The year in review
Reflecting on the first year of my term as Parliamentary Budget Officer, I am proud to say that we have continued to build on our strong foundation and support a better informed policy debate across a wide range of fiscal and budgetary issues. We have put significant effort this year into further enhancing our capability and improving transparency around our work.
We have continued to receive very high demand for our services to estimate the fiscal impact of policy proposals and it has now become commonplace that major policy announcements by non-government parties and parliamentarians include PBO estimates of these impacts. The ability to request this advice on a confidential basis has provided the opportunity for the policy proposals to be refined over time, taking into account estimates of their fiscal impact. A number of parliamentarians have elected to publicly release PBO advice, and we have made this advice more easily accessible on our website. We have also provided analysis to parliamentary committees when requested, to assist their deliberations.
Similarly, our published research, which aims to improve budget transparency and the public understanding of fiscal and budgetary issues, has been widely cited in the media, in parliamentary debates, and in ongoing public policy discussions. We have supplemented our regular publications on the medium-term budget outlook and the national fiscal outlook with a more accessible budget snapshot and a budget chart pack, both of which aim to transparently present budget developments. We have also published papers on specific topics that are relevant for understanding fiscal developments, particularly over the medium term.
A particular focus of our work this year has been planning to ensure we are well-prepared for the additional work and obligations that a general election during 2018–19 will bring. This has included resourcing and logistical planning, improvements to our workflow management system, and consulting on proposed changes to the next post-election report on the budget impacts of election commitments.
More broadly, over the past year we have implemented a range of initiatives to enhance our efficiency and effectiveness, in response to the independent review of the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) completed in March 2017 and the stakeholder survey we conducted in early 2018. These initiatives centred around four main themes: improving the transparency of our processes, procedures and costing work; increasing external engagement and consultation; enhancing evaluation and feedback mechanisms; and increasing the focus of the research program on medium-term fiscal issues.
The initiatives we have implemented are outlined in this report, and have included the establishment of an expert panel of advisors, the publication of a number of information papers describing aspects of our work, enhancements to our model development and evaluation program, and improvements to our engagement arrangements with parliamentarians and Commonwealth agencies. We have also reviewed and strengthened how we measure our performance.
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