Governance & transparency

Who decides, where the money goes, and how Parliament — and the public — can see it. Oversight is the design, not an afterthought.

Public transparency ledger visual showing audited revenue channels, parliamentary reports, Gazette records and public programme files — **Public money must stay visible.**Separate payment channels, independent audit, Gazette records and annual reporting to Parliament are part of the programme architecture, not an optional reporting layer.

Public ledgerAnnual reports show revenue, volumes and conduct to Parliament.

Audited channelsGovernment revenue is separated from operator administration fees.

Gazette recordFee regulations and chargeable amounts are published, not hidden.

Sovereign reviewParliament keeps the power to question, amend and refine the framework.

The money, visibly

Two streams that never mix

The revenue model is deliberately simple. Statutory fees and national contributions are public revenue: set by regulation, paid into Government accounts, belonging to the Republic. Administrative fees pay the operator to build and run the service — how the partner recovers its investment, so Government pays nothing upfront.

The two streams run through separate, traceable, audited payment channels. The separation lets the Auditor and Parliament see exactly what the Republic earned, distinct from what the operator was paid for delivery.

Separate

Audited channels — Government revenue never routes through the operator

Annual

Report to Parliament — revenue, volumes and conduct, every year

Independent

Financial audit of the programmes and the partnership

Guarding against elite capture. Because statutory revenue is paid into Government accounts through audited channels, and because the Bureau must report to Parliament annually, the model is built to resist diversion of benefits to a few hands. Transparency is written into the law — Members and the public should hold the programme to exactly that standard, every year.

Parliament’s continuing role

Three ways Parliament stays in control

Supporting the Bill is not a blank cheque. The Bill pulls the programmes into the open — into statute, audit and an annual report to the House — and keeps the power to change their substance in Parliament’s hands alone.

The substance is locked to primary law

The programme Schedules have the force of an Act and can be amended only by Parliament — not by regulation or ministerial order. Only routine matters such as fee amounts and forms can be adjusted administratively, after consultation.

Annual transparency

The Bureau publishes an annual report and submits to independent audit — a yearly opportunity for every Member to examine revenue, volumes and conduct.

A built-in review

The Act provides for its own review, so Parliament can revisit and refine the framework in light of experience.

The sovereign line

Who is really in charge

The Bill distinguishes sovereign power, which never leaves Government, from service delivery, which the operator provides under contract.

The Government holds — always

Approve, refuse, suspend or revoke any application
Issue passports, statuses, IDs and certificates
Regulatory enforcement and statutory powers
The law and programme substance — by Act and regulation
Access to data and systems for sovereign purposes — guaranteed in the Bill

The operator provides — under contract

Builds and finances the platform — no upfront cost to Government
Runs operations to contracted service standards
Excluded from voting on regulatory and individual-application matters
Source-code custody and transition rights protect the State
Step-in safeguards and termination grounds if performance fails

The partnership, openly

A 25-year partnership — and why that is normal

The platform is delivered under a public-private partnership with Future Citizen Bureau (FCB) — a locally registered company with no foreign parent, named openly because the public is entitled to know who stands behind the build. The partnership runs for an initial term of 25 years, renewable for a further 15.

A long term is standard for sovereign infrastructure partnerships worldwide: a partner asked to invest substantial capital upfront, and recover it from fees over time, needs the assurance of duration — just as the builder of a port or power station does. In return, the State secures a programme built and run at no upfront cost, with safeguards that hold whoever the operator is: source-code custody, guaranteed Government access, step-in rights and termination grounds. The data, the decisions, and the route back to full Government operation remain with Vanuatu.

What you will be able to see

Sovereignty, stated plainly

Vanuatu does not give up control by partnering. It keeps every sovereign decision, owns the public revenue, guarantees its own access to data and systems, and holds the right to take the platform back.

About the Bureau The legal framework