About the Election Commitments Report

 

The Parliamentary Budget Officer is required to publish a report after each general election that details the aggregate budget impact of the election commitments made by the major political parties. This report must cover the commitments of the major parliamentary parties and may cover the commitments of the minor parties and independents if they choose to be included.[2]

The commitments included in the Election Commitments Report (ECR) are determined by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, based on announcements with financial implications made by the parties up to polling day. Election commitments included in the report must be public, specific and material.[3]

The ECR for the 2025 general election:

  • uses the 2025 Pre‑election Economic and Fiscal Outlook (PEFO) report as the baseline for the costings of all election commitments
  • incorporates costings of all the election commitments of each party that, in the Parliamentary Budget Officer's best professional judgement, would have a material impact on the Australian Government budget over the 2025‑26 Budget forward estimates (2025‑26 to 2028‑29) and medium term (2025‑26 to 2035‑36)
  • shows, for each party, the individual impacts those election commitments would be expected to have on the Australian Government budget over the 2025‑26 Budget forward estimates and medium term
  • shows, for each party, the total combined medium‑term impact of those election commitments on the key budget aggregates as a share of gross domestic product (GDP)
  • includes full costing documentation for all election commitments with a non‑zero net financial impact.

Further details on the legislative requirements and methodology for this report are presented at Appendix E. Formal comments provided by parties following the provision of the draft election commitments report are included in Appendix F.

All table and chart data for the report are also available.

The individual costing documents provide the detailed specifications, assumptions, methodologies and data sources used to estimate the fiscal impacts of each commitment.[4] The companion Guide to reading PBO costings provides a short overview of PBO costing documents with examples.

 

 

[2] 'Designated' or major parties for the purposes of this report are defined by the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 as those with 5 or more members of Parliament immediately before the election is called. The major parties of the 47th Parliament of Australia were the Coalition, the Australian Labor Party, and the Australian Greens. The Liberal Party of Australia and the National Party of Australia are treated as a single party, the Coalition, for the purpose of this report.

[3] Where no firm commitment is made as to the policy mechanism or details that would deliver on the announcement, it may be considered aspirational in nature. Where an announcement involves detailed actions to achieve an aspirational target, the PBO has included the commitment in the report.

[4] Specifications are drawn from public statements where possible. Where further information is required the PBO may draw on previous costing requests (both confidential and public) and may contact parties where necessary.