Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann

The Morrison Government will hand down the 2020-21 Budget on Tuesday 6 October 2020.

As with the recent sittings of Parliament, this year’s lock-up arrangements will need to be adapted to ensure they are compliant with health restrictions imposed as a result of COVID-19.

Arrangements for giving embargoed access to the Budget material have been arrived at in consultation with the Presiding Officers, the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer, the ACT Chief Health Officer, the Department of Parliamentary Services and the Press Gallery Committee.

To ensure the security and integrity of the Budget, and the health and safety of participants, the usual arrangements for the lock-up have been significantly modified by Treasury.

Numbers of organisations and individuals that will be able to attend the lockup has been necessarily reduced, meaning not all organisations and individuals who have had embargoed access to the Budget in the past will have access this year.

The media will be given embargoed access to Budget material in the Press Gallery at Parliament House, and will be limited to those Press Gallery pass holders for whom the Press Gallery is a place of work. There will also be limited arrangements in the capital cities of Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. In light of significant complexities posed by the pandemic, including location of attendees and maintaining COVID-safe room capacities, Treasury will make arrangements with media organisations directly.

Due to the heightened health risks and restrictions, smaller than usual stakeholder lock-ups will be held in Sydney and Canberra. With all COVID-19 mitigations and controls in place, these secure events will be strictly limited. Treasury will make arrangements with stakeholders directly.

The Treasury will implement the strictest physical and digital security protocols to ensure information security and the health and safety of attendees.

Strict security and embargo conditions will apply in every location to ensure that Budget information is not to broadcast, published or made publicly available prior to its official release at 7.30 pm.

All attendees will be required to execute a Deed of Confidentiality. In the event of a Breach of the deed, all legal options available to the Commonwealth will be pursued and the organisation and/or individual involved risks not being able to participate in any future Treasury lockup.

All enquiries regarding the Budget lockup should be directed to Treasury either via media_lockup@treasury.gov.au for media or budget_lockup@treasury.gov.au for stakeholders.

As in previous years, Budget documents will be available via www.budget.gov.au from 7.30 pm on Tuesday 6 October.