![\"8VkBnmd\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/8VkBnmd1.jpg?resize=800%2C400\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
On April 24 Pia Waugh of the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO)\u00a0announced the first ever release <\/a>of Australian Federal Budget Data in Excel and CSV formats.<\/p>\n This is the culmination of both internal and external lobbying<\/a> by open data and budget transparency advocates<\/a>. There are many people within the Finance Department committed to improving the public’s access to information. This includes improving the processes and systems that drive the way information like budget data is delivered.<\/p>\n The recent Audit Commission report: Phase 2<\/em><\/a>, (pp.56-66), speaks at length about the need for and ways of improving budget transparency<\/a>.<\/p>\n While a large volume of performance information is currently available there is no easily understood performance framework. Current arrangements make it difficult for the community to determine whether money is well spent, whether spending programmes meet their objectives and how efficiently and effectively the public sector\u00a0is performing. Suggestions include better evaluation of program delivery against stated outcomes (these are included in Budget Portfolio Statements<\/a> released on budget night) and providing a central repository of program information that can be accessed by government in a way that allows better tracking and evaluation:<\/p>\n At present there is no central register of government programmes at a detailed level (like \u2018programme expenses\u2019). The absence of a central register has been an impediment to the Commission in assessing government programmes – one likely shared with government when formulating the Budget.<\/p>\n The Department of Finance is currently redeveloping its Central Budget Management System, the information and technology system which supports financial and budget management for the Commonwealth Government.<\/p>\n In the new system, entities will enter financial data at a more detailed programme level, allowing information to be generated and centralised. This reporting will commence in late 2014, for the 2015-16 Budget.\u00a0(p. 64)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Such considerations are not so much about cutting waste as it is normally imagined but ensuring that programs are efficient in so much as they are delivering their objectives. Without an appropriate accountability system the ability to evaluate at this basic level is compromised.<\/p>\n
\n<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n