Victorian Numbered Acts

PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICER ACT 2017 (NO. 27 OF 2017) - SECT 39

    (1)     A parliamentary leader who has requested the Parliamentary Budget Officer to prepare an election policy costing for more than one policy during an election costing period may, in accordance with the PBO protocols, request the Officer to prepare a pre-election report.

    (2)     The parliamentary leader must specify in a request under subsection (1) which of the leader's policies are to be covered in the pre-election report.

    (3)     Subject to subsection (7), on a request under subsection (1), the Parliamentary Budget Officer must, in accordance with the PBO protocols—

        (a)     prepare a pre-election report; and

        (b)     provide the pre-election report to the parliamentary leader who requested the report.

    (4)     A pre-election report—

        (a)     must list the policies covered by the report; and

        (b)     must summarise the information that—

              (i)     was provided by the parliamentary leader in accordance with a request under subsection (6); and

              (ii)     is materially relevant to the pre-election report; and

        (c)     must set out the impact of those policies on the forward budget estimates and key financial indicators contained in the financial report or budget update most recently released under Part 5 of the Financial Management Act 1994 by—

              (i)     summarising the material net financial impact of each policy on the estimates and indicators; and

              (ii)     specifying the material net aggregate financial impact of all the policies on the estimates and indicators; and

        (d)     must disclose any existing costing that is accepted and relied on as required by subsection (5)(b); and

        (e)     must disclose any circumstances in which the Parliamentary Budget Officer has exercised a judgement that would have a material impact on the pre-election report; and

        (f)     may contain any other explanatory information the Parliamentary Budget Officer considers appropriate, other than any information referred to in paragraph (g); and

        (g)     must not include any information—

              (i)     referred to in section 19(2); or

              (ii)     contained in a document referred to in section 19(2); or

              (iii)     contained in a financial report or budget update that has been prepared, but not yet released, under Part 5 of the Financial Management Act 1994 ; or

              (iv)     that is an excerpt from information or a document that a public sector body Head advised, under section 25(4) or  26(5), is subject to Cabinet confidentiality; or

              (v)     that states or implies that, in preparing the pre-election report, the Parliamentary Budget Officer used either an exempt document under section 28 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 or information that, if it were in the form of a document, would be an exempt document under that provision; and

        (h)     must include the following information if the pre-election report was prepared using financial information or economic or other assumptions contained in a financial report or budget update that has been prepared, but not yet released, under Part 5 of the Financial Management Act 1994 —

              (i)     a statement to that effect; and

              (ii)     a statement identifying the nature of that information or assumption.

    (5)     In preparing a pre-election report, the Parliamentary Budget Officer must—

        (a)     use the financial information and economic and other assumptions contained in—

              (i)     the financial report or budget update most recently released under Part 5 of the Financial Management Act 1994 ; or

              (ii)     a more recent financial report or budget update that has been prepared, but not yet released, under Part 5 of the Financial Management Act 1994 ; and

        (b)     have regard to any information provided by the parliamentary leader in accordance with a request under subsection (6).

    (6)     If the Parliamentary Budget Officer needs more information for the purpose of preparing a pre-election report, the Officer may request in writing the parliamentary leader who made the request to provide that information.

    (7)     If the Parliamentary Budget Officer neither has nor expects to have sufficient time or information to prepare a pre-election report before the end of the election costing period, the Officer—

        (a)     is to stop preparing the report; and

        (b)     must inform the parliamentary leader who requested the report as soon as practicable.