Accounting
Centre of Excellence (ACE) | | Finance's
Accounting Centre of Excellence draws (ACE) together accounting expertise and
focuses on keeping Finance at the forefront of international governance, budgeting
and accounting developments.
|
 |
Accrual | | The
accounting basis that brings items to account as they are earned or incurred (and
not as cash received or paid) and includes them in financial statements in the
related accounting period.
|
|
Agency | | Department,
executive agency (established under section 65 of the Public Service Act 1999)
or statutory agency.
|
|
Agency
head | | Secretary
of a Department, head of an executive agency or statutory agency.
|
|
Appropriation | | Monies
set aside by Parliament for a particular purpose.
|
|
Australian
National Audit Office (ANAO) | | Assists
the Auditor-General by providing an integrated (ANAO) professional audit practice
that produces audit-related products and services to its clients.
|
|
Australian
Workplace Agreement (AWA) | | Individual
written agreement between an employer and (AWA) employee about terms and conditions
of employment, made under the Workplace Relations Act 1996.
|
|
Benchmarking
| | Tests
functions, particularly efficiency and price of outputs, against a standardised
function or set of achievements, to place it in the context of its peers.
|
|
Budget
Consultative Committee | | A
high level committee which oversights Budget planning and processes. The Committee
membership is: Secretary to the Treasury, General Manager-Budget (Finance) and
Deputy Secretary-Economic (Prime Minister and Cabinet)
|
|
Business
Group | | Finance
comprises eight Business Groups; General Managers oversee each Business Group
and report to the Secretary of Finance.
|
|
Capital-use
Charge | | Is
levied on agencies and authorities and is based on their net assets at the end
of the reporting period. Funding for the Capital-use Charge is included in agencies
and authorities Departmental outputs appropriations.
|
|
Certified
Agreement (CA) | | Collective
agreements made directly between an employer and a group of employees, or between
an employer and a union or unions representing employees.
|
|
Commonwealth
Property Principles | | Govern
the ownership of property by the Government, and were endorsed by the Government
in August 1996. The Principles state that the Commonwealth will only own property
where the yield exceeds a set hurdle rate or where it is otherwise in the public
interest to do so.
|
|
Competitive
tendering and contracting (CTC) | | Process
of contracting out to other organisations the (CTC) delivery of Government activities
previously performed by a Commonwealth agency. The activity is submitted to competitive
tender, and the preferred provider is selected from bidders by evaluating offers
against predetermined selection criteria.
|
|
Consultant | | Entity
(individual, partnership or corporation) engaged to provide professional independent
and expert advice or services. A consultancy contract typically defines the nature
and purpose of the task to be performed but does not detail how the task is to
be performed.
|
|
Contractor | | A
party who agrees to provide supplies or services in accordance with a valid and
legal contract.
|
|
Corporate
governance | | Process
of directing and controlling agencies.
|
|
Dividend | | Payment
by an organisation to its shareholders.
|
|
Equity | | Residual
interest in an entity's assets after deducting its liabilities.
|
|
Expenditure
Review Committee (ERC) | | This
is the major ministerial committee responsible for examining all outlay proposals
in light of the Government's overall fiscal strategy, advising Cabinet on Budget
spending priorities and initiating reviews of outlays under individual ongoing
programs. It usually includes the Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the Minister
for Finance and Administration, and relevant Portfolio Ministers.
|
|
General
government sector | | The
primary function of this sector is to provide public services which are mainly
non-market in nature, are mainly for the collective consumption of the community,
involve the transfer or redistribution of income or are financed mainly through
taxes and other compulsory levies.
|
|
General
Manager | | General Managers
oversee each of Finance's Business Groups and report to the Secretary.
|
|
Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) | | Total
net value added in an economy.
|
|
Management
Board | | Finance's peak
decision-making body, establishes strategic directions and manages overall performance.
|
|
Material
agencies | | Those agencies
that in aggregate make up at least 99 per cent of the General Government Sector's
total assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses.
|
|
Net
assets | | Assets after
deducting liabilities.
|
|
Non-ongoing
employee | | Employee engaged
for a specified term or duration of a specified task, or for irregular or intermittent
duties (in accordance with the Public Service Act 1999).
|
|
OECD | | Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and Development.
|
|
Ongoing
employee | | Employee engaged
on an ongoing basis (in accordance with the Public Service Act 1999).
|
|
Outcome-output
| | Outcome and output
structures reflect an agency's business and enable sound performance reporting
to Parliament. Outcomes reflect the Government's objectives and priorities and
their community impact. Outputs contribute to outcomes, and are specified by price,
quantity and quality.
|
|
Output
Pricing Review | | A process
of evaluating the price of an agency's outputs, considered in the context of quality,
quantity and timeliness issues.
|
|
Performance
Indicator | | Allows an
agency's performance to be assessed. Targets are set in May and reported against
at the end of the next financial year.
|
|
Private
Financing | | Refers to
a form of Government procurement involving the use of private sector capital to
wholly or partly fund an asset to deliver Commonwealth Government outcomes. Private
financing is generally suitable for major asset and infrastructure procurements.
Private financing is also often used to support, or in conjunction with, the delivery
of related services.
|
|
Return
on net assets | | Earnings
before interest and tax, assets minus liabilities.
|
|
Work
and Home Life Balance | | Allows
staff to achieve high performance within a supportive, flexible and safe working
environment, while maintaining a healthy balance between work and home.
|
|
 | | |
