Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) This section applies at times other than during the caretaker period for a general election.
(2) A Senator or a Member of the House of Representatives may request the Parliamentary Budget Officer to prepare a costing of a policy or a proposed policy.
(3) A request under subsection ( 2):
(a) must be in writing; and
(b) must outline fully the policy to be costed, giving relevant details; and
(c) must state the purpose or intention of the policy; and
(d) may include a direction to treat the request, the policy costing or any other information relating to the request as confidential.
Note: For confidentiality obligations relating to requests, see subsection 64V(2).
(4) If the Parliamentary Budget Officer needs more information to cost aspects of a policy, he or she may, in writing, ask the person who requested the costing for that information.
(5) A request under subsection ( 2) may be withdrawn at any time, by notice in writing, by the Senator or the Member of the House of Representatives who made the request.
(6) If the Parliamentary Budget Officer does not have sufficient information, or has not had sufficient time, to prepare a policy costing before the next general election, the request for the policy costing is taken to have been withdrawn immediately before the start of the caretaker period for the election.