Foreword

The establishment of the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) provides a new opportunity to help strengthen policy development and sharpen the focus of public debate on substantive policy issues rather than on the accuracy of policy costings. All Senators and Members of the House of Representatives have access to the services of the PBO. There is now a more level playing field from which members of Parliament may obtain independent, non-partisan analyses of the budget and costings of policy proposals.

Policy proposals are able to be costed by the PBO over the entire course of the electoral cycle. During the caretaker period for a general election the PBO is subject to the same rules that apply to the costing of publicly announced policies under the Charter of Budget Honesty Act 1998 (the Charter). However, outside of the caretaker period, the PBO may cost policy proposals for any Senator or Member at their request.

This marks a significant departure from the previous arrangements, particularly for non-government parties who previously under the Charter were only able to have their publicly announced policies costed during the approximately four to six weeks of the caretaker period. It also represents a new service for independent members of Parliament and parties with fewer than five members in the Parliament who have no access to costings under the Charter arrangements.

Outside of the caretaker period the PBO is able to prepare costings on a confidential basis if so requested. This means that the PBO can work interactively with the requestors of policy costings to ensure that the assumptions underlying the policies are properly understood and taken into account by the PBO in its costings. This approach has the potential to foster a more measured and robust approach to policy development and enhance budget transparency.

In line with its mandate, the PBO will operate in an independent and non-partisan manner with complete objectivity and utmost discretion. The PBO will work closely with Senators, Members and authorised members of Parliamentary parties to ensure that it has a deep understanding of their requirements and can respond effectively to their requests.

The PBO’s performance will be judged on the quality, timeliness and relevance of its outputs as assessed by feedback from its Parliamentary stakeholders.

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