Table 2.

Overview of the key economic evaluation guidance documents

Jurisdiction	Department	Document title	Aims of document and overview of CBA guidance
Federal	PM&C (OBPR)	Cost–benefit analysis guidance note (2020) [33]	To provide Australian government and COAG policy-makers guidance on the use of CBA for policy proposals To promote comparability and consistency in decision-making and help maximize net benefits to society It provides an introduction to CBA for regulatory proposals, with readers referred to the Handbook of Cost–Benefit Analysis [45] for further details
Federal	Finance and Administration	Handbook of Cost–Benefit Analysis January (2006) [45]	To provide Australian government agencies guidance on the use of CBA for economic appraisal and decision-making and to provide details on the process of conducting CBA It provides no guidance on when CBA should be used
Federal	Infrastructure Australia	Assessment framework: for initiatives and projects to be included in the Infrastructure Priority List (2018) [48]	To provide guidance on the assessment framework used by Infrastructure Australia to consider projects for inclusion in the Infrastructure Priority List A detailed CBA is a central component of the business case
Federal	Health	Guidelines for preparing a submission to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (2016) [31]	To ensure consistent, standardized submissions for consideration by the PBAC for the listing of new medicines on the PBS To ensure comparability of submissions to facilitate consistency in decision-making CUA rather than CBA is the preferred approach outlined in the guidance
NSW	Treasury	NSW Government Guide to Cost–Benefit Analysis (2017) [4]	To promote a consistent approach to appraisal and evaluation of publicly funded initiatives across the NSW government It advises that CBA guidelines by line agencies that are consistent with the framework and principles of this guide can be used for sector-specific evaluations It recommends that line agencies integrate CBA into decision-making processes
NSW	Transport	Transport for NSW Cost–Benefit Analysis Guide (2019) [8]	To outline the principles, concepts, methodology and procedures for conducting CBA for NSW Transport initiatives CBA is the preferred evaluation method and the key tool that is required both for compliance and to promote value-for-money government decision-making The guide outlines a consistent and best practice framework for NSW Transport evaluations. However, it emphasizes that it does not enforce compliance The guidance is aligned to NSW Treasury CBA guidance [4] and should be read in conjunction with federal government transport assessment guidelines
NSW	Planning, Industry and Environment	Guidelines for using cost–benefit analysis to assess coastal management options (2018) [7]	To provide specific guidance for LGA CBA related to coastal management It states that CBA is not a good use of council resources for all projects and should be used when making complex and high-risk decisions
NSW	Health (Health Infrastructure)	Guide to Cost–Benefit Analysis of Health Capital Projects (2018) [37]	To provide the principles, concepts and methodology to evaluate NSW Health capital projects To ensure that a robust analysis of the costs and benefits are considered in decision-making To provide a consistent and standardized approach to facilitate comparisons across capital projects The guidance is supplementary to the NSW Treasury CBA guidance [4]
NSW	Health (Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence)	Commissioning Economic Evaluations: A Guide (2017) [49]	This is not a guidance document on CBA, but aims to assist NSW Health staff commission economic evaluations, particularly related to population health programmes The document focuses on ex-post evaluations and states that the primary aim of economic evaluation is to inform the investment decision

CBA cost–benefit analysis, COAG Council of Australian Governments, CUA cost-utility analysis, LGA local government area, NSW New South Wales, OBPR Office of Best Practice Regulation, PBAC Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee, PBS Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, PM&C Prime Minister and Cabinet