General directions may be given in writing under this section to Secretaries in relation to the management and leadership of Parliamentary Service employees.

Any such directions are to be given:

A direction can only be given if the Commissioner has been consulted by the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, or the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, in relation to the proposed direction.

A direction cannot be given to a Secretary in relation to the exercise of powers by the Secretary under section 15 or this Part in relation to particular individuals.

A direction issued under this section is a legislative instrument.

A Secretary, on behalf of the Commonwealth, has all the rights, duties and powers of an employer in respect of Parliamentary Service employees in the relevant Department.

Without limiting subsection (1), a Secretary has, in respect of Parliamentary Service employees in the relevant Department, the rights, duties and powers that are prescribed by the determinations.

A Secretary, on behalf of the Commonwealth, may engage people as employees for the purposes of the relevant Department.

The engagement of a Parliamentary Service employee (including an engagement under section 26) must be:

The determinations may prescribe the circumstances in which persons may be engaged as mentioned in paragraph (2)(b) or (c).

An engagement for a specified term may be extended, subject to any limitations prescribed by the determinations.

The engagement of a Parliamentary Service employee may be made subject to conditions notified to the employee, including conditions dealing with any of the following matters:

Subsection (6) does not, by implication, limit the conditions that may be applied to the engagement of a Parliamentary Service employee.

A Secretary must not engage, as a Parliamentary Service employee, a person who is not an Australian citizen, unless the Secretary considers it appropriate to do so.

The Presiding Officers, after consulting the Commissioner, may, by legislative instrument, make rules about classifications of Parliamentary Service employees.

The Classification Rules may apply, adopt or incorporate, with or without modification, any of the provisions of:

Secretaries must comply with the Classification Rules.

A Secretary may reduce the classification of a Parliamentary Service employee, without the employee’s consent, only in the following circumstances:

If a relevant industrial instrument, determination under this Act or written contract of employment contains procedures to be followed when reducing the classification, then a reduction is of no effect unless those procedures are followed.

In this section:

industrial instrument means:

A Secretary may from time to time determine in writing the terms and conditions of employment applying to a Parliamentary Service employee or Parliamentary Service employees in the relevant Department.

A determination under subsection (1) is of no effect to the extent that it would reduce the benefit to a Parliamentary Service employee of an individual term or condition applicable to the employee under:

A determination under subsection (1) may apply, adopt or incorporate, with or without modification, any of the provisions of:

The Presiding Officers may, by legislative instrument, determine the terms and conditions of employment applying to Parliamentary Service employees, if the Presiding Officers are of the opinion that it is desirable to do so because of exceptional circumstances.

The limitation in subsection (1A) does not apply in relation to a determination under subsection (3).

A determination under subsection (3) overrides the following, to the extent of any inconsistency:

(1) An ongoing Parliamentary Service employee is eligible for engagement, at any classification, as an ongoing APS employee. The engagement is subject to review in accordance with regulations under the Public Service Act 1999.

An ongoing APS employee is eligible for engagement, at any classification, as an ongoing Parliamentary Service employee. The engagement is subject to review in accordance with the determinations.

A person who moves from:

If a person moves from one service to another as mentioned in this section, the person stops being an employee of the service from which the person moved when he or she is engaged as an ongoing APS employee or as an ongoing Parliamentary Service employee.

If an ongoing Parliamentary Service employee is granted leave without pay to take up employment as a non-ongoing APS employee, the employee:

If an ongoing APS employee is granted leave without pay to take up employment as a non-ongoing Parliamentary Service employee, the employee:

Any period of leave without pay referred to in subsection (1) or (2) counts as service for all purposes except accrual of annual leave, or personal or carer’s leave, (however they may be described).

The Commissioner may:

For the purposes of this section:

A Secretary may at any time, by notice in writing, terminate the employment of a Parliamentary Service employee in the relevant Department.

For an ongoing Parliamentary Service employee, the notice must specify the ground or grounds that are relied on for the termination.

For an ongoing Parliamentary Service employee, the following are the only grounds for termination:

The determinations may prescribe the grounds for the termination of the employment of non-ongoing Parliamentary Service employees.

Subsection (4) does not, by implication, limit the grounds for termination of the employment of a non-ongoing Parliamentary Service employee.

If a Parliamentary Service employee receives any non-Commonwealth remuneration for performing duties as a Parliamentary Service employee, the Secretary of the Department in which the employee is employed may give a notice in writing to the employee in relation to the whole, or a specified part, of the remuneration.

The amount notified by the Secretary:

If the Parliamentary Librarian receives any non-Commonwealth remuneration for performing duties as the Parliamentary Librarian, the Secretary of the joint Department may give a notice in writing to the Parliamentary Librarian in relation to the whole, or a specified part, of the remuneration.

The amount notified by the Secretary:

If a Secretary receives any non-Commonwealth remuneration for performing duties as a Secretary, then the Presiding Officer may give a notice in writing to the Secretary in relation to the whole, or a specified part, of the remuneration.

The amount notified by the Presiding Officer:

In this section:

non-Commonwealth remuneration means any remuneration from a person other than the Commonwealth.

This section applies to a person if:

The person is entitled to be again engaged as a Parliamentary Service employee, in accordance with the determinations and within the time limits prescribed by the determinations.

A Parliamentary Service employee is entitled to review, in accordance with the determinations, of any Parliamentary Service action that relates to his or her Parliamentary Service employment. However, a Parliamentary Service employee is not entitled to review under this section of Parliamentary Service action that consists of the termination of the employee’s employment.

The determinations may prescribe exceptions to the entitlement.

Without limiting subsection (1), determinations made for the purposes of that subsection may provide for the powers available to the Merit Protection Commissioner, or any other person or body, when conducting a review under the determinations.

Determinations for the purposes of subsection (1):

A person or body that has conducted a review under this section may make recommendations in a report on the review but does not have power to make any binding decision as a result of the review, except as provided by the determinations.

If the Merit Protection Commissioner is not satisfied with the response to recommendations contained in a report on a review under this section, the Merit Protection Commissioner may give a report on the matter to the Secretary of the relevant Department and to the Presiding Officers, for presentation to the Parliament.

In this section:

action includes a refusal or failure to act.

Parliamentary Service action means action by a person in the capacity of a Secretary or Parliamentary Service employee.

relevant Department, in relation to Parliamentary Service action, means the Department in which the person who did the action was at the time of the action.

The Senior Executive Service consists of the SES employees.

The function of the SES is to provide strategic leadership of the highest quality that contributes to an effective and cohesive Parliamentary Service.

For the purpose of carrying out the function of the SES, each SES employee:

A Secretary may give a notice in writing to an SES employee in the relevant Department stating that the employee will become entitled to a payment of a specified amount if the employee retires within a period specified in the notice.

A notice may be given to an SES employee under subsection (1) whether or not the employee has reached the minimum retiring age.

If the employee retires within the specified period, by notice in writing to the Secretary:

An office of Parliamentary Librarian is established by this section.

The Parliamentary Librarian and the employees of the joint Department assisting the Parliamentary Librarian may be known as the Parliamentary Library.

The functions of the Parliamentary Librarian are:

The Parliamentary Librarian must perform the function mentioned in paragraph (1)(a):

The Parliamentary Librarian is to be appointed by the Presiding Officers for a period of 5 years.

The Presiding Officers cannot make an appointment unless they have received a report about the vacancy from the Secretary of the joint Department.

The Presiding Officers cannot appoint a person as the Parliamentary Librarian unless:

An appointment is not affected by any defect or irregularity in or in connection with the appointment.

The Presiding Officers may, by notice in writing, terminate the appointment of the Parliamentary Librarian at any time.

The Presiding Officers cannot terminate an appointment unless they have received a report about the proposed termination from the Commissioner.

The terms and conditions of appointment of the Parliamentary Librarian are as determined by the Presiding Officers.

For each determination, the Presiding Officers must seek the advice of the Remuneration Tribunal and take that advice into account.

Each determination must be:

The Presiding Officers may appoint a person to act in the office of Parliamentary Librarian:

However, the Presiding Officers cannot appoint a person to act in the position unless the person meets the requirement in subsection 38C(3).

The Secretary of the joint Department must provide resources to the Parliamentary Librarian in accordance with an annual agreement that satisfies the requirements of subsection (2).

The agreement must be:

The Presiding Officers may approve the agreement for the purposes of subsection (2) either before or after the agreement is made by the Secretary and the Parliamentary Librarian.

(1) The Parliamentary Librarian must give a report on the performance of the functions of the Parliamentary Librarian to the Library Committee on the request of the Committee.

However, the Parliamentary Librarian must give such a report to the Committee at least once every financial year.

The Commissioner’s functions include the following functions:

Before commencing an inquiry under paragraph 40(1)(c), the Commissioner must notify the Presiding Officers in writing of the proposed inquiry.

A report made by the Commissioner in the performance of his or her functions may include recommendations.

The Commissioner is not subject to direction by or on behalf of the Executive Government of the Commonwealth in the performance of his or her functions.

The Commissioner may, on behalf of the Commonwealth, engage consultants to assist in the performance of the Commissioner’s functions.

After the end of each financial year, the Commissioner must give a report to the Presiding Officers, for presentation to the Parliament, on the activities of the Commissioner during the year.

The report must be prepared in accordance with guidelines approved on behalf of the Parliament by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit.

The Commissioner is to be appointed by the Presiding Officers for a period of up to 5 years specified in the instrument of appointment.

A person may hold both the office of Commissioner and the office of Australian Public Service Commissioner.

Subject to subsection (4), the terms and conditions of appointment of the Commissioner are as determined in writing by the Presiding Officers.

For each determination, the Presiding Officers must seek the advice of the Remuneration Tribunal and take that advice into account.

Each determination must be:

If the same person holds both the office of Commissioner and the office of Australian Public Service Commissioner, the person is not to be paid any remuneration in respect of the office of Commissioner.

The Presiding Officers may remove the Commissioner from office if each House of the Parliament, in the same session of the Parliament, presents an address to the Presiding Officers praying for the removal of the Commissioner on the ground of misbehaviour or physical or mental incapacity.

The Presiding Officers must remove the Commissioner from office if the Commissioner becomes an insolvent under administration.

The Presiding Officers may appoint a person to act as Commissioner:

A person may act in both the office of Commissioner and the office of Australian Public Service Commissioner.

The Merit Protection Commissioner’s functions include the following functions:

The following provisions apply in relation to an inquiry under paragraph (1)(a) or (1)(c) (with references to the Auditor-General being replaced by references to the Merit Protection Commissioner):

The determinations may authorise the Merit Protection Commissioner to charge fees (on behalf of the Commonwealth) for the performance of functions prescribed under paragraph (1)(e).

The Merit Protection Commissioner may, on behalf of the Commonwealth, engage consultants to assist in the performance of the Merit Protection Commissioner’s functions.

In this section:

action includes a refusal or failure to act.

Parliamentary Service action means an action in relation to the employment of a Parliamentary Service employee, being an action by another Parliamentary Service employee, by a Secretary or by the Parliamentary Librarian.

The Merit Protection Commissioner may, for the purposes of paragraph 48(1)(ca), inquire into and determine whether a Parliamentary Service employee, or a former Parliamentary Service employee, has breached the Code of Conduct if:

The Merit Protection Commissioner must establish written procedures for inquiring into and determining whether a Parliamentary Service employee, or a former Parliamentary Service employee, has breached the Code of Conduct (including by engaging in conduct referred to in subsection 15(2A)). The procedures:

In addition, and without affecting subsection (2), the procedures may be different for:

The Merit Protection Commissioner must ensure that the procedures established under subsection (2) are made publicly available.

Procedures established under subsection (2) are not legislative instruments.

Merit Protection Commissioner’s powers

For the purposes of inquiring into and determining whether a Parliamentary Service employee, or a former Parliamentary Service employee, in a Department has breached the Code of Conduct, the Merit Protection Commissioner may exercise the same powers as the Secretary of the relevant Department may exercise in determining whether a Parliamentary Service employee, or a former Parliamentary Service employee, in the Department has breached the Code of Conduct.

Report on results of inquiry

The Merit Protection Commissioner must report on the results of an inquiry and determination under this section to the Secretary who requested the inquiry.

After the end of each financial year, the Merit Protection Commissioner must give a report to the Parliamentary Service Commissioner on the activities of the Merit Protection Commissioner during the year.

The report must be prepared in accordance with guidelines approved on behalf of the Parliament by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit.

The Merit Protection Commissioner’s report is to be included in the Parliamentary Service Commissioner’s report under section 42.

The Merit Protection Commissioner is to be appointed by the Presiding Officers for a period of up to 5 years specified in the instrument of appointment.

A person may hold both the office of Merit Protection Commissioner and the office of Public Service Merit Protection Commissioner.

Subject to subsection (4), the terms and conditions of appointment of the Merit Protection Commissioner are as determined in writing by the Presiding Officers.

For each determination, the Presiding Officers must seek the advice of the Remuneration Tribunal and take that advice into account.

Each determination must be:

If the same person holds both the office of Merit Protection Commissioner and the office of Public Service Merit Protection Commissioner, the person is not to be paid any remuneration in respect of the office of Merit Protection Commissioner.

The Presiding Officers may remove the Merit Protection Commissioner from office if each House of the Parliament, in the same session of the Parliament, presents an address to the Presiding Officers praying for the removal of the Commissioner on the ground of misbehaviour or physical or mental incapacity.

The Presiding Officers must remove the Merit Protection Commissioner from office if the Merit Protection Commissioner becomes an insolvent under administration.

The Presiding Officers may appoint a person to act as Merit Protection Commissioner:

A person may act in both the office of Merit Protection Commissioner and the office of Public Service Merit Protection Commissioner.

The following Departments of the Parliament are established by this subsection:

Such other Departments of the Parliament as are required may be established by resolutions passed by each House of the Parliament.

For the purposes of this Act:

A Department of the Parliament established under subsection (2) may be abolished by resolutions passed by each House of the Parliament.

The name of a Department referred to in subsection 54(2) may be changed to a new name by resolutions passed by each House of the Parliament. The change takes effect when the resolutions are passed.

After the former name is changed, a reference to the former name in a law of the Commonwealth, in a contract to which the Commonwealth is a party or in some other instrument of the Commonwealth has effect as if it were a reference to the new name.

The Secretary of the Department whose name was changed remains the Secretary of the newly named Department.

Each Parliamentary Service employee of the Department whose name was changed remains an employee of the newly named Department.

The terms and conditions of service of the Secretary and of those employees are not altered by the change of name.

The functions of the newly named Department are not altered by the change of name unless the resolutions passed by each House of the Parliament declare otherwise.

This section applies to a Department other than the Department of the Senate and the Department of the House of Representatives.

On the establishment of a Department, an office of Secretary of that Department is established by this subsection.

On the abolition of a Department, the office of Secretary of that Department is abolished by this subsection.

(4) The name of the office of Secretary of a Department is “Secretary of the [name of Department]”.

The roles of the Secretary of a Department include, but are not limited to, the following:

The responsibilities of the Secretary of a Department are as follows:

Subsection (2) does not affect a Secretary’s responsibilities under any other law.

The Clerk of the Senate is to be appointed by the President of the Senate after the President has consulted members of the Senate about the proposed appointment.

The Clerk of the House of Representatives is to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives after the Speaker has consulted members of that House about the proposed appointment.

An appointment of a person as the Clerk of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives is to be for a period of 10 years. The person is not eligible for reappointment.

A person is not to be appointed as the Clerk of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives unless the Presiding Officer making the appointment is satisfied that the person has extensive knowledge of, and experience in, relevant Parliamentary law, procedure and practice.

If the Clerk of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives has reached the minimum retiring age, he or she is entitled to retire at any time by notice in writing to the Presiding Officer.

An appointment is not affected by any defect or irregularity in or in connection with the appointment.

The Secretary of a Department established under subsection 54(2) is to be appointed by the Presiding Officers for a period of 5 years.

The Presiding Officers cannot make an appointment unless they have received a report about the vacancy from the Commissioner.

An appointment is not affected by any defect or irregularity in or in connection with the appointment.

The Senate may, by resolution passed pursuant to a motion of which notice was given at least 6 sitting days before the day on which the resolution is passed, terminate the appointment of the Clerk of the Senate.

The House of Representatives may, by resolution passed pursuant to a motion of which notice was given at least 6 sitting days before the day on which the resolution is passed, terminate the appointment of the Clerk of that House.

A resolution terminating the appointment of the Clerk of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives must state the ground on which the appointment is terminated, which must be one of the following:

The Presiding Officers may, by notice in writing, terminate an appointment of a Secretary of a Department (other than an appointment of the Clerk of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives) at any time.

The Presiding Officers cannot terminate an appointment unless they have received a report about the proposed termination from the Commissioner.

If it appears to the Presiding Officer of a House of the Parliament that a ground exists on which the House could terminate the appointment of the Clerk of the House, the Presiding Officer may, by notice in writing, suspend the Clerk from office.

If the Presiding Officer of a House of the Parliament suspends the Clerk of the House from office, the Presiding Officer must cause a statement of the suspension setting out the ground of the suspension to be laid before the House not later than the first sitting day of the House after the day on which the suspension occurs.

The suspension of the Clerk ends on the first occurrence of any one of the following:

(4) For the purposes of paragraph (3)(c), the prescribed period in relation to a particular suspension is:

The suspension of a person from office as Clerk of the Senate or Clerk of the House of Representatives does not affect any entitlement of the person to be paid remuneration or allowances.

The terms and conditions of appointment of the Secretary of a Department are as determined by the Presiding Officers.

For each determination, the Presiding Officers must seek the advice of the Remuneration Tribunal and take that advice into account.

Each determination must be:

(4) In this section, appropriate House means:

The Department of the Parliamentary Budget Office is established as a Department of the Parliament by this subsection.

The Parliamentary Budget Office consists of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, together with Parliamentary Service employees assisting the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer has the following functions:

The Parliamentary Budget Officer’s functions under subsection (1) do not include:

(3) In performing his or her functions under subsection (1), the Parliamentary Budget Officer must use the economic forecasts and parameters and fiscal estimates contained in the most recent relevant reports released under Parts 5, 6 and 7 of Schedule 1 to the Charter of Budget Honesty Act 1998.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer must perform his or her functions under subsection (1) only for the purpose of the Parliamentary Budget Office referred to in section 64B.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer may make an arrangement, in writing, with the Head (however described) of a Commonwealth body, or a person authorised by the Head, for the Parliamentary Budget Officer to obtain from the body information and documents relevant to the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s functions.

Without limiting subsection (1), an arrangement made under that subsection may make provision for the confidentiality of information disclosed or documents provided in accordance with the arrangement.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer must ensure that an arrangement made under subsection (1) is made publicly available.

An arrangement made under subsection (1) is not a legislative instrument.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer may, with the agreement of the responsible Secretaries, issue written principles setting out approaches and costing conventions to be used in preparing policy costings under this Division.

(2) If no principles are in effect under subsection (1), the Parliamentary Budget Officer must prepare policy costings under this Division using approaches and costing conventions recommended in the most recent guidelines issued under subclause 30(1) of Schedule 1 to the Charter of Budget Honesty Act 1998.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer must ensure that principles issued under subsection (1) are made publicly available.

Principles issued under subsection (1) are not legislative instruments.

This section applies at times other than during the caretaker period for a general election.

A Senator or a Member of the House of Representatives may request the Parliamentary Budget Officer to prepare a costing of a policy or a proposed policy.

A request under subsection (2):

If the Parliamentary Budget Officer needs more information to cost aspects of a policy, he or she may, in writing, ask the person who requested the costing for that information.

A request under subsection (2) may be withdrawn at any time, by notice in writing, by the Senator or the Member of the House of Representatives who made the request.

If the Parliamentary Budget Officer does not have sufficient information, or has not had sufficient time, to prepare a policy costing before the next general election, the request for the policy costing is taken to have been withdrawn immediately before the start of the caretaker period for the election.

This section applies during the caretaker period for a general election.

An authorised member of a Parliamentary party may request the Parliamentary Budget Officer to prepare a costing of a publicly announced policy of the Parliamentary party.

(3) A request for a costing of a policy of a Parliamentary party is not to be made under subsection (2) before polling day if a member of that party has, during the same caretaker period, requested the preparation of a costing of that policy, or a substantially similar policy, under clause 29 of Schedule 1 to the Charter of Budget Honesty Act 1998.

(4) A request for a costing of a policy of a Parliamentary party is not to be made under subsection (2) on or after polling day if a member of that party has, on or after that day, requested the preparation of a costing of that policy, or a substantially similar policy, under clause 29 of Schedule 1 to the Charter of Budget Honesty Act 1998.

An independent member may request the Parliamentary Budget Officer to prepare a costing of a publicly announced policy of the independent member.

A request under subsection (2) or (5) must:

If the Parliamentary Budget Officer needs more information to cost aspects of a policy, he or she may, in writing, ask the person who requested the costing for that information.

An authorised member of a Parliamentary party may, by notice in writing, withdraw a request made under subsection (2) on behalf of the Parliamentary party.

An independent member who made a request under subsection (5) may, by notice in writing, withdraw the request.

To help the Parliamentary Budget Officer to prepare a policy costing in response to a request made under subsection 64J(2) or (5) during the caretaker period for a general election, the Parliamentary Budget Officer may request the Head of a Commonwealth body to give information to the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer may make a request under subsection (1):

If the Head of a Commonwealth body receives a request under subsection (1), the Head must comply with the request in time to allow the information to be taken into account in preparing the relevant policy costing, unless:

If the Head of a Commonwealth body gives information to the Parliamentary Budget Officer in response to a request made under subsection (1), the Head may request that some or all of the information be kept confidential.

Nothing in this section is intended to limit any other power of the Parliamentary Budget Officer to obtain information or documents from a Commonwealth body for the purpose of preparing a policy costing in response to a request under subsection 64J(2) or (5).

Nothing in this section creates rights or duties that are enforceable in judicial or other proceedings.

This section applies in relation to a policy costing request that is made under subsection 64J(2) or (5) before polling day during the caretaker period for a general election.

As soon as practicable after the request has been made and before polling day, the Parliamentary Budget Officer must publicly release the request and a costing of the policy.

If the Parliamentary Budget Officer does not have sufficient information, or has not had sufficient time, to prepare a policy costing and publicly release the request and the costing before polling day:

This section applies in relation to a policy costing request that is made under subsection 64J(2) or (5) on or after polling day during the caretaker period for a general election in circumstances where the caretaker period continues after that day.

As soon as practicable after the request has been made, the Parliamentary Budget Officer must publicly release the request and a costing of the policy.

If the Parliamentary Budget Officer does not have sufficient information, or has not had sufficient time, to prepare a policy costing and publicly release the request and the costing before the end of the caretaker period:

(1) The Parliamentary Budget Officer must prepare a report (the post-election report) setting out, for each designated Parliamentary party:

The Parliamentary Budget Officer must prepare the post-election report before the later of:

For the purpose of preparing the post-election report, the Parliamentary Budget Officer may treat 2 or more Parliamentary parties as a single designated Parliamentary party if:

Each designated Parliamentary party must, before 5 pm on the day before polling day in the election, give the Parliamentary Budget Officer a list, in writing, of the policies that the party has publicly announced it intends to seek to have implemented after the election.

On the day after polling day in the election, the Parliamentary Budget Officer must publicly release:

Within 3 days after the end of the caretaker period for the election, the Parliamentary Budget Officer must prepare, for each designated Parliamentary party, a list in writing of all the election commitments of that party that the Parliamentary Budget Officer, in his or her best professional judgement, reasonably believes would have a material impact on the Commonwealth budget sector and Commonwealth general government sector fiscal estimates for the current financial year and the following 3 financial years.

In preparing the list of election commitments of a designated Parliamentary party under subsection (5), the Parliamentary Budget Officer must have regard to:

As soon as practicable after preparing the list of election commitments of a designated Parliamentary party under subsection (5), but not later than 3 days after the end of the caretaker period for the election, the Parliamentary Budget Officer must:

Within 3 days after a designated Parliamentary party receives the list of election commitments under subsection (7), the party must give the Parliamentary Budget Officer comments on the list.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer must comply with this section in preparing the post-election report for a general election required by subsection 64MA(1).

The Parliamentary Budget Officer may, but is not required to, take account of any comments given to the Parliamentary Budget Officer under subsection 64MA(8).

The post-election report must:

The post-election report:

The post-election report does not have to include information that the Parliamentary Budget Officer considers should not be included because:

If the Parliamentary Budget Officer does not have sufficient information, or has not had sufficient time, to assess the cost of any election commitment, the Parliamentary Budget Officer may reflect this in the post-election report.

If the Parliamentary Budget Officer needs more information about an election commitment of a designated Parliamentary party for the purpose of preparing the post-election report required by subsection 64MA(1), the Parliamentary Budget Officer may ask any of the following for that information:

To help the Parliamentary Budget Officer to prepare the post-election report, the Parliamentary Budget Officer may request the Head of a Commonwealth body to give information to the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer may make a request under subsection (2) during the period beginning at the start of the caretaker period for the election to which the post-election report relates and ending on the day on which the post-election report is publicly released under subsection 64MC(1).

If the Head of a Commonwealth body receives a request under subsection (2), the Head must comply with the request in time to allow the information to be taken into account in preparing the post-election report, unless:

If the Head of a Commonwealth body gives information to the Parliamentary Budget Officer in response to a request made under subsection (2), the Head may request that some or all of the information be kept confidential.

(6) As soon as practicable after the end of the caretaker period for the election to which the post-election report relates, the responsible Secretaries must give the Parliamentary Budget Officer any policy costings that have been prepared during the caretaker period under Charter of Budget Honesty Act 1998.Part 8 of Schedule 1 to the

If:

Nothing in this section is intended to limit any other power of the Parliamentary Budget Officer to obtain information or documents from a Commonwealth body for the purpose of preparing the post-election report.

Nothing in this section creates rights or duties that are enforceable in judicial or other proceedings.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer must publicly release the post-election report required by subsection 64MA(1) as soon as practicable after preparing the report and before the later of:

At least 48 hours before publicly releasing the post-election report under subsection (1), the Parliamentary Budget Officer must give each designated Parliamentary party a copy of the part of the report setting out the costings of that party’s election commitments and the information required under paragraph 64MA(1)(b) in relation to those election commitments.

The part of the post-election report given to a designated Parliamentary party under subsection (2) must be accompanied by a notice:

If the Parliamentary Budget Officer is given any comments in relation to the post-election report under paragraph (3)(b), the Parliamentary Budget Officer may, if it is practicable to do so:

The Parliamentary Budget Officer, under the Presiding Officers, is responsible for managing the Parliamentary Budget Office and must advise the Presiding Officers in matters relating to the operation and administration of the Parliamentary Budget Office.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer must assist the Presiding Officers to fulfil the Presiding Officers’ accountability obligations to the Parliament and provide factual information, as required by the Parliament, in relation to the operation and administration of the Parliamentary Budget Office.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer must, in consultation with the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, prepare a work plan for the Parliamentary Budget Office for each financial year.

The work plan must be prepared:

The work plan must set out:

The Parliamentary Budget Officer must ensure that the work plan is made publicly available.

A work plan prepared under subsection (1) is not a legislative instrument.

(1) The Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (the Committee) may request the Parliamentary Budget Officer to submit to the Committee draft estimates for the Parliamentary Budget Office for a financial year before the budget for that financial year.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer must comply with the request in time to allow the Committee to consider the draft estimates and make recommendations on them before the budget.

(1) The Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (the Committee) has the following duties:

Nothing in subsection (1) authorises the Committee to direct the activities of the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

(1) After a general election, the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (the Committee) may request the Parliamentary Budget Officer to cause an independent review of the operations of the Parliamentary Budget Office to be conducted in accordance with the request.

The request must specify:

In making the request, the Committee must have regard to the resources of the Parliamentary Budget Office.

The review must be completed within 9 months after the end of the caretaker period for the election.

The Committee must table the report of the review in each House of the Parliament as soon as practicable after receiving it.

In this section:

entrusted person means:

An entrusted person must not disclose information relating to a request referred to in paragraph 64E(1)(a) or (c) if the request included a direction under paragraph 64H(3)(d) or section 64M to treat the information as confidential.

Subsection (2) does not prevent an entrusted person from disclosing information relating to a request for the purposes of complying with the request.

Despite subsection (2) but subject to subsection (5), the Parliamentary Budget Officer may make a public statement to clarify a matter relating to the response to a request referred to in paragraph 64E(1)(a) or (c) if:

An entrusted person must not disclose information given to the Parliamentary Budget Officer by the Head of a Commonwealth body under subsection 64KA(3) or 64MB(4) if the Head requested, under subsection 64KA(4) or 64MB(5) (as the case requires), that the information be kept confidential.

Subsection (4A) does not prevent an entrusted person from disclosing information referred to in that subsection for the purpose for which the information was obtained, but the information must not be further disclosed.

An entrusted person must not disclose information received by the Parliamentary Budget Officer in accordance with an arrangement under subsection 64F(1) if the disclosure of the information would contravene a confidentiality provision in the arrangement.

Subdivision B—Parliamentary Budget Officer’s appointment, conditions etc.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer is to be appointed by the Presiding Officers, for a term of 4 years.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer holds office on a full-time basis.

A Parliamentary Budget Officer is eligible for reappointment, but must not hold office for a total of more than 8 years.

An appointment is not affected by any defect or irregularity in or in connection with the appointment.

The Presiding Officers must not make an appointment under subsection 64X(1) unless:

A referral under paragraph (1)(a) must be in writing and may be withdrawn by the Presiding Officers at any time.

If the Presiding Officers refer a proposed appointment to the Committee for approval under paragraph (1)(a), the Committee must:

The Committee may request the Presiding Officers to provide further information in relation to the proposal.

The Committee may notify the Presiding Officers within 14 days after receiving a proposal that it needs more time to consider the proposal. If the Committee does so, the Committee must approve or reject the proposal within 44 days after receiving it.

The decision to approve or reject a proposal is to be by a majority of the members of the Committee for the time being holding office.

If the Committee does not make a decision on a proposal by the required time, the Committee is taken, at that time, to have approved the proposal.

The Committee must notify the Presiding Officers of its decision on a proposal as soon as practicable after making the decision.

A notification under this section must be in writing.

The Committee must report to both Houses of the Parliament on its decision on a proposal.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer is to be paid the remuneration that is determined by the Remuneration Tribunal. If no determination of that remuneration by the Tribunal is in operation, the Parliamentary Budget Officer is to be paid the remuneration that is determined by the Presiding Officers.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer is to be paid the allowances that are determined by the Presiding Officers.

(3) This section has effect subject to the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973.

A determination made by the Presiding Officers under subsection (1) or (2) must be:

The Parliamentary Budget Officer has the recreation leave entitlements that are determined by the Remuneration Tribunal.

The Presiding Officers may grant the Parliamentary Budget Officer leave of absence, other than recreation leave, on the terms and conditions as to remuneration or otherwise that the Presiding Officers determine.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer may resign by giving the Presiding Officers a written resignation.

The resignation takes effect on the day it is received by the Presiding Officers or, if a later day is specified in the resignation, on that later day.

The Presiding Officers may remove the Parliamentary Budget Officer from office if each House of the Parliament, in the same session of the Parliament, presents an address to the Presiding Officers praying for the removal of the Parliamentary Budget Officer on the ground of misbehaviour or physical or mental incapacity.

The Presiding Officers must remove the Parliamentary Budget Officer from office if the Parliamentary Budget Officer becomes an insolvent under administration.

After the end of each financial year:

A report made under subsection (1) is to be prepared in accordance with guidelines approved on behalf of the Parliament by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit.

After the end of each financial year, the Parliamentary Librarian must give a report to the Presiding Officers on the performance of the Parliamentary Librarian’s functions during the year. The Parliamentary Librarian’s report must be included in the report on the activities of the joint Department made under paragraph (1)(c).