Government at a Glance 2017

Country Fact Sheetwww.oecd.org/gov/govataglance.htm

Australia is among the leading OECD countries in the ex post evaluation of regulations

Australia scored the highest among OECD countries on the 2015 iREG indicator of ex post evaluation of regulations, which measures the adoption of practices with regards to the systematic adoption, methodology, oversight and quality control mechanisms and transparency of ex post evaluation processes. For example, the Australian Productivity Commission regularly publishes in-depth reviews that assess the cumulative impact of the regulatory framework in a sector as a whole to inform major policy decisions.

Chapter 8. Regulatory governance

Ex post evaluation of regulations

The country has one of the highest standards in open government data

Australia has a comprehensive implementation of open government strategies, including open data, which is reflected in the fact that it has above average score in the OECD OURdata index, a measure of data availability, accessibility and government support for re-use of data. Australia is particularly active in pro-moting awareness initiatives and events inside and outside government to support the re-use of public data for socioeconomic value creation.

Chapter 10. Open government

Open-Useful-Reusable Government Data Index (OURdata)

Senior managers in central government in Australia are very well paid comparedto other OECD countries

Compensation including gross wages and salaries, employers’ social contributions and differences in hol-idays, is the highest in Australia: the average annual compensation of central government’s most senior managers (D1 occupational category) in 2015 was above USD 500,000 PPP. In contrast, the average com-pensation across OECD countries was USD 220,000 PPP for the same year for the same position.

Chapter 3. Public employment and pay

Average annual compensation of central government senior managers

Australia

Fiscal balance*(2015)

Government expenditures(2015)

Government gross debt*(2015, 2016)

% of GDP % of GDP % of GDP

Source: OECD National Accounts Source: OECD National Accounts

G@G /dataG@G /data

26134,500

88,70052,700

Middle Managers(D3 positions)

Senior Managers(D1 positions)

SeniorProfessionals

SecretarialPositions

2015USD PPP

150,000

300,000

450,000

231,500

61,800

Australia

n.a.

173,600

511,900

Annual compensation across central government positions (2015)

Government investment(2015)

How to read the figures:

Australia

Country value in blue (not represented if not available)

Average of OECD countries in red

Range of OECD country values in grey

Public Finance and Economics

10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

24.9%17.0%

Australia

20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

40.9%37.2%

Australia

0% 2% 4% 6% 8%

3.2%3.4%

Australia

43.6%2015

45.9% 100%

0%

2016

112%100%

0%

2015

0% 50% 100% 150% 200% 250%

Australia

Values have been rounded. n.a. refers to

data not available

% of GDP

Source: OECD* SNA definition, see Notes National Accounts

Public Employment

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the Composition of the workforce in Central/federal Governments

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the compensation of employees in central / federal governments

... and in senior positions (2015)

Source: OECD* See Notes National Accounts

Public Sector Compensation

53.0%58.4%Australia

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

32.4%36.6%Australia

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Women in the civil service ...

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on the Composition of the workforce in Central/federal Governments

Percentage of central government employees aged 55 years or older

(2015)

General government employmentas % of total employment (2015)

Source: OECD National Accounts

18.1%

n.a.Australia

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

-10% 0%-5% +5% +10%

-2.8%

-2.9%Australia

Budgeting

Women in Government

Extent of delegationof HRM practicesin line ministries

0.79

0.64

Extent of the useof performance

assessmentsin HR decisions

0.69

0.64

Extent of the useof performance

related pay

0.85

0.66

Use of separateHRM practices

for seniorcivil servants

0.55 0.55

Collectionof administrative

data

0.86

0.68

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 1 highest

0

0.25

0.50

0.75

1

Australia

G@G /data

Source: OECD (2016) Strategic Human Resources Management Survey

Composite indicators on HRM practices in central government (2016)

Human Resource Management

Composite indices on regulatory governance for primary laws*(2014)

G@G /data

Regulatory governance

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

29.1%

50%

35.4%

Australia

Source: OECD National Accounts

General governmentprocurement expenditures

(2015)% of government expenditures

* See Notes Source: OECD Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance (iREG)

Public Procurement

Support for greenpublic procurement

Some procuring entities have developed an internal strategy/policy

A strategy/policy has been developed at a central level

Support forSMEs

Support for innovativegoods and services

11 25 1

A strategy/policy has been rescinded

There has never been a strategy/policy in place

0 8 24 0 1 9 19 0 6

Australia

Strategic public procurement - Objectives(2016)

Source: OECD (2016) Survey on Public Procurement

0.41

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

0.38Australia

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 1 highest

Performance budgetingpractices at the central level

of government (2016)

Source: OECD (2016) Survey of Performance Budgeting

Stakeholderengagement in

developing regulations

2.82

2.09

Regulatory ImpactAssessment for

developing regulations

2.86

2.05

Ex post evaluationof regulations

3.70

1.54

Composite indexfrom 0 lowest to 4 highest

0

1

2

3

4

Australia

Notes Fiscal balance as reported in the System of National Accounts (SNA) framework, also referred to as net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of government, is calculated as total government revenues minus total government expenditures. Regulatory governance indicators: The results for stakeholder engagement and Regulatory Impact Assessment apply exclusively to processes for developing primary laws initiated by the executive. Data is not applicable to the United States, where all primary laws are initiated by Congress. In the majority of countries, most primary laws are initiated by the executive, except for Mexico and Korea, where a higher share of primary laws are initiated by parliament/congress (respectively 90.6% and 84%). Government gross debt is reported according to the SNA definition, which dif fers from the definition applied under the Maastricht Treaty. It is defined as all liabilities that require payment or payments of interest or principal by the debtor to the creditor at a date or dates in the future. All debt instruments are liabilities, but some liabilities such as shares, equity and financial derivatives are not debt.

Open Data Digital Government

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

35.6%n.a.

Australia

Individuals using the Internet for sending filled forms via public authorities websites

in the past 12 months (2016)

Source: OECD, ICT database; and Eurostat, Information Society database

OURdata Index:Open, Useful, Reusable Government Data

(2017)Composite index: from 0 lowest to 1 highest

Source: OECD (2017) Survey on Open Government Data

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.66

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.55

Australia

Dataavailability

Dataaccessibility

Governmentsupportto re-use

Differences in income inequality pre and post-taxand government transfers (2013)

Australia

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6Higher

inequality

Lowerinequality

Before After

0.48

0.34taxes and transfers

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

Before After

0.47

0.32taxes and transfers

Higherinequality

Lowerinequality

Source: OECD Income Distribution Database

Limited government powers (2016)

0.75

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

0.83Australia

Source: The World Justice Project

Core Government ResultsSatisfaction and confidence across public services

(2016)

70%

Judicial system Education system

85%20

40

60

80

100

Health care

67%66%55%58%

National government42%45%

Australia

Average

Range

Police77%85%

Source: Gallup World Poll

% of citizens expressing confidence/satisfaction

Government at a Glance 2017Government at a Glance provides readers with a dashboard of key indicators assembled with the goal of contributing to the analysis and international

comparison of public sector productivity and performance. Indicators on government revenues, expenditures, and employment are presented,

alongside key output and outcome data for education, health and justice. Information on key enablers to increase productivity including on digital

government, budget procedures, strategic human resource management, open government data and innovative practices are also included. In

a context of tight budget constraints in many member countries, good indicators are needed more than ever, in order to help governments make

informed decisions regarding resource allocation and to help restore confidence in government institutions.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/gov_glance-2017-en

The Excel spreadsheets used to create the tables and figures in Government at a Glance 2017 are available via the StatLinks provided throughout the publication:

For more information on the data (including full methodology and figure notes)and to consult all other Country Fact Sheets: www.oecd.org/gov/govataglance.htm