Part 1: Statutory provisions — summary

Part 8 of the Charter sets out the arrangements for the costing of election commitments.

Those provisions apply only during the Caretaker Period following the issuing of a writ for a general election. They relate to the costing of publicly announced policies of the Government, the Opposition and minority parties (a party with five members or more in the House of Representatives and/or the Senate). The ability of the minority parties to request costings from Treasury and Finance during the Caretaker Period follows an amendment to the Charter at the time of the establishment of the PBO. Some of the more significant amendments that were made to the Charter at that time are set out below.

The obligations of the Charter are independent of, but have precedence over, the Caretaker Conventions. The Charter makes no provision for costing publicly announced election commitments made by independent Senators or Members or parties with less than five members.

Main changes to the charter since the previous guidelines were issued

As well as establishing the PBO, the changes to the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 (the PS Act) also amended some provisions in the Charter. While many changes are intended to improve clarity or terminology, a summary of the more significant amendments are listed below.

Definition of Caretaker Period

The definition of 'Caretaker Period' for a general election begins when the House of Representatives expires or is dissolved ahead of that election, and ends when it is clear that the Government has been re-elected or, if there is a change of Government, when the new Government has been sworn in.

The revised definition ensures that the Caretaker Period in the Charter is consistent with the definition in the Guidelines on Caretaker Conventions (the current version can be found at www.dpmc.gov.au/guidelines/index.cfm).

The leader of a minority party may access election costings provisions

The Charter allows any parties with at least five members in the Parliament to request election costings from Treasury and Finance. In contrast, parties with fewer than five members in either House of Parliament and independent members of Parliament will only have access to the election costing provisions of the PS Act.

Should the Leader of a minority party (a party with five members or more in the House of Representatives and/or the Senate) wish to request the Secretaries to prepare costings of publicly-announced policies under the Charter, he or she will need to follow the standard process which is set out in the section below.

Prohibition against duplicate costings

There are provisions in both the Charter and the PS Act that are intended to preclude Parliamentary parties from seeking duplicate costings of the same, or a substantially similar, policy from both the PBO and Treasury and Finance during a particular Caretaker Period.

Requests for the costing of election commitments

The Charter, under Clause 29, details how requests for the costing of election commitments are to be made. It provides that, during the Caretaker Period, the Secretaries may be asked by the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition or the Leader of a minority party, through the Prime Minister, to cost their publicly announced policies.

A request is to:

be in writing;
fully outline the policy to be costed, giving relevant details; and
state the purpose or intent of the policy.

A request from the Leader of the Opposition or the Leader of a minority party is to be provided to the Prime Minister, who may then refer it to the responsible Secretary. Secretaries are not obliged or authorised to take action in relation to any request, unless the Prime Minister has referred the request to them. The Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition or a Leader of a minority party may withdraw a request at any time. A withdrawal by the Prime Minister must be in writing to the Secretaries. A written withdrawal by the Leader of the Opposition or a Leader of a minority party is to be given to the Prime Minister, who will then notify the Secretaries of the withdrawal.

How policy costings are prepared

The Charter, under Clause 30, details how the policy costings are to be prepared. It provides for the Secretaries to issue written guidelines (this booklet) recommending approaches or methods to be used in preparing costings (see Parts 3 and 4 and Appendices A and B). It also divides responsibility for costings between the Secretaries: the Secretary to the Treasury is responsible for costing policies affecting taxation revenue and taxation expenditure; while the Secretary of the Department of Finance and Deregulation is responsible for costing policies that affect outlays and expenses and non-taxation revenue.

If necessary, in order to fully cost a policy, the relevant Secretary may request, in writing, more information from the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition or the Leader of a minority party.

Commonwealth bodies' assistance in preparing costings

Clause 32 provides for Australian Government bodies to provide information to help prepare costings at the request of either Secretary.

Public release of costings

The Charter, under Clauses 31 and 31A, outlines the requirements for the public release of policy costings. For requests made before polling day, Clause 31 of the Charter requires the relevant Secretary to publicly release the request and a costing as soon as practicable after the request is received and before polling day. If the costing cannot be undertaken before polling day, either due to insufficient information or time constraints, the relevant Secretary is to publicly release a statement to that effect, and the request is taken to have been withdrawn on that day. Secretaries are not obliged or authorised to take any further action in relation to a policy costing request on or after polling day.

For requests made after polling day, where the Caretaker Period extends after that day, Clause 31A of the Charter requires the relevant Secretary to publicly release a costing as soon as practicable after the request is received. If the costing cannot be undertaken before the end of the Caretaker Period, either due to insufficient information or time constraints, the relevant Secretary is to publicly release a statement to that effect, and the request is taken to have been withdrawn at the end of the Caretaker Period. Secretaries are not obliged or authorised to take any further action in relation to a policy costing request after the end of the Caretaker Period.

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