Select Committee on Estimates 2025-2026

Resolution of Establishment

At its meeting on Thursday, 15 May 2025, the Assembly passed the following resolution:

"That:

(1)  a Select Committee on Estimates 2025-2026 be appointed to examine the expenditure proposals contained in the Appropriation Bill 2025-2026, the Appropriation (Office of the Legislative Assembly) Bill 2025-2026 and any revenue estimates proposed by the Government in the 2025-2026 Budget and prepare a report to the Assembly;

(2)  the Committee be composed of:

1. one Member to be nominated by the Labor Party;
2. one Member to be nominated by the Liberal Party;
3. one Member to be nominated by the ACT Greens; and
4. one independent Member;

to be notified in writing to the Speaker within two hours of this motion passing;

(3)  a Liberal Party member shall be Chair of the Committe;

(4)  funds be provided by the Assembly to permit the engagement of external expertise to work with the Committee to facilitate the analysis of the Budget and the preparation of the report of the Committee;

(5)  the Committee is to report by Friday, 29 August 2025;

(6)  if the Assembly is not sitting when the Committee has completed its inquiry, the Committee may send its report to the Speaker or, in the absence of the Speaker, to the Deputy Speaker, who is authorised to give directions for its printing, publishing and circulation;

(7)  the Treasurer must publish, by no later than 5 pm on 24 June 2025, the following information on the ACT Budget website, to table copies in the Assembly, and to provide copies to the Committee for consideration:

1. statement regarding the structural position of the ACT Budget, both in 2025-26 and over the forward estimates period;
2. scenario analysis for headline Budget items – including the key economic parameters and General Government Sector Headline Net Operating Balance – showing the base, high, and low cases, for each of the current financial, Budget, and forward estimates years; and
3. statements regarding the Government’s policies on debt consolidation and management, the superannuation liability, and progress towards the implementation of the 2012 tax reform plan;

(8)  the Treasurer must, where available by the day of the Budget, or otherwise by 17 October 2025:

1. publish a medium-term (10-year) forecast of revenue, expenses, the net operating balance (excluding the Superannuation Return Adjustment), and total government debt;
2. provide notes in the Budget Papers describing the accounting policies, and assumptions, and major technical adjustments, and providing a breakdown of key financial statement items, consistent with the approach of the Commonwealth and state governments;
3. work closely with the community sector to publish tables showing community sector support by program and organisation, for each of the current financial, Budget and forward estimates years;
4. publish all future Budget data in a machine readable (CSV or XLSX) format;
5. make a statement in the Assembly on 21 October 2025 on the feasibility, cost, and the Government’s plan for reporting the information in (8)(a) to (d) where that information has not already been published;
6. the alignment of expenses by function under the General Government Sector expenses with other reporting methods across the Budget, including the ‘How we spend our money’ ring;
7. the reporting of Commonwealth funding categories with expenses by function; and
8. further information on total territory borrowing and interest payments, particularly the leases/other category; and

(9)  the foregoing provisions of this resolution, so far as they are inconsistent with the standing orders, have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the standing orders.”

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Public hearings:

• Hearings are scheduled from 22 July 2025 to 5 August 2025.
• Click here to view the current public hearings schedule.

Transcripts:

• Click here to read transcripts from these hearings.

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Hearing Schedule 22 July to 5 August 2025	PDF (280.5 KB)