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

profitable courses in one area diminishing resources available in another to supportopportunities for disadvantaged people to access further education and training.In resolving this issue, consideration will need to be given to the overlap in administrativeresponsibility in the Administrative Arrangements for the Canberra Institute of TechnologyAct 1987 which, in a manner inconsistent with the powers of the CIT Director, is shownunder the Chief Executive of DET.There is undoubted duplication and arguably inefficient competition between UC and CIT inan education market and city in which there is enormous scope for cooperation and alignmentof effort. A combined institution along the lines of Swinburne University is likely to enhancesignificantly educational and economic outcomes in Canberra, as well as efficiencies thatmight be redirected towards enhanced course offerings.In its Submission to the Review the Australian Council for Private Education and Trainingnoted one of the conflicts inherent in the current arrangements:Currently the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) receives operating advantage overprivate providers through allowances such as funding from the ACT Government forinfrastructure and payroll tax concessions. The outcome is that the cost of publicly fundedinfrastructure is not transparent within service delivery costs. As such private providers arenot competing on a ‘level playing field’. 220Further recommendations about vocational education and training are made in theDepartment of Land and Property Services section.Efficiency Dividend ImpactDET provides an interesting example of the need to nuance decisions taken with generalapplication to avoid unintended consequences, and the benefits of more collaborativepreparation of briefing for Cabinet, especially when it sits as Budget Committee. It alsodemonstrates the need for there to be clarity within the Government, and with the community,of the real impact of initiatives like the efficiency dividend.In keeping with the Budget Plan, all agencies were required to find efficiency savings toassist in the task of returning the Budget to surplus. Such requirements fall heavily onagencies with small pools of discretionary funding. By way of example, DET’s totalexpenditure, excluding depreciation is budgeted to be around $534 million. When other nondiscretionaryfunding amounts are taken into account, employee expenses account for around80% of total expenditure. Furthermore, the school sector is also largely excluded from theimpact of budgetary restraints imposed on the Department. As a result, the impact of anybudget reductions is distorted as it only applies to certain elements of the department (i.e.central office). The impact of the dividend is restricted to central office to protect schoolsfrom any budget savings, but the savings requirement is based on the entire Departmental220 Submission No.7. Australian Council for Private Education and Training.Administrative Arrangements Changes: 166