshore Petroleum (Royalty) Act 2006 in respect of the North West Shelf oil and gas project off the coast of Western Australia;
- payments to the Northern Territory in lieu of royalties on uranium mining in the Ranger Project Area due to the Commonwealth’s ownership of uranium in the Northern Territory; and
- payments to New South Wales and Victoria to compensate for Commonwealth taxes paid by Snowy Hydro Ltd in proportion to the States’ shareholdings.
Elements of this program are linked to the Resources, Energy and Tourism portfolio.
Program deliverables
The program deliverables are:
- General revenue assistance payments to the States and Territories are made according to the payment arrangements specified in the Intergovernmental Agreement.
Key performance indicators
The key performance indicators are:
- the Commonwealth Treasury will make general revenue assistance payments to the States and Territories that reflect the requirements, the amounts and timeframes specified in the Intergovernmental Agreement; and
- the Commonwealth Treasury will provide GST revenue data on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis, and will maintain a schedule of estimates of annual net GST receipts, in accordance with the requirements of the Intergovernmental Agreement.
Analysis of performance
In accordance with the Intergovernmental Agreement, total general revenue assistance payments of $47.1 billion were made to the States and Territories in 2011-12. Payments included:
- GST payments to the States and Territories totalling $46.0 billion;
- payments to Western Australia of a share of royalties collected by the Commonwealth under the Offshore Petroleum (Royalty) Act 2006 totalling $0.9 billion; and
- other general revenue assistance payments totalling $185 million.
The Treasury also recouped $0.7 billion in GST administration costs in 2011-12.
Monthly, quarterly and annual GST revenue data were provided by the twentieth of each month in accordance with the requirements of the Intergovernmental Agreement.
All payments were accurately determined and made in a timely manner.