In 2024-25, we celebrate 12 years since our establishment, and we are anticipating our fifth general election. We also look forward to inducting a new Parliamentary Budget Officer in November 2024.

A key part of the PBO’s role is to improve the transparency of election commitments with financial implications. We do this through supporting parliamentary parties to develop their election platforms with costed proposals, as well as producing a report analysing the budget impact of election commitments after the next general election.

The exact timing of the next general election is uncertain, so our focus is on planning to be ready at any time during the year and to proactively manage election related risks. Much of the PBO’s work is shaped by the parliamentary cycle, and each election and new parliament present us with challenges and opportunities. 

As the election approaches, we expect demand for our costing and budget analysis services to continue to increase. To prepare us for this surge in demand, we continue to look for opportunities to mature our business processes and leverage technology to streamline workflows and internal reporting to improve efficiency and manage risk.

We have completed an election preparedness and workforce plan. Our staffing levels will temporarily increase including through seconding staff from other agencies in the public and parliamentary services.

In an election year our self-initiated products will focus on those that add transparency and understanding of the budget baseline – helping parliamentarians to understand fiscal and budgetary issues. Our work program will adapt to enable us to prioritise delivering our Election commitments report.

Our election stakeholder communication strategy will be rolled out during the year, and we will continue to mature our external engagement activity as we prepare to welcome the 48th Parliament. We will do this by expanding our education programs and collaboration with parliamentarians, other parliamentary departments and agencies and leveraging feedback we received in the stakeholder survey completed in 2024.

Our 2024-25 Corporate plan underpins how we will deliver our vision of enriching Australia’s democracy by providing the Parliament and the general public with independent information and tools for making sound policy choices and facilitating public policy debates. It is the primary document that outlines our work plan including our strategic priorities, key activities and measures of performance in 2024-25.

Stein Helgeby
Parliamentary Budget Officer