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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 9 Hansard (21 August) . . Page.. 2645 ..

MR QUINLAN (continuing):

The Public Access to Government Contracts Amendment Bill 2002 does this. It confirms the responsibility of chief executive officers to ensure that their agency complies with the act, and it specifies the following reporting requirements: at the end of each six-month reporting period, government agencies are required to provide the Auditor-General with a list of all government contracts containing a confidentiality clause entered into by the agency during the six-month period, or a statement to the Auditor-General that the agency did not enter into any contracts containing a confidentiality clause during the six-month period.

This reporting requirement will be introduced for the next full six-month reporting period, which commences on 22 December 2002 and finishes on 21 June 2003. In addition to introducing this amendment, the government also agreed to the other recommendations made in Report No 28 of the Standing Committee on Public Finance and Administration-an excellent report, I might add-including establishing a review team to examine the operation of the act.

This review will be reporting to the government later this year. Following receipt of this report the government will be able to determine whether other actions are required to improve the operation of this act. If any further changes to the legislation are proposed, it is expected that they will be brought forward to the Assembly for consideration during the autumn 2003 sitting.

In presenting this bill the government is demonstrating its commitment to transparency and accountability in all aspects of government procurement. I commend the Public Access to Government Contracts Amendment Bill 2002 to the Assembly.

Debate (on motion by Mr Humphries ) adjourned to the next sitting.

Financial Management Amendment Bill 2002

Mr Quinlan, pursuant to notice, presented the bill and its explanatory memorandum.

Title read by Clerk.

MR QUINLAN (Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Business and Tourism, Minister for Sport, Racing and Gaming and Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Corrections) (10.57): I move:

That this bill be agreed to in principle.

Mr Speaker, today I am introducing the Financial Management Amendment Bill 2002. This bill provides for a number of amendments to the Financial Management Act 1996. The Financial Management Act is the cornerstone of the territory's financial reporting and accountability framework. It is therefore important to ensure that the act helps to provide a fundamentally sound financial management framework within which the territory can operate, and that the obligations imposed by the act are clear and unambiguous.

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