The sixth inquiry term of reference requires the Committee to review the mechanisms which the Victorian Government uses to determine whether proposals and bids represent value for money for the government and benefit the community.
The question of value for money in public investments is central to the role of government. The philosophy of ensuring government achieves best value for its limited taxation resources has a long history and valuations have encompassed both qualitative and quantitative methods. Formal technical methods of evaluating the economics of investments have been available since the mid 1950s for major infrastructure projects.238 But despite the literally thousands of infrastructure projects invested in, the application of cost-benefit analysis has been less than systematic for many governments around the world.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
238 HM Treasury (UK), The Green Book: Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government, HM Treasury (UK), London, January 2003