The budget process affects women and men in different ways; it is not gender neutral. This submission responds to the terms of reference through a gender lens.
This inquiry has been initiated by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit pursuant to section 64T of the Parliamentary Service Act 1999, to review the operations of the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO). The terms of reference specify:
- PBO implementation of the recommendations of the PBO Review 2016/17 Report of the Independent Review Panel;
- PBO implementation of the recommendations from 2014 Joint Committee on Public Accounts and Audit Report No. 446 Review of the Operations of the Parliamentary Budget Office;
- Stakeholder relationships and engagement; and
- Possible areas of reform to support the effective operation of the PBO.
NFAW recommends
- that the PBO be authorised to issue full details of policy costings where a parliamentarian states that the policy has been costed by the PBO regardless of whether the parliamentarian releases full details of that costing.
- that the PBO be given a mandate to prepare an annual Women’s Budget Statement for Australia, and
- that the Office for Women be tasked with partnering with the PBO on the internal analysis and building the capacity of the public service across the board to provide budget input.
