2014-15 budget - general government
Budget paper 3 – Service Delivery
This guidance material outlines the information requirements for the 2014-15 Budget Paper No. 3 Service
Delivery. It should be read in conjunction with the other budget paper guidance documents.
Key dates:
20 January 2014 (5pm) – Departments to submit in SRIMS (on a no-policy change basis) updated performance
information as agreed with Coordinating Ministers.
9 April 2014 (5pm) – Departments to submit updated departmental performance information to reflect the
2014-15 approved budget initiatives.
Budget Paper No. 3 – Service Delivery
The production of departmental performance statements for the 2014-15 budget requires you to submit
objectives and objective indicators, output description and performance measure information including
footnotes for inclusion in the budget papers.
BERC requires this information on a no-policy change basis to be submitted before meetings for the 2014-15
budget deliberations.
Budget and Financial Management Guidance (BFMG) 2, 8 and 9 provide a guide for reviewing and developing
departmental objectives and indicators, outputs and performance measures. The guides are available at
http://www.dtf.vic.gov.au/Government-Financial-Management/Budgeting/Budget-and-financial-mangementguidances
You are requested to submit the following updated performance information (on a no-policy change basis), as
approved by the relevant portfolio Ministers and agreed by your coordinating Minister, by 5pm Monday 20
January 2014.

Departmental introduction, including:

Ministerial portfolios,

a brief departmental mission statement;

departmental objectives and associated objective indicators;

links between departmental objectives and outputs; and

proposed changes to the output structure (this should incorporate any machinery of government
changes announced since the 2013-14 Budget).
Further guidance on performance statements can be found in BFMG 2, 8 and 9.
2014-15 budget - general government

Performance and output structure information for 2014-15. Further details to be included in explanatory
footnotes. Footnotes are required for any change in a performance measure target. Attachment A
provides further details of footnote requirements.

Output group commentary.

Output descriptions.

Performance measure information for:


2012-13 Actual;

2013-14 Target and Expected Outcome,

2014-15 Target.
Explanatory footnotes (see Attachment A).
Following the completion of budget deliberations you will need to update your departmental performance
information (as listed above) to reflect the 2014-15 approved budget initiatives by 5pm Tuesday 9 April 2014.
Information submitted to DTF under this process must be approved by the relevant portfolio
Ministers, and agreed by the coordinating Minister.
Further guidance on performance statements can be found in BFMG 2, 8 and 9.
PAEC review of proposed changes to discontinued or substantially changed measures
Consistent with the process for 2013-14, PAEC will be invited to review departments’ proposals to discontinue
or substantially change a performance measure.
Following the publication of the budget papers PAEC will review the proposed substantial changes to
performance measures and make relevant recommendations (in line with the process adopted for 2013-14).
DTF will be responsible for updating on-line data on the Budget website.
Final departmental sign off
As it becomes available, budget paper material (departmental packs) will be made available progressively for
final review and sign off as ready for publication. Sign off by the CFO (or appropriately authorised person)
must be provided to your DTF Relationship Manager using the sign off template that will also be available in
SRIMS. The material that will be made available for departmental review will include:

departmental performance statements (including departmental objectives) and discontinued outputs
and/or proposed discontinued or substantially changed output performance measures;

new output, asset investment, revenue and efficiency initiatives (if required) financial tables and text,
election commitments financial tables and any other references in the budget papers to specific
initiatives of your department; and

text relating to your department for initiatives undertaken with local government.
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2014-15 budget - general government
SRIMS users
The SRIMS user guide is available on the SRIMS website (https://srims.vic.gov.au). This should be your first
reference point prior to contacting SRIMS Support either by email srims.support@dtf.vic.gov.au or by phoning
9651 2000. For general queries on SRIMS you should email your request to srims-info@dtf.vic.gov.au.
You are encouraged to use the Quick Reference Guides for the main SRIMS processes and if further
information is required the User Training Guides available on SRIMS.
Further information
Please contact your DTF Relationship Manager for further information.
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2014-15 budget - general government
Attachment A
Footnotes assist the reader to understand changes in performance measures, or changes in how measures are
reported to ensure that performance can be measured consistently over time. These footnotes should be
entered into SRIMS.
Footnotes are required for the following:

All new performance measures

All renamed/edited performance measures

Replacement or consolidation of performance measures

All proposed discontinued measures/outputs, which include:

Performance measures previously reported that are proposed to be discontinued in 2014-15

Performance measures with changes in source data/methodology used to measure target OR
changes in unit of measurement which renders past performance history incomparable

Performance measures that have been reclassified (i.e. quality, quantity or timeliness)

Any complex measures where having an explanatory footnote would assist readers to understand the
measure and its purpose

All movements in targets (including output costs) between years

All significant movements between Targets and Expected Outcomes (including output costs)

Significant means a five per cent variance (increase or decrease) or a change that may be of public
interest
Standard footnotes
To assist you to construct footnotes and to ensure consistency, the following wording is to be used.

New performance measures
‘New performance measure for 2014-15 to reflect Government priorities regarding <xyz>/new
funding/etc.’

Renamed/edited performance measures
‘This performance measure replaces the 2013-14 performance measures <xyz>. The new measure is the
same as the previous measure except for <xyz> and measures the same activity.’
‘This performance measure renames/edits the 2013-14 performance measures <xyz>. The new measure
reports on the same activity as the previous measure however has been amended for increased clarity.’
*Note: renamed/edited performance measures are published in the performance statements. The
previous measures are not required to be published as a proposed discontinued or substantially
changed measure.
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2014-15 budget - general government

Replacement or consolidation of performance measures
‘This performance measure is proposed to replace the 2013-14 performance measure <xyz>. It has been
amended/replaced to more accurately reflect <xyz>.’
‘This performance measure is proposed to consolidate the 2013-14 performance measures <xyz> and
<xyz> into a new measure for 2014-15. These measures have been consolidated to <xyz>.’
*Note: previous year performance measures that are proposed to be replaced or consolidated are
required to be published as a proposed discontinued or substantially changed measure.

Proposed discontinued measures
‘This performance measure is proposed to be discontinued as <it is no longer relevant/it has been
replaced by the 2014-15 performance measure ‘…’/previous budgets did not allocate funding for the
program beyond 30 June 2014>.’

Performance measures transferred between outputs
‘This performance measure is transferred directly from the <xyz> output.’

Machinery of government change
‘This performance measure has been introduced as a result of machinery-of-government changes that
resulted in the transfer of <xyz> functions <out of/into> the Department.’

Significant and/or material movements (a) in targets between years; (b) between Targets and
Expected Outcomes; or (c) output costs between years
‘The higher/lower 2014-15 Target reflects <additional services or funding/the effect of…>.’
‘The 2013-14 Expected Outcome is <lower/higher> than the 2013-14 Target due to <….>.’
*Note: footnotes explaining changes in targets or the setting of targets must include:

at a minimum, whether the change is due to changed government policy, funding or program delivery, or
changed external circumstances (i.e. Commonwealth, consumer trends etc), and

factors that have contributed to any targets being set at levels that could be reasonably interpreted as being
significantly understated compared to the previous year.
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