Foreword

The PBO’s role in supporting Australia’s democratic processes has become firmly established as reflected in the continuing heavy demand for the PBO’s policy costing services and the high level of public interest in, and widespread use of, the PBO’s research publications in public policy debates.

The 2016 general election presented the PBO with the usual challenges associated with a general election, namely the heightened demand for costings of election commitments in the months leading up to polling day and the requirement, within 30 days of the end of the caretaker period, to publish a post-election report of the budget impacts of the election commitments of the major parliamentary parties.

The PBO augmented its workforce and implemented a new workflow management system prior to the 2016 election period. With these initiatives, the PBO was well-placed to effectively fulfil its responsibilities during the 2016 election period.

In 2016–17, the PBO expects to be able to devote more resources to its published program of self-initiated research on the budget and fiscal policy settings, and to the development and maintenance of its financial models and data bases.

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