This review of budgeting in Australia concentrates on the national government only. The article first discusses Australia’s recent economic and fiscal performance and then focuses on the budget formulation process. After a discussion of the role of the Parliament, the article reviews various aspects of budget implementation and management. The article concludes with a special section on Australia’s efforts to eliminate “red tape” within government. This review was undertaken in September 2007; following the election of a new government in Australia in November 2007, some new policies are highlighted, encompassing budget formulation, processes, accounting and management.
The concept of transparency has rapidly gained prominence in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. It is particularly associated with the rise of the governance agenda, as transparency is a core governance value. The regulatory activities of government constitute one of the main contexts within which transparency must be assured. There is a strong public demand for greater transparency, which is substantially related to the rapid increase in number and influence of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) or 'civil society groups', as well as to increasingly well educated and diverse populations.Transparency initiatives now form a major part of the regulatory policies of many OECD countries: in 2000, 20 of the 30 OECD member countries had government-wide transparency policies (OECD 2002a). Many OECD countries have now made substantial investments in improved regulatory transparency, and have reaped important gains in terms of regulatory quality, legitimacy and accountability.However, despite these gains, the results have in many cases fallen short of expectations. As well, the implementation of transparency has itself led to new stresses and problems within the regulatory process. This article considers why regulatory transparency is important and points to some of the main trends in improving regulatory transparency. It also considers a range of problems and issues that arise and suggests means of resolving these.
This article identifies and discusses several different conceptions of regulatory reform. It subsequently looks at available evidence on trends in regulatory burdens and on the results of regulatory reform activity undertaken over the past 30 years. Thirdly, it identifies and briefly discusses the range of tools that are typically employed in implementing regulatory reform policies. It then examines some of the regulatory problems that implementation of the reform agenda has itself brought forth. It concludes with some comments which seek to assess the report of the Better Regulation Taskforce in the context of the broad overview of regulatory reform set out in the preceding sections of the article.
Professor Wanna has produced around 17 books including two national text books on policy and public management. He has produced a number of research-based studies on budgeting and financial management including: Budgetary Management and Control (1990); Managing Public Expenditure (2000), From Accounting to Accountability (2001) and, most recently, Controlling Public Expenditure (2003). He has just completed a study of state level leadership covering all the state and territory leaders-entitled Yes Premier: Labor leadership in Australia's states and territories-and has edited a book on Westminster Legacies in Asia and the Pacific-Westminster Legacies: Democracy and responsible government in Asia and the Pacific. He was a chief investigator in a major Australian Research Council funded study of the Future of Governance in Australia (1999-2001) involving Griffith and the ANU. His research interests include Australian and comparative politics, public expenditure and budgeting, and government-business relations. He also writes on Australian politics in newspapers such as The Australian, Courier-Mail and The Canberra Times and has been a regular state political commentator on ABC radio and TV.
This series gathers together OECD working papers on the tools, governance and institutions of better regulation and their impact on policy outcomes. It includes both technical and analytical material, prepared by staff and experts in the field. Together, the papers provide valuable context and background for OECD publications on regulatory policy and governance.OECD Working Papers should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its member countries. The opinions expressed and arguments employed are those of the authors.
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