Now lawMoney & Tax Introduced in the House of Representatives, 12 May 2026

Departments got late extra money before 30 June

This law added money for the normal running of government in the last weeks of the 2025-26 year. It paid for choices made after the mid-year budget update. It passed just days before 30 June 2026.

Official name: Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2025-2026

Who it affects

• Government departments and agencies: They get extra money for running costs and regular programs before 30 June 2026.
• Everyday Australians: Nothing changes for you directly, but services you use may be paid for from this money.

Fourth round of running costs

The government cannot spend public money unless Parliament agrees. All tax and other money the government gets goes into one pot. Its name is the Consolidated Revenue Fund. A law must say how much comes out and what it is for.

Money for 2025-26 was approved in rounds. First came a short-term law to keep things running. Then came the main budget spending laws. In March 2026 came a mid-year top-up.

This bill is a fourth round. It pays for choices made since the mid-year budget update. The Treasurer puts out that update halfway through the financial year. That year runs from 1 July to 30 June.

There are two of these bills. This one is called Appropriation Bill (No. 5). Appropriation means money Parliament lets the government spend. It covers the normal yearly running of departments and their regular programs. The Constitution, the top law that sets up how Australia is run, says that money must be in its own bill. Bill No. 6 covers other spending.

Where the details are

The amounts are in a part at the back of the bill. It lists each minister's area and each agency. To compare, it shows what each one had this year and last year.

The government's notes on the bill do not list the new items. They send readers to extra budget papers. These were handed to Parliament with the bill.

What the words mean

The first part explains the words in the bill. It says all three sets of 2025-26 budget papers can be used to work out what the law means.

It also covers money moved between two parts of the government. No cash leaves the pot. The bill still treats it as a real payment. So the spending is counted and can be seen.

Three kinds of money

The first kind pays a department's own costs. These include staff, suppliers, and gear worth $10 million or less. A department can move this money between its goals.

The second kind pays for programs the department runs for the government. These include grants, benefits and other payments. This money is tied to a set goal.

The third kind is for government bodies that stand apart in law, such as some agencies and government companies. Their department passes the money on.

Say a department was asked in February to run an extra program. It may have paid for it out of what it already had. This bill can top it up before the year ends.

No new emergency fund

Most spending bills include an emergency fund for the Finance Minister. It is for urgent costs nobody planned for. The government's notes say this bill does not add a new one. The fund set up earlier in the year stays as it was.

Special accounts and end date

Some government money is kept in its own named funds for set purposes. If a spending line has the same purpose as one of these funds, the money can be moved into it.

The money is set aside in law from the day the law starts. Amounts can shift when work moves between departments, or when goods and services tax is paid back.

The law switches itself off at the start of 1 July 2028.

Start date

The bill was brought to the House of Representatives on 12 May 2026. That is the house of Parliament where the government is formed. That was the same day as the bills for the 2026-27 Budget. The House passed it on 25 May 2026.

The Senate, Parliament's second house, got it on 22 June 2026 and passed it on 25 June 2026. The Governor-General, the King's representative, signed it into law on 26 June 2026. Its official number is Act No. 51 of 2026. It started that day. That was four days before the financial year ended.

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum

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