Governance changes to improve transparency and accountability 6.2 The CGC through its Chairperson and Commission members should provide a — — strong neutral voice, to facilitate a better informed public discourse on the HFE system. 6.3 The CGC should strengthen its formal interactions with the State and Commonwealth Governments. In particular, when requested by a State Government, it should provide on the HFE implications of a policy change. provisional ‘draft rulings’ 6.4 The Commonwealth Government, in consultation with the States, should develop clear guidelines detailing the basis on which Commonwealth payments are to be quarantined from HFE by the Commonwealth Treasurer (so that they do not unnecessarily erode the efficacy of the relativities and compromise the objective of HFE). CGC’s The guidelines should strike a balance between enhancing accountability and transparency, while not unduly affecting the ability to quarantine payments Treasurer’s in exceptional circumstances that are in the national interest. 6.5 The Commonwealth Government should strengthen the decisionmaking CGC’s framework. In particular: the Commonwealth Treasury should provide input, including public submissions, to the fiveyearly methodology review process, drawing upon its communitywide CGC’s perspective the Commonwealth Treasurer should nominate specific areas of focus for the CGC in the terms of reference for the fiveyearly methodology reviews, following (as is currently the case) consultation with the States. 6.6 The CGC should immediately and systematically make the data provided by the States publicly available on its website, along with the calculations on these data. CGC’s
Governance changes to improve transparency and accountability 6.2 The CGC — through its Chairperson and Commission members — should provide a strong neutral voice, to facilitate a better informed public discourse on the HFE system. 6.3 The CGC should strengthen its formal interactions with the State and Commonwealth Governments. In particular, when requested by a State Government, it should provide provisional ‘draft rulings’ on the HFE implications of a policy change. 6.4 The Commonwealth Government, in consultation with the States, should develop clear guidelines detailing the basis on which Commonwealth payments are to be quarantined from HFE by the Commonwealth Treasurer (so that they do not unnecessarily erode the efficacy of the CGC’s relativities and compromise the objective of HFE). The guidelines should strike a balance between enhancing accountability and transparency, while not unduly affecting the Treasurer’s ability to quarantine payments in exceptional circumstances that are in the national interest. 6.5 The Commonwealth Government should strengthen the CGC’s decisionmaking framework. In particular: the Commonwealth Treasury should provide input, including public submissions, to the CGC’s fiveyearly methodology review process, drawing upon its communitywide perspective the Commonwealth Treasurer should nominate specific areas of focus for the CGC in the terms of reference for the fiveyearly methodology reviews, following (as is currently the case) consultation with the States. 6.6 The CGC should immediately and systematically make the data provided by the States publicly available on its website, along with the CGC’s calculations on these data.
horizontal-fiscal-equalisation.docx