Bill
Accountability of Grants, Investment Mandates and Use of Public Resources Amendment (End Pork Barrelling) Bill 2024 [No. 2]
lapsed, as at 2025-03-28.
- Sponsor
- Helen Haines
- Portfolio
- Not recorded
Recorded stages
- introduced — 2024-11-04
- second reading — 2024-11-04
- other — 2025-03-28
Divisions
No divisions recorded. Most questions are decided on the voices; this does not establish that a bill was unopposed.
Plain-language summary
Written by a model from the explanatory memorandum; not the record, as at 2024-11-04.
The bill would tighten rules on how the federal government awards grants to stop public money being used for political advantage.
It would give the Public Service Commissioner new powers to investigate and punish misconduct related to grant spending, and create a parliamentary committee to oversee grants and investment mandates.
Ministers would have to report to Parliament when they approve a grant in their own electorate or against official advice, and extra reporting would apply to grant programs worth more than $100 million.
- Removes the exemption that lets corporate Commonwealth entities avoid the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Principles.
- Requires all grant programs to use merit-based selection criteria and publish clear guidelines.
- Makes key grant rules legally binding instead of just ministerial guidelines.
- Forces ministers to table annual reports on how investment mandates are followed and makes those mandates subject to parliamentary disallowance.
- Grants the Public Service Commissioner the ability to start investigations and impose sanctions for breaches of the resource management code of conduct.
Commonwealth government agencies, corporate Commonwealth entities, ministers, public servants, and the Parliament.
Sources
em
billhome