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Board members, who in earlier years might have been prepared to be quite passive, are now more prepared to argue their own views … an evolution has occurred in the way the Board has viewed its responsibilities.
We have already seen how the RBA has dealt with its external environment, both in monetary policy and in its relations with government. This chapter looks at the internal processes of formulating monetary policy. The RBA Board is unusual in that the Secretary of the Treasury is a voting member and it has a majority of lay, part-time members. We outline the debate about possible reforms. The main suggestion is that the system does not need much fixing, although changes to encourage a more robust policy debate on the Board should be pursued.
THE INTERNAL POLICY PROCESS
Policy processes within the Bank have traditionally been shrouded in secrecy. Minutes of Board meetings are not released, even to the Treasurer. Board members take an oath not to reveal Board matters, and there is a 15-year moratorium on access to the Bank's archives. Nevertheless, the Bank's decision-making procedures are becoming known. The Bank points out that its deliberations are based on publicly available data, and in the last decade it has made a considerable effort to clarify its monetary policy framework and has presented comprehensive assessments of the economy and policy in its quarterly Statements on Monetary Policy.
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