The ARC's performance measurement framework is consistent with the requirements of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and the enhanced Commonwealth performance framework.

The ARC's performance measurement framework ensures a clear line of sight between the objectives, resources and criteria identified within the agency's Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS) and Corporate Plan, and the performance outcomes documented by the Annual Report.

Together, these three documents provide the ARC's complete performance story. In addition to the ARC's published performance information, the agency's performance measurement framework is supported by internal planning, monitoring and reporting processes.

The ARC had one Outcome and three Programs in its 2018–19 PBS (Figure 2).

Figure 2: ARC Outcome and Programs

Outcome 1
Growth of knowledge and innovation through managing research funding schemes, measuring research excellence and providing advice
Program 1.1 Program 1.2 Program 1.3
Discovery—research and research training
Administered expenses
$495.099m 		Linkage—cross-sector research partnerships
Administered expenses
$273.990m 		Excellence in Research for Australia
Administered expenses
$4.981m
Departmental

ARC Departmental

Departmental expenses
$25.107m


Note: Budgeted expenses are as published in the 2018–19 PBS and do not include changes identified within the 2019–20 Australian Government Budget.

The ARC Corporate Plan 2018–19 states that the agency's purpose is:

To grow knowledge and innovation for the benefit of the Australian community by funding the highest quality research, assessing the quality, engagement and impact of research and providing advice on research matters.

The Annual Performance Statement in Section 3.1 documents the ARC's achievements against its purpose in the Corporate Plan, and Outcome and Programs in the PBS.

Figure 3 maps the relationship between the ARC's PBS, Corporate Plan and Annual Performance Statement.

Figure 3: Mapping the ARC Outcome and Programs to the ARC's purpose

This figure shows the alignment between the ARC’s Outcome and Programs in the Portfolio Budget Statements, with both the ARC’s Purpose and Activities in the Corporate Plan, and the Activities reported against in the Annual Performance Statement.