Currently, Commonwealth entities are subject to an annual efficiency dividend that reduces entity budgets each year in anticipation of efficiencies being found. The efficiency dividend applies to the operational (running) costs. The objectives of the efficiency dividend have been to:
provide managers with a financial incentive to continually seek new or more efficient ways of carrying out ongoing government business
allow government to redirect a portion of efficiency gains to higher priority activities and
clearly demonstrate public service efficiencies resulting from improvements in management and administrative practices and return these gains to the Budget.
