Disposals of relevant property

Public resources: means relevant money, relevant property, or appropriations (section 8 of the PGPA Act).

Relevant property: means property (other than relevant money) that is owned or held by the Commonwealth or a corporate Commonwealth entity (section 8 of the PGPA Act).

The PGPA Act imposes duties on accountable authorities and officials. Any disposal of relevant property would need to be consistent with those duties.

Aside from the power to gift relevant property (section 66 of the PGPA Act) there is no specific power in the PGPA Act for the disposal of relevant property. Accountable authorities of all Commonwealth entities must ensure that suitable controls are in place in their entities relating to the disposal of relevant property. This could include through the delegation of powers to officials under section 110 of the PGPA Act (for non-corporate Commonwealth entities) and through instructions issued to officials under section 20A of the PGPA Act (for all Commonwealth entities). Refer to the provisions relating to relevant property in the model Accountable Authority Instructions. Further information can be found in RMG-206 Accountable Authority instructions.

Entering into an arrangement to sell relevant property would generally be an arrangement for the purposes of section 23 of the PGPA Act.

The relevant legislation for the disposal of Commonwealth property is the Lands Acquisition Act 1989 (see Part X - Dealings in land vested in acquiring authorities). Real property encompasses interests in land and fixtures or structures on that land. See Property and Construction for further information on the Commonwealth land and property management, including the Commonwealth Property Disposal Policy.

For further information on the management of Commonwealth real property see RMG-500 Commonwealth Property Management Framework and RMG-501 Lands Acquisition Act Framework. These RMGs are also available under Resource Management Guides.

Disposals of relevant property