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Acronymns and Glossary
Acronyms
| ABC | Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
| ACCAN | Australian Communications Consumer Action Network |
| ACCC | Australian Competition and Consumer Commission |
| ACMA | Australian Communications and Media Authority |
| AGIMO | Australian Government Information Management Office |
| ANAO | Australian National Audit Office |
| APEC | Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation |
| APEC TEL | Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation Telecommunication Working Group |
| APS | Australian Public Service |
| APT | Asia–Pacific Telecommunity |
| ARC | Australian Research Council |
| ASEAN | Association of Southeast Asian Nations |
| ASTRA | Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association |
| AWA | Australian Workplace Agreements |
| CA | Collective agreement |
| CD | compact disc |
| CDS | Commonwealth Disability Strategy |
| CLCs | Common Law Contracts |
| CTN | Consumers’ Telecommunications Network |
| CWG | Consultative working group |
| DBCDE | Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy |
| DCITA | Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts |
| DVD | Digital Versatile Disc |
| EL | Executive level |
| EMG | Executive Management Group |
| FaHCSIA | Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs |
| FMA | Financial Management and Accountability Act |
| FOI | Freedom of Information |
| FOI Act | Freedom of Information Act |
| FTTP | fibre-to-the-premises |
| FRLI | Federal Register of Legislative Instruments |
| HTML | Hypertext markup language |
| ICANN | Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers |
| ICP | Indigenous Communications program |
| ICT | Information and communications technology |
| ISP | Internet service provider |
| IT | Information technology |
| ITU | International Telecommunication Union |
| NAA | National Archives Australia |
| NICTA | National ICT Australia |
| OECD | Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development |
| OH&S | occupational health and safety |
| PAES | Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements |
| PBS | Portfolio Budget Statements |
| PC | personal computer |
| PhD | Doctor of Philosophy |
| RFP | Request for Proposal |
| RTA | Roads and Traffic Authority |
| RTI | Regional Telecommunications Inquiry |
| SBS | Special Broadcasting Service Corporation |
| SES | senior executive service |
| TEDICORE | Telecommunications and Disability Consumer Representation |
| TOIL | time off in lieu |
| TTY | Telecommunications Device for the Deaf/Tele Typewriter |
| TV | television |
| USB | Universal Serial Bus |
| VoIP | voice over internet protocol |
| W3C | World Wide Web Consulting |
Glossary
| Accrual accounting | System of accounting where items are brought to account and included in the financial statements as they are earned or incurred, rather than as they are received or paid. |
| Accrual budget | A comprehensive budget incorporating assets, liabilities and revenues, as well as cash receipts and expenditures. Thus an accrual budget is an extension of the cash budget, focusing on all the resource implications of the strategic and operational plan. |
| Activity | What an agency does to convert inputs into outputs. |
| Administered items | Expenses, revenues, assets or liabilities managed by agencies on behalf of the Commonwealth. Agencies do not control administered items. Administered expenses include grants, subsidies and benefits. In many cases, administered expenses fund the delivery of third party outputs. |
| Additional estimates | Where amounts appropriated at Budget time are insufficient, Parliament may appropriate more funds to portfolios through the Additional Estimates Acts. |
| Agency | Agencies are Departments of State, Departments of Parliament and ‘prescribed agencies’ for the purposes of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997. Where the term is used generally in this document, it is meant to refer to departments, agencies, authorities and non-commercial companies. |
| Appropriation | An authorisation by Parliament to spend moneys from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for a particular purpose. |
| APS employee | A person engaged under section 22, or a person who is engaged as an APS employee under section 72, of the Public Service Act 1999. |
| Assets | Future economic benefits controlled by an entity as a result of past transactions or other past events. |
| Australian Workplace Agreements | An Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA) is a formalised individual employment contract registered by the Workplace Authority. |
| Average staffing level | The average number of employees receiving salary or wages over the financial year, with adjustments for casual and part-time employees to show the full-time equivalent. |
| Backbone | Backbone infrastructure (also known as ‘backhaul’ or ‘transmission’ infrastructure) refers to the very high capacity communications links that connect towns, cities and rural areas to each other and the wider world. Backbone infrastructure supports the delivery of a range of services, fixed voice and mobile services. |
| Collective agreement | A certified agreement is a written agreement about working conditions and wages made between an employer and its employees. |
| Chief Executive’s Instructions | Instructions on the administration of the Department issued by the Secretary under regulation 6, Financial Management and Accountability Regulations 1997. |
| Competitive tendering and contracting | The process of contracting out the delivery of government activities previously performed by a Commonwealth agency to another organisation. The activity is submitted to competitive tender, and the preferred provider of the activity is selected from the range of bidders by evaluating offers against predetermined selection criteria. |
| Consultancy services | Consultancy services are one particular type of service delivered under a contract for services. They are distinguished from other contracts for services by the nature of the work performed. A consultant is an entity, whether an individual, a partnership or a corporation, engaged to provide professional, independent and expert advice or services. Typically, the term consultancy services is used to describe the application of expert professional skills to: investigate or diagnose a defined issue or problem, carry out defined research, reviews or evaluations; or to provide independent advice, information or creative solutions to assist the agency in management decision making. A consultancy contract will typically define the nature and purpose of the task to be performed but not (in any detail) the manner in which the task is to be performed. By contrast, other (non-consultancy) contracts for services will typically be far more restrictive in the degree of latitude afforded to the contractor. |
| Convergence | The process by which technologies (for example, televisions, phones and computers) and platforms (for example, broadcast, telecommunications and online) that originated having distinct functionalities evolve to overlap, so that the end user experience is similar regardless of the platform or device. |
| Corporate governance | The process by which agencies are directed and controlled. It is generally understood to encompass authority, accountability, stewardship, leadership, direction and control. |
| Departmental items | Resources directly controlled by agencies, including salaries and allowances. |
| Depreciation | An expense recognised systematically for the purpose of allocating the cost of a non-current asset over its useful life. |
| Digital dividend | Refers to the radiofrequency spectrum, currently used for analog television, which is freed up by the switchover from analog to digital-only television. |
| Digital economy | The global network of economic and social activities that are enabled by information and communication technologies, such as the internet, mobile and sensor networks. |
| Discretionary grants | Payments where the portfolio minister and paying agency have discretion in determining whether or not a particular applicant receives funding and may or may not impose conditions in return for the grant. |
| Expense | Total value of all of the resources consumed in producing goods and services. |
| Financial results | The results shown in the financial statements of an agency. |
| Greenfield estates | New building developments including residential, industrial, commercial or mixed use developments. While many Greenfield estates are new land releases on the urban fringe they may also include urban in-fill and regeneration projects. |
| Internal auditing | Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organisation’s operations. It helps an organisation accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes. |
| Liabilities | Future sacrifices of economic benefits that an entity is presently obliged to make to other entities as a result of past transactions or other past events. |
| Materiality | Takes into account the planned outcome and the relative significance of the resources consumed in contributing to the achievement of that outcome. |
| Metro-comparable | A broadband service that offers a minimum 512 kbps download and 128kbps upload data speed, 3GB per month data usage at a total cost of $2500 GST inclusive over three years (including installation and connection fees). |
| NBN Co | The company established by the Government to build and operate the National Broadband Network. |
| Non-ongoing APS employee | A person engaged as an APS employee under subsection 22(2)(b) or 22(2)(c) of the Public Service Act 1999. |
| Ongoing APS employee | A person engaged as an ongoing APS employee under subsection 22(2)(a) of the Public Service Act 1999. |
| Operation Sunlight | The Australian Government’s reform agenda to improve the openness and transparency of public sector budgetary and financial management and to promote good governance practices. |
| Outcomes | The results, impacts or consequences of actions by the Commonwealth on the Australian community. |
| Outputs | The goods and services an agency produces to contribute to the achievement of an outcome. |
| Performance information | Evidence about performance that is collected and used systematically which may relate to appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency and the extent to which an outcome can be attributed to an intervention. Evaluations may also be periodically utilised to assess the performance of programs. |
| Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements | Similar to the Portfolio Budget Statements and prepared at Additional Estimates time to support an update on the Australian Government’s original annual budget for the department and portfolio agencies. |
| Portfolio Budget Statements | A document presented by the Minister to Parliament to inform the Parliament of the basis for the department’s budget appropriations in support of the provisions in Appropriation Bills 1 and 2. The statements summarise the department’s budget and provide detail of outcome performance forecasts and resources in order to justify expenditure. |
| Risk management | The culture, frameworks and structures that are directed towards the effective management of potential opportunities and adverse effects. Risk management involves the systematic application of management policies, procedures and practices to the steps of establishing the context, identifying, analysing, evaluating, treating, monitoring and communicating risk. |
| Service charters | A service charter is a public statement about the service that a department will provide and what customers can expect from the department. In particular the service charter advises what the department does, how to contact and communicate with the department, the standard of service that customers can expect, and their basic rights and responsibilities, and how to provide feedback or make a complaint. |
| Special appropriations | Moneys appropriated by Parliament in an Act separate to an annual Appropriation Act, where the payment is for a specified amount. Special appropriations are not subject to Parliament’s annual budget control, unlike the annual appropriations. |
Document ID: 121717 | Last modified: 22 September 2010, 3:00pm