The Budget Process
The requirements and powers of the Parliament in collecting and expending money are found in the Australian Constitution, Chapter I Part V – Powers of the Parliament and Chapter IV – Finance and Trade.
For Parliamentary procedure, Chapter 12 of Odger’s Australian Senate Practice and Chapter 11 of House of Representatives Practice outline the requirements for financial legislation in the respective chambers. The Parliamentary Library has published further information regarding the specific powers of the Senate.
Ahead of the budget each year, pre-budget submissions are collected from individuals, businesses and community groups to inform the budget process.
The Department of Finance has a key role in the Budget Process, and has developed several useful guides and publications:
The Budget Papers
The Budget Papers comprise of the Budget Speech (which acts as the second reading speech for Appropriation Bills), the Budget Overview and Budget Papers 1 through 4, that are all tabled in Parliament on Budget night. Budget Papers must comply with the Charter of Budget Honesty Act 1998.
Budget Papers from previous years are available from an archive.
The following resources provide guidance on understanding the papers:
Alongside the budget papers, Portfolio Budget (PB) Statements are tabled in Parliament on Budget night. The PB Statements detail the proposed allocation of funding to portfolios and associated outcomes and are commonly used by Senate Standing Committees when examining the Budget.
The Parliamentary Budget Office
The PBO is an independent and non-partisan department of the Parliament that informs parliament by providing analysis of the budget and costings of policy proposals.
The PBO also produces publications on the budget and fiscal policy:
The PBO also provides a number of interactive models and calculators: