Community Consultation
What is Treasury’s role?
Treasury’s mission is to improve the wellbeing of the Australian people by providing sound and timely advice to the Government, based on objective and thorough analysis of options, and by assisting Treasury ministers in the administration of their responsibilities and the implementation of government decisions.
Why does Treasury consult?
Community consultation enables Treasury to be better informed when providing advice to the Government.
Treasury engages in consultation to inform the development and implementation of specific policy proposals. By being fully informed of the effects of those proposals Treasury can better advise the Government on how best to meet its objective and minimise any unintended consequences.
Treasury also conducts general liaison for a number of reasons, including to understand more fully how developments in the economy affect different areas of the community and to understand more fully business developments as an input to economic forecasting.
How can consultation be most effective?
Effective consultation relies on all parties taking a constructive approach. While Treasury will always seek to understand your point of view, you will be most influential when you provide evidence and analysis to support your position. Consultation is most effective when stakeholders respect each other's input and collaborate to develop workable solutions. However, consultation will not always result in a consensus.
How does Treasury approach consultation?
Treasury takes a number of different approaches to liaison and consultation depending upon the time available or the commercial and other sensitivities surrounding an issue. For example, the business liaison programme generally uses face-to-face meetings, but where this is not possible, phone calls are made.
Consultations on policy proposals may be broad, such as written submissions responding to discussion papers, or targeted, such as round table discussions with a small number of stakeholders or the confidential release of draft legislation to technical experts. Sensitivity can sometimes preclude consultation on a particular measure.
What can you expect from Treasury?
When participating in community consultation you can expect Treasury to:
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seek to involve an appropriate range of stakeholders in consultations;
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ensure all participants have an opportunity to contribute to the consultation;
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endeavour to provide realistic timeframes for participants to contribute;
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acknowledge, respect and seek to understand the views of participants and provide feedback on those views where possible;
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provide advice to the Government that both alerts it to your concerns and balances the competing factors that affect the wellbeing of the Australian people.
How can you be involved?
The link 'Current Consultations' (below) will give you information on how to participate in current public consultations.
In addition, Treasury welcomes feedback and comments from the public at any time. Use the 'Contact Us' link at the bottom of the page to find out the best way to do this.
Links
Business Liaison Program - (This article was published in the Spring 2001 Economic Roundup)
Brochure – Engaging in Consultation on Tax Design
T-Notes: Articles about consultation
