Parliamentary Budget Office

This article is about the Australian agency. For the Canadian agency, see Parliamentary Budget Officer.

The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) is an agency of the Australian Parliament whose purpose is to "inform the parliament by providing independent and non-partisan analysis of the budget cycle, fiscal policy and the financial implications of proposals".^[2][3] It was established by the Gillard government following minority government formation negotiations.^[4][5] Following that commitment, a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Parliamentary Budget Office was convened, chaired by John Faulkner.^[6] The PBO's independence is enshrined in legislation.^[7]

Parliamentary Budget Office

Agency overview
Formed	July 23, 2012; 12 years ago (2012-07-23)[1]
Jurisdiction	Parliament of Australia
Headquarters	Canberra
Agency executive	Stein Helgeby, Parliamentary Budget Officer
Website	pbo.gov.au

In 2013, Treasurer Wayne Swan introduced legislation requiring the PBO to conduct a post-election audit to cost political parties' electoral commitments.^[8][9]

In its first independent report, the PBO noted that the Australian federal budget had an underlying structural deficit, caused in part by Howard government personal income tax cuts.^[10]

See also

• Parliamentary Budget Advisory Service (South Australia)
• Legislative Analyst's Office (California)
• Congressional Budget Office (United States)
• Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (Netherlands)
• Parliamentary Budget Officer (Canada)
• National Assembly Budget Office (The Republic of Korea)
• Office for Budget Responsibility (United Kingdom)

References

1. "Case study - Parliamentary Budget Office". National Archives of Australia. Australian Government. Archived from the original on 16 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
2. "Australia" (PDF). OECD Journal on Budgeting. 2015 (2): 31–48. 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
3. Parliamentary Service Act 1999 (Cth) s 64B
4. Mulgan, Richard (13 September 2011). "Costing the promises: what is a Parliamentary Budget Office?". The Conversation. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
5. Taylor, Lenore; Murphy, Katharine; Pankhania, Madhvi; Bennett, Christian (27 June 2013). "Julia Gillard: a life in politics". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
6. Burgess, Verona (31 March 2011). "PBO a no-brainer for Abbott". Australian Financial Review. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
7. "The Functions and Impact of Fiscal Councils" (PDF). IMF Policy Paper. International Monetary Fund. 16 July 2013. p. 47. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 May 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
8. Holmes, Brenton. "Hard days and nights: the final 147 days of the Gillard Government". Research Papers 2013–14. Parliamentary Library (Australia). Archived from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
9. Swan, Wayne. "Press Release - Parliamentary Budget Office amendments pass the Senate [20/06/2013]". Treasury Portfolio Ministers. Australian Government. Archived from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
10. Griffiths, Emma (22 May 2013). "Hockey defends Howard government tax cuts". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2019.