This presentation was made by Friederike SCHWARZENDORFER, Austria, at the Experts Meeting on Gender Budgeting held in Reykjaviik, Iceland, on 18-19 May 2017.

1. Gender Budgeting
The Austrian Federal Experience
Friederike Schwarzendorfer
Federal Ministry of Finance
Deputy Director General, Budget Directorate
Experts Meeting on Gender Budgeting
18-19 May 2017, Reykjavik Iceland

2. 2
Budgetary Reform in Austria
Primary motivation: Improved budgetary decision-making
Addresses the following weaknesses of the former system:
– No binding medium-term perspective
– Prevailing focus on inputs
– Control monopoly of classic cameralistics
The budget as a comprehensive steering instrument for resources
& outputs & outcomes
Implementation in two stages: 2009 and 2013

3. 3
Austrian Federal Budget Reform -
2nd Stage, as of 2013
Result-oriented
management of
administrative
units
Performance
Budgeting
New budget structure:
„lump-sum budgeting“
Accrual
accounting and
budgeting
4 key elements

4. Performance Budgeting
on the Different Budget Levels
Max. 5
outcome objectives,
at least 1 gender objective
Detail
Budget
G
Detail
Budget
e
Detail
Budget
n
Detail
Budget
i
Detail
Budget
n
Detail
Budget
cl.
Annual Budget
Statement
Explanatory
budget
documents
Budget Chapter
P e r f o r m a n c e C o n t r a c t s
Mission
statement
Detail
Budget
d
Detail
Budget
e
Detail
Budget
r
Global Budget
1 – 5 primary
outputs
is
Objectives
and Outputs
Global Budget
1 – 5 primary
outputs
included
Global Budget
1 – 5 primary
outputs
Gender
Obj.and
Outputs
Objectives
and Outputs
Obj.and
Outputs
Obj.and
Outputs
Obj.and
Outputs
Obj.and
Outputs
Obj.and
Outputs
Obj.and
Outputs
4

5. Why Gender Budgeting?
To foster gender equality: Focus on the most important
levers.
Budget decisions are KEY decisions: Government policy
put into numbers.
Therefore: Use the budget as a lever for gender equality!
5
How to implement Gender Budgeting?
Gender Budgeting is an integrated part of the new
performance budgeting system

6. Objectives of
Gender Budgeting
Gender aspects as part of the budget policy
Giving information on gender effects of public
expenditures and revenues
Taking into account the special needs of men and
women
Restructuring public expenditures to bring
forward the effective equality of men and women
Focussing on the economic independency and
equality of women
Giving the opportunity for women to participate
equally in all fields of social and economic life and
decision making
6

7. How Austria Implements
Gender Budgeting
Art. 13 of the Austrian Constitution requires:
“Federation, States and Communes are to strive for the effective equality of
women and men in their budget management.”
According to the Austrian Constitution the Austrian Federation has to apply
Gender Budgeting as an integral element of Performance Budgeting:
Art. 51 of the Austrian Constitution states:
„In the budget management of the Federation the fundamental principles of
impact orientation, especially considering the objectives of the effective
equality of men and women, […] are to be observed.“
Gender Budgeting is enshrined in the Austrian Constitution:
7

8. Gender Budgeting
Integrated approach: Gender dimension is considered on all
budget management levels such as strategy report (medium term),
budget chapters, global budgets etc.
Does not mean to allocate separate budgets for men & women
Implementation of gender budgeting:
• Requires gender analysis
• Definition of objectives
(external/societal versus internal/ministry specific)
• Formulation of activities in order to achieve the objectives
• Monitoring
8

9. Performance
management cycle
1. Multi-annual strategic plan elaborated by each
ministry every spring. It is laid down in the
Strategy Report on the Medium-Term
Expenditure Framework and further specified for
each financial year in the
2. Annual Federal Budget by outcome statements
(setting out the effects to be achieved in society)
and
3. Output statements (priorities to be set and
measures to be taken to achieve the desired
outcomes). These priorities within the
administration are implemented by
9

10. Performance
management cycle
4. Performance contracts setting out the operative
work plan of an administrative unit for the
following four financial years, which means:
defining policy aims at different levels and
ensuring their achievement through
5. Management by objectives defining each
employee‘s contribution to achieving the
respective public body‘s objectives.
6. Evaluation of outputs in regular intervals to
detect any deviation from the plan in time and
take corrective steps.
7. Evaluation of outcomes to show whether the
intended effect has been achieved.
10

11. Example for a Gender Objective
in the Budget Documents
of the Ministry of the Interior
11

12. Strategy Report
Gender objective:
Improvement of protection against violence
towards women, underage persons and elderly
people.
12

13. Annual Budget Statement
as of 2013 per Chapter
Mission Statement:
Cash Flow Statement Ceiling
MTEF
Budget
n+1
Budget
n
Actual
n-1
Receipts
Expenditures – fix ceiling
Expenditures – variable ceiling
Total expenditures
Net cash balance
Operating Statement Budget
n+1
Budget
n
Actual
n-1
Revenues
Expenses
Net balance
MTEF = medium term expenditure framework
Legallybinding
13

14. Comment: On global budget level, total expenses (operating statement) and total expenditures (cash flow
statement) are legally binding.
Annual Budget Statement as
of 2013 per Global Budget
Global Budget xx.01 Operating Statement Budget
n+1
Budget
n
Actual
n-1
Revenues from operating activities and transfers
Revenues from financing activities
Revenues
Personnel expenses
Operating expenses
Transfer expenses
Expenses on financial activities
Expenses
…thereof variable expenses
Net balance
Global Budget xx.01 Cash Flow Statement Budget
n+1
Budget
n
Actual
n-1
Receipts from operating activities and transfers
Receipts from investment activities
Receipts from repayments of loans
Receipts
Personnel and operating expenditures
Expenditures from transfers
Expenditures from investment activities
Expenditures from loans
Expenditures
…thereof variable expenditures
Net cash balance
Legallybinding
14

15. Annual Budget Statement
for 2017
Outcome objective 3:
Improved protection against violence, especially towards women and
underage persons
Why this objective:
All sorts of violence have increased in our society. Especially women
and underage persons are victims of physical and psychological
violence in close social relationships. The objective is to inform by
means of violence prevention how to avoid situations of violence and
provide solutions.
What is done to achieve this objective:
- Effective and target-group-specific measures of violence
prevention focusing on violence against women.
- Effective and target-group-specific measures of violence
prevention focusing on underage persons.
What would success look like:
Improving the percentage of compliance with the prohibition of
access (to the joint flat).
15

16. 3 Indicators:
1. Effectiveness of expulsion and prohibition of
return: ratio between the checks where the
violator has been found in the flat and the overall
number of checks in %; data from the electronic
police documentation
2. Violent crimes with a relationship between
offender and victim per 100.000 inhabitants in
number; data out of the criminal statistics of MoI
3. Crime clearance rate concerning violent crimes in
%; data out of the criminal statistics of MoI
16
Annual Budget Statement
for 2017

17. Annual Budget Statement
of 2017 for the Global Budget
“Security”
Activities/Outputs
Contribution to
outcome
objective/s no.
What is done to
achieve the
outcome
objectives?
Activities/
Outputs:
What does success look
like?
Milestones/Indicators for
2013
Current status
for the planning for 2015
Objective 3 Effective and target-
group- specific
measures of prevention
of violence focusing on
violence against women
Number of advised individuals in
the field of violence prevention
exceeds 162.000
165.531 in 2015
Effective and target-
group- specific
measures of prevention
of violence focusing on
violence against
children and youths
“children’s police”: number of
new police persons for children:
29.000
33.504 in 2015
percentage of underaged
suspects (14 to 18) in the whole
of suspects against whom is
taken action because of violent
crimes does not exceed 10%
9% in 2015

18. Operational Performance Plan
of 2017 for the Detail Budgets
“Provincial Police Headquarters”
18
Objective 1: Protection of risk groups, especially elderly people,
underage persons and women, against violent actions.
Contribution to
outcome objective/s
no.
Substantial Measures What does success look
like?
Milestones/Indicators for
2017
Current status for the
planning for 2016
1 Setting enough follow up
measures to ensure that
the prohibition of access
is complied with
The ratio between the numbers
of checks with the result that
the prohibition of access was
not complied with and the total
number of checks is or is under
7%
7,7% (2015)

19. Categorization of budget lines
Austria does not explicitly categorize budget lines by relevance in
regard to gender equality.
Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) is a general topic included in
every dimension of budget work.
No special allowances for GRB – aspects. To be more flexible GRB is
steered by general objectives. Jumping point: GRB should not lead
to increasing, special GRB allowances. Existing allowances have to
be used meaningful after GRB – principles, to regard gender impacts
by reaching gender objectives.
In spite of this Austria categorizes budget lines according to two
different main principles.

20. Impact-Oriented Budget
Management – Definition of
Roles
Minister (Chief Budget Officer): responsible for performance budgeting and
performance controlling on ministry level
Budget managing bodies: responsible for budget management of their “detail
budgets” including implementation of measures to achieve performance objectives
Ministry of Finance: defines the framework for impact-oriented budget
management incl. performance budgeting
Federal Chancellery: responsible for performance controlling on federal level
Court of Audit: responsible for annual financial statements, audits, advisory role
to the government. New element: recommendations from recent audits may be
included in the budget statement on global budget level
20

21. Outcome Oriented
Impact Assessment (IA) for
rules and regulations
Introduced by the budget reform
For bills, other draft legal regulations, contracts,
etc.
There has to be made an assessment on the main
impacts
in any case
• adressing the financial impacts
• the impacts on the equalitiy of men and women
Assessment is part of the explanatory notes to a
bill
21

22. Sub-Dimensions of Gender Equality
Precise questionnaire about:
Payments to natural or legal persons
Employment, income and education
Public revenue
Unpaid work
Participation in decision-making processes
Health
Other
15.05.2017 22

23. Sub-Dimension of Gender Equality:
Payments to natural/legal
persons
Criteria for in-depth assessment:
Natural persons: more than 400,000 euro per year and one sex is
under-represented: less than 30% of the target group
Legal person: more than 2.5 m. euros/year and one sex is under-
represented: less than 30% of the employees or less than 30% of
the beneficiaries
15.05.2017 23

24. Sub-Dimension of Gender Equality:
Public Revenue
Criteria for in-depth assessment:
Direct and indirect taxes (income tax, VAT, consumption tax) of
natural persons: more than 1m. euro/year
Direct taxes of legal persons (i.e. corporate tax, fees): more than
5m. euros/year and one sex is under-represented: less than 30% of
the employees or less than 30% of beneficiaries
15.05.2017 24

25. Links
Strategyreport: https://www.bmf.gv.at/budget/das-
budget/Strategiebericht_2017-2020_2.pdf?5te3r9
Stabilityprogramme: https://www.bmf.gv.at/wirtschaftspolitik/in-
oesterreich/StaPro_April_2017_final.pdf?5w8yb8
Budget documents 2017:
https://www.bmf.gv.at/budget/das-budget/budget-2017.html
Gender landscape:
https://www.parlament.gv.at/ZUSD/BUDGET/BD_-_Gleichstellungsziel-
Landkarte_BVA-E_2017.pdf
25

26. 26
Thank you for your attention!
Contact address:
Friederike Schwarzendorfer
Deputy Director General
Directorate for Budget and Public Finance
Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance
Tel: +43 1 514 33 50 2200
E-mail: friederike.schwarzendorfer@bmf.gv.at