In the alliance context of this Study, the project Owner is a department or agency (a non-departmental, government owned entity) that is the recipient of a Parliamentary appropriation (state or Commonwealth) for the project. Where funding (whole or in part) is not directly provided by a Parliamentary appropriation, the project risks are ultimately underwritten by the Treasurer and indirectly by Parliamentary appropriation. (The underwriting of financial risks by a state of its departments and agencies is sometimes referred to generally as Sovereign Risk.)
Departmental projects are approved by the Portfolio Minister and then by the Cabinet following recommendations from Treasury (and commonly the Department of Premier and Cabinet). A non-departmental Owner (or agency) is generally controlled by its corporate Board, which is appointed by the government, and it will need to approve projects. Significant capital projects also require specific approvals by the government, typically by the Portfolio Minster and Treasurer; and/or Cabinet. Jurisdictions will have various mandated thresholds that indicatively range from $5 million to $50 million.
The critical document that forms the basis of the investment decision for a capital project is the business case. The business case is prepared by the Owner, who submits it for approval to government. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, the "terms and conditions" of the government's approval of funding and support for the project are effectively set out in the business case.
To help understand the roles of the state and the Owner in the approval and the allocation of funds for a specific project, we can think of the Owner as 'selling' the investment proposal to the state, and the state making the decision to either 'buy or not buy' the investment proposal. In this context the 'sale contract' is the business case.