Last night was Budget Night, which is a highly anticipated annual date on the government calendar (at least, in federal government and media circles!).  Working out how libraries, cultural institutions and education are going to be funded over the next year and beyond is important for all librarians to understand. Government expenditure is also a question frequently asked by library patrons.

Unfortunately, working out who gets what can be difficult. On budget night, a series of Budget Papers are released. A series of Appropriation Bills are contained within which make their way to Parliament. If all goes well, they are passed.

If you want to find out about funding for, say, the National Library you first need to head to the funding for the overal Portfolio that the Minister oversees, in the case of the NLA that’s DCITA – Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.

Within a couple of days, most government agencies release a media statement about all the stuff in the Budget that they like, and sometimes what they don’t - ALIA’s will be out on May 11, the NLA includes the budget statement on their own site. DCITA and DEST, were naturally, first out the gate and have provided a comprehensive list of statements and press releases.

Where it gets complex, for librarians and patrons, is working out if these estimates are actually spent, how to get greater detail, and how the government arrives at these figures in the first place. There is a short overview on the budget site, but a lot more detail about the process can be found in Senate Estimates, which are not only informative but often fun to read as the discussions can get quite fiery!