Foreword

As the accountable authority of the PBO, I present the PBO Corporate plan 2023-24, as required under paragraph 35(1)(b) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

This plan has been prepared in accordance with section 16E of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014.

This plan also serves as the PBO’s work plan for 2023-24, as required by section 64Q of the Parliamentary Service Act 1999.

Much of the work of the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) is shaped by the parliamentary cycle. Each election and new parliament present us with challenges, but also with opportunities.

While our work was dominated by election preparations for much of 2021 and 2022, since the May 2022 election we have invested in our systems and practices to further improve our service to parliamentarians.

New internal systems are now complemented by a more flexible and adaptable website, and we will soon provide parliamentarians with the option to interact with us through a secure portal that will improve information flows and access to their requests.

We recognise that our users have very different needs. Some have extensive experience in government finance. Others are looking for a way through the complexity of estimates and numbers to find the particular topic they are interested in.

It is important for the PBO to be able to meet needs all along the spectrum of interests. We will continue our attempts to make the complex more accessible. As part of that approach, we have significantly enhanced our approach to supporting users through our Build your own budget tool, which enables users to explore their own budget assumptions and policy settings, complemented by our own analysis through publications such as Beyond the Budget or shorter pieces such as Budget Explainers.

In the coming year, 2023-24, we will build on the external engagement we began at the start of the 47^th Parliament and seek to ensure that parliamentarians benefit from the investments we have made.

Underlying this focus, we will also plan for the next election to ensure that we can deliver the focused and robust information we are entrusted to provide each term.

Our 2023-24 Corporate plan sets out how we will direct our efforts to enrich Australia’s democracy by providing the Parliament and general public with crucial information and tools for making sound policy choices and facilitating public policy debates.

The Corporate plan is our primary planning document that outlines the PBO’s purpose and core functions, the external and internal environment we operate in, our approach to risk management, our key activities, and measures of performance.

Stein Helgeby
Parliamentary Budget Officer