Appropriation Act (No. 5) 2025-2026

No. 51, 2026

An Act to appropriate additional money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the ordinary annual services of the Government, and for related purposes

Contents

Part 1—Preliminary 2

1 Short title 2

2 Commencement 2

3 Definitions 2

4 Portfolio statements 4

5 Notional transactions between entities that are part of the Commonwealth 4

Part 2—Appropriation items 5

6 Summary of appropriations 5

7 Departmental items 5

8 Administered items 5

9 Corporate entity items 5

Part 3—Miscellaneous 7

10 Crediting amounts to special accounts 7

11 Appropriation of the Consolidated Revenue Fund 7

12 Repeal of this Act 7

Schedule 1—Services for which money is appropriated 8

An Act to appropriate additional money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the ordinary annual services of the Government, and for related purposes

[Assented to 26 June 2026]

The Parliament of Australia enacts:

 1 Preliminary
1 Short title

This Act is the Appropriation Act (No. 5) 2025-2026.
2 Commencement 1

Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.
Commencement information Commencement information Commencement information
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3
Provisions Commencement Date/Details
1. The whole of this Act The day this Act receives the Royal Assent. 26 June 2026

Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.

 2

Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.
3 Definitions

In this Act:

administered item means an amount set out in Schedule 1 opposite an outcome for a non-corporate entity under the heading “Administered”.

corporate entity means:

 a

(a) a corporate Commonwealth entity within the meaning of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013; or

 b

a Commonwealth company within the meaning of that Act.

corporate entity item means the total amount set out in Schedule 1 in relation to a corporate entity under the heading “Administered”.

departmental item means the total amount set out in Schedule 1 in relation to a non-corporate entity under the heading “Departmental”.

expenditure means payments for expenses, acquiring assets, making loans or paying liabilities.

item means any of the following: an administered item; a corporate entity item; a departmental item.

Note: The amounts set out opposite outcomes for corporate entities, under the heading “Administered”, are “notional”. They are not part of the item, and do not in any way restrict the scope of the expenditure authorised by the item.

Note: The amounts set out opposite outcomes, under the heading “Departmental”, are “notional”. They are not part of the item, and do not in any way restrict the scope of the expenditure authorised by the item.

 a

an administered item;

 b

a corporate entity item;

 c

a departmental item.

non-corporate entity means:

 a

(a) a non-corporate Commonwealth entity within the meaning of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013; or

 b

the High Court.

Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements means the Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements that were tabled in the Senate or the House of Representatives in relation to the Bill for the Appropriation Act (No. 3) 2025-2026 and the Bill for the Appropriation Act (No. 4) 2025-2026.

Portfolio Budget Statements means the Portfolio Budget Statements that were tabled in the Senate or the House of Representatives in relation to the Bill for the Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2025-2026 and the Bill for the Appropriation Act (No. 2) 2025-2026.

portfolio statements means:

 a

the Portfolio Budget Statements; and

 b

the Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements; and

 c

the Portfolio Supplementary Additional Estimates Statements.

Portfolio Supplementary Additional Estimates Statements means the Portfolio Supplementary Additional Estimates Statements that were tabled in the Senate or the House of Representatives in relation to the Bill for this Act and the Bill for the Appropriation Act (No. 6) 2025-2026.

special account has the same meaning as in the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
4 Portfolio statements

The portfolio statements are declared to be relevant documents for the purposes of Acts Interpretation Act 1901.section 15AB of the

Note: See paragraph 15AB(2)(g) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 which provides that the material that may be considered in the interpretation of a provision of an Act includes any document that is declared by the Act to be a relevant document.
5 Notional transactions between entities that are part of the Commonwealth

For the purposes of this Act, notional transactions between non-corporate entities are to be treated as if they were real transactions.

Note: This section applies, for example, to a “payment” between non-corporate entities that are both part of the Commonwealth. One of the effects of this section is that the payment will be debited from an appropriation for the paying non-corporate entity, even though no payment is actually made from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. This is consistent with Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.section 76 of the

2 Appropriation items
6 Summary of appropriations

The total of the items specified in Schedule 1 is $2,732,762,000.

Note: Sections 74 to 75 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 provide for the adjustment of amounts appropriated by this Act.
7 Departmental items

The amount specified in a departmental item for a non-corporate entity may be applied for the departmental expenditure of the entity.
8 Administered items 1

The amount specified in an administered item for an outcome for a non-corporate entity may be applied for expenditure for the purpose of contributing to achieving that outcome.

 2

If the portfolio statements indicate that activities of a particular kind were intended to be treated as activities in respect of a particular outcome, then expenditure for the purpose of carrying out those activities is taken to be expenditure for the purpose of contributing to achieving the outcome.
9 Corporate entity items 1

The amount specified in a corporate entity item for a corporate entity may be paid to the entity to be applied for the purposes of the entity.

 2

If:

 a

an Act provides that a corporate entity must be paid amounts that are appropriated by the Parliament for the purposes of the entity; and

 b

Schedule 1 contains a corporate entity item for that entity;

then the entity must be paid the full amount specified in the item.
3 Miscellaneous
10 Crediting amounts to special accounts

If any of the purposes of a special account is a purpose that is covered by an item (whether or not the item expressly refers to the special account), then amounts may be debited against the appropriation for that item and credited to that special account.
11 Appropriation of the Consolidated Revenue Fund

The Consolidated Revenue Fund is appropriated as necessary for the purposes of this Act, including the operation of this Act as affected by the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
12 Repeal of this Act

This Act is repealed at the start of 1 July 2028.
Services for which money is appropriated

Note: See sections 6 and 11.

[Minister’s second reading speech made in—

House of Representatives on 12 May 2026

Senate on 22 June 2026]

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