Administered Items

All those resources administered by the department on behalf of the Government. They may include transfer payments to the states and territories, grants and other benefits that contribute to achieving the Australian Government’s specified outcome.

Departmental Outputs

Those assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses controlled by the department and used to provide its goods and services, and therefore outputs to the Australian Government.

EFTSU

The acronym stands for Equivalent Full-Time Student Units. It is a way of quantifying numbers of student places, given that many students study part-time. One EFTSU represents a standard annual full-time workload.

Outcomes - Outputs

An Outcome is something that the Australian Government wishes to achieve. An Output is something the department does to achieve the Outcome.

Purchaser/provider

The purchaser/provider model of service delivery is becoming more common. Broadly defined, it involves two separate agents. The first is the purchaser who decides what will be produced. The second is the ultimate provider who delivers the agreed outputs. Purchaser/provider type arrangements stand in contrast to the more traditional modes of direct service delivery in the Public Service.

Resources

The term, resources, is normally used to describe funds. There are tables in this Annual Report that show the resources invested in each of the department’s three Outcomes. That is, they show the funds supplied and expended to achieve each of the outcomes. The term, human resources, refers to the department’s staff.

Act of Grace payments

Section 33(1) of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 provides that, in special circumstances, the Commonwealth may pay an amount to a person notwithstanding that the Commonwealth is authorised by law or required to meet a legal liability.

The Advance to the Finance Minister (AFM)

Is a provision authorised by the annual Appropriation Acts and made available to the Finance Minister as a central contingency fund to provide urgent funding to agencies through the year.

Annual Appropriations

Acts that appropriate moneys for expenditure in relation to the Australian Government’s activities during the financial year.

Appropriation Act (No. 1)

An Act to appropriate moneys from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the ordinary annual services of the Australian Government.

Appropriation Act (No. 2)

An Act to appropriate moneys from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for other than ordinary annual services. Under arrangements between the two Houses of Parliament this Act includes appropriations in respect of new policies (apart from those funded under Special Appropriations), capital works and services, plant and equipment and payments to the states and the Northern Territory.

Appropriation Acts (Nos 3 and 4)

Where an amount provided in an Appropriation Act (No. 1 or 2) is insufficient to meet approved obligations falling due in a financial year, additional appropriation may be provided in a further Appropriation Act (No. 3 or No. 4). Appropriations may also be provided in these Acts for new expenditure proposals.

Benefit payments

Financial assistance paid directly to an individual, or on behalf of an individual, who meets the prescribed eligibility criteria for departmental programmes. The payments are non-reciprocal and assist the individual to obtain education or training. These payments are not subject to formal acquittal requirements but are subject to special arrangements, the terms and conditions of which are discussed in the relevant programme guidelines.

Cash flows from financing activities

Refers to activities which relate to changing the size and composition of the financial structure of the entity, including equity and borrowing not falling within the definition of cash.

Cash flows from investing activities

Refers to activities which relate to the acquisition and disposal of non-current assets, including property, plant and equipment and other productive assets and investments such as securities not falling within the definition of cash.

Cash flows from operating activities

Refers to expenditures that are classified as operating transactions rather than outlays because they are considered to relate to the departmental funding via the granting of appropriations and section 31 receipts. The outflows relate to departmental employee and administrative expenses.

Expenses

Consumption or losses of service potential or future economic benefits in the form of reduction in assets or increases in liabilities of the entity, other than those relating to distribution to owners that result in a decrease in equity.

Financial Management and Accountability (FMA) Act 1997

The principal legislation governing the proper use and management of public money, public property and other Commonwealth resources. FMA Regulations and FMA Orders are made pursuant to the Act.

Grants

Financial assistance paid to another government or organisation subject to certain conditions: it is non-reciprocal in nature; terms and conditions are set out in an agreement, correspondence or in legislation; assistance must be acquitted at the expiration of the agreement or at prescribed periods. Examples include payments under the States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education) Assistance Act, and the Higher Education Funding Act.

Official Public Account (OPA)

The main bank account of the Commonwealth.

Revenues

Revenues (in accrual accounting and reporting contexts) are inflows or other enhancements; or savings in outflows of service potential; or future economic benefits in the form of increases in assets; or reductions in liabilities of the entity other than those relating to contributions by owners that result in an increase in equity during the reporting period.

Special (Standing) Appropriation

Monies appropriated by a specific Act of Parliament for a specific purpose (for example, grants to states for schools). They may or may not be for a specific amount of money or particular period of time. Special Appropriations do not require annual spending authorisation by the Parliament because they do not lapse at the end of each financial year. A distinction is sometimes made between Standing and Special Appropriations (although for the purposes of these financial statements both are comprehended by the term ‘Special Appropriation’). Standing Appropriations refer to an open-ended appropriation of the Consolidated Revenue Fund by the enabling Act of a legislatively-based programme: the amount appropriated will depend on the demand for payments by claimants satisfying programme eligibility criteria specified in the legislation. Special Appropriations can be regarded as somewhere between Standing and Annual Appropriations: where a specified amount is provided, it is included in a separate Bill authorising the particular programme and can be specified for any number of years.

Subsidies

Financial assistance paid to an organisation to reduce the cost to that organisation of providing employment and training opportunities.

ABC

Australian Broadcasting Commission

ABSTUDY

Aboriginal Study Assistance Scheme

AEs

Additional Estimates

AEI

Australian Education International

AFL

Australian Flexible Learning

ANR

Annual National Report on Schooling in Australia

ANTA

Australian National Training Authority

ANTA MINCO

Australian National Training Authority – Ministerial Council

ANZSOG

Australia and New Zealand School of Government

APEC

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

ARC

Australian Research Council

AREN

Australian Research and Education Network

AWA

Australian Workplace Agreement

BITES

Basic IT Enabling Skills

BOTPLS

Bridging Course for Overseas Trained Professionals Loans Scheme

CA

Certified Agreement

CAT

Career and Transition Pilot programme

CDAC

Career Development Assessment Centres

COAG

Council of Australian Governments

CRC

Cooperative Research Centre

CRICOS

Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students

CSIRO

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

CTC

Competitive Tendering and Contracting

DEST

Department of Education, Science and Training

DIMIA

Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs

eCoE

electronic Confirmation of Enrolment

EIS

Environmental Impact Statement

ELICOS

English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students

ESOS

Education Services for Overseas Students

HEBAC

Higher Education Bandwidth Advisory Committee

HECS

Higher Education Contribution Scheme

HEIIAC

Higher Education Information Infrastructure Advisory Committee

IEDA

Indigenous Education Direct Assistance

IESIP

Indigenous Education Strategic Initiatives Programme

LIFT

Leadership Imperative For Tomorrow

LLNP

Language, Literacy and Numeracy Programme

MCEETYA

Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs

MNRF

Major National Research Facility

NAAP

New Apprenticeships Access Programme

NAIP

New Apprenticeships Incentive Programme

NCVER

National Centre for Vocational Education Research

NIAS

National Innovation Awareness Strategy

NOOSR

National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition

OECD

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PELS

Postgraduate Education Loans Scheme

PISA

Programme for International Student Assessment

PMRT

Performance Measurement and Reporting Taskforce

PMSEIC

Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council

POEM

Partnership Outreach Education Model

PRISMS

Provider Registration and International Students Management System

PROMISe

Procurement Management System

PSDP

Professional Services Development Programme

SWIM

Senior Women In Management programme

TYIMS

Training and Youth Internet Management System

UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UMAP

Australian University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific Programme

VEGAS

Vocational and Educational Guidance for Aboriginals Scheme

WELL

Workplace English Language and Literacy

WTO

World Trade Organisation