ACCRUAL UNIFORM PRESENTATION

FRAMEWORK FOR 2000-01 BUDGET

The Australian Loan Council, comprising Commonwealth, State and Territory

Treasurers, has agreed to the implementation of the Accrual Uniform Presentation

Framework (UPF). The new agreement provides the framework for uniform

reporting of accrual-based financial information in budget documentation.

As part of the 9 May 2000 Budget, the Commonwealth will publish detailed

budget information consistent with Accrual UPF reporting requirements

in Budget Statement 8 of Budget Paper No. 1. The Commonwealth’s budget-time

Loan Council Allocation estimate for 2000-01, also prepared on the basis

of the Accrual UPF, will be published in Budget Paper No. 3.

It is expected that most jurisdictions will be able to conform to the

Accrual UPF beginning with their 2000-01 budgets, although they have until

the 2002-03 budget year to fully implement reporting on an Accrual UPF

basis.

The UPF is a key feature of Loan Council arrangements for the oversight

of public sector borrowing in Australia. These arrangements emphasise

transparency in public sector finances and the role of financial market

discipline. The Accrual UPF will ensure that these arrangements remain

relevant and effective in the environment of accrual budgeting and financial

reporting.

The original UPF was negotiated by Commonwealth, State and Territory

leaders in 1991, and subsequently revised and updated by the Loan Council

in 1997. It is a voluntary agreement, designed to ensure that governments

publish a common core of fiscal information in their budget papers.

In light of the adoption by governments of accrual reporting, and the

shift by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to an accrual Government

Finance Statistics (GFS) framework, the Commonwealth, States and Territories

have developed a revised UPF based on accrual GFS reporting standards.

The Accrual UPF is available from the Treasury internet site, at

http://www.treasury.gov.au/publications

CANBERRA

5 May 2000

Contact: Jenny Allen

(02) 6263 3049