Governing the City State - Chief Minister and Treasury Directorate ...

subsequent years the Infrastructure role was moved, first in June 2000 when Stadiums ACTand Bruce Stadium were transferred to CMD. Infrastructure and asset management weremoved to the Department of Urban Services in October 2000.Shared Services, established in February 2007 in Treasury moved to TAMS in November2008. Purchasing and Procurement functions had first moved to Treasury in October 2000and InTACT moved to Treasury in November 2001.In addition to the Treasury, the portfolio includes:• ACT Gambling and Racing Commission;• Office of the Commissioner for ACT Revenue; and• ACT Insurance Authority.Proposed ChangesThe Review proposes two options in relation to the Finance Directorate:• Option A (preferred by the Review) – under which it would form part of theproposed Chief Minister’s Department (reporting to the Treasurer); and• Option B – under which the Finance Directorate would not be explicitly joined in a singleunit under the Chief Executive and Head of the ACTPS.Regardless of whether Option A or Option B is preferred, the Review recommends:• Shared Services become part of the Finance Directorate; and• the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission be located in the FinancePortfolio.IssuesCapacity of Central AgenciesA particular question asked of the Review was whether Treasury has the capacity or is bestsuited to provide long-term strategic economic advice to the government. The short answerto this question is yes, and the Finance Directorate should continue to represent the ACT atHeads of Treasuries level. It should also maintain its capacity to provide macroeconomicpolicy advice and forecasts. That capacity would, however, be enhanced through closercooperation with the Policy Division of the proposed Chief Minister’s Department in thisregard, including through development of a robust economic modelling tool for the ACTeconomy that reflects the unique circumstances of the Territory and accounts better for theimpact of cross-border services.The ACTPS’s capacity for consolidated economic advice might be further enhanced throughthe establishment of a body equivalent in function to the Commonwealth Government’s JointEconomic Forecasting Group which comprises the Commonwealth Treasury, the ReserveBank of Australia, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Department ofAdministrative Arrangements Changes: 132