Set out below is a glossary of technical terms, or ordinary words used technically, and a list of acronyms and abbreviations used in this document.
Administered items—Expenses, revenues, assets or liabilities managed by agencies on behalf of the Commonwealth. Agencies do not control administered items. Administered expenses include grants, subsidies and benefits. In many cases, administered expenses fund the delivery of third party outputs.
Agencies—The basic unit of organisation covered by the budget, and focus for assessing management performance and implementing government policy. Agencies are departments of state, parliamentary departments and other agencies prescribed under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997. Authorities are bodies corporate which are, for legal purposes, entities in their own right in that they are separate from the Commonwealth Government and are governed by the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997.
Authorities—see Agencies.
Building fabric—The basic elements making up a building; the carcass without finishings or decoration.
Chamber departments—The Department of the Senate and the Department of the House of Representatives, so called because each supports a ‘Chamber’ of the Commonwealth Parliament.
Chief Executive—The ultimate level of individual responsibility within an agency. In the case of DPS it is the Secretary.
Chief Executive’s Instructions—Procedural instructions given by a Chief Executive to manage the affairs of the department in a way that promotes the efficient, effective and ethical use of Commonwealth resources.
DPS Services Catalogue—A catalogue providing information about the services available from the Department of Parliamentary Services.
Fabric—see Building fabric.
Hansard—Hard copy and electronic reports of proceedings in the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Main Committee of the House of Representatives and transcripts of parliamentary committees and some ministerial or parliament-related conferences.
Outcomes and programs—Parliamentary outcomes are the intended results, impacts or consequences of actions by the Parliament on the Australian community. Commonwealth programs are the primary vehicle by which parliamentary agencies achieve the intended results of their outcome statements.
Parliament House Art Collection—Comprises a number of stand-alone collections (the Rotational Collection, the Architectural Commissions, the Historic Memorials Collection (HMC), the Gift Collection, the Constitutional Documents and the Archive).
Parliamentary Precincts—The Parliamentary Precincts are defined in the Parliamentary Precincts Act 1988; in general terms they consist of the area within the inner kerb of Capital Circle, and all buildings, structures and works, and parts of buildings, structures and works, on, above or under that land.
Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS)—Statements prepared by agencies to explain the Budget appropriations in terms of outcomes and outputs.
Programs—see Outcomes and programs.
Presiding Officers—Two Members of Parliament elected to preside over, or be in charge of, the business, proceedings and administration of a House of Parliament. In the Senate the Presiding Officer is called the President, and in the House of Representatives, the Speaker.
Price—The amount the Government or the community pays for the delivery of agreed outputs.
Quality—Relates to the characteristics by which customers or stakeholders judge an organisation, product or service. Assessment of quality involves use of information gathered from interested parties to identify differences between users’ expectations and experiences.
Quantity—The size of an output.
Receipts—The total or gross amount received by the Commonwealth. Each receipt item is either revenue, an offset within outlays, or fi nancing transactions. Receipts include taxes, interest, charges for goods and services, borrowings and Government business enterprise dividends received.
Security Management Board—This body is established by the Parliamentary Service Act 1999, and provides advice as required to the Presiding Officers on security policy, and the management of security measures, for Parliament House. The board has three members, who may, with the Presiding Offi cers’ permission, invite others to attend their meetings.
Service charter—A public statement about the service that a department will provide and what clients can expect from the department. It is Government policy for departments that provide services direct to the public have service charters in place.
Staff Dining Room—The Staff Dining Room is also referred to as the Staff Cafeteria or the Staff Café.
Table Office—The offi ce within the Department of the Senate or the Department of the House of Representatives which provides documentary and advisory support to facilitate the effective operation of the parliamentary Chambers.
Third party outputs—Goods or services delivered to the community by entities outside the Commonwealth general Government sector. They are outputs wholly or partly funded by administered items and are directed to achieving planned outcomes.