LexisNexis Capital Monitor service speeds access to essential information after Federal Budget lockup

Australian businesses to receive instant access to budget details, related briefing papers as soon as budget ‘lockup’ ends

Next week for the first time, both long-term and single use customers of Capital Monitor will be able to receive budget details and tailored industry papers from almost the minute the budget lockup ends – meaning businesses can start assessing the impact of the budget before the Treasurer has finished his speech.

“The Rudd Government’s first Federal Budget is arguably one of the most influential events in this year’s business calendar in Australia. So, it is vital for organisations to have access to budget information as soon as they can,” says Mike Russell, General Manager – Legal Markets of LexisNexis.

The budget is likely to have a range of implications for areas of public policy such as superannuation, health and taxation, although with a new Government it is difficult to predict or anticipate what surprises may be in store.

For more than 20 years Capital Monitor has been operating in the budget lockup – a 6-hour long session where confidential access to the budget papers is granted to select media from 2pm. While staff are authorised to analyse the information, no form of outside communication is allowed to the public until 7.30pm, when there is an official announcement.

This year, as well as providing specific budget information, Capital Monitor will also provide a number of special briefing papers on key topics around the budget, such as taxation, superannuation, health and ageing, environment and family and community services. It is also offering a one-off service for prospective customers to receive key information about the Budget and how it may affect their organisation and their industry.

In addition to its budget services, Capital Monitor continuously provides tailored parliamentary, legislative, regulatory and judicial news to its customers, typically expending more than 300 hours per week scouring and sourcing policy-significant material to ensure that customers receive updates on regulatory changes affecting their organisations. “Capital Monitor eliminates the need for customers to search various online sources to find out what announcements have been made and how they will affect their organisation or industry,” says Mike Russell. “For example, the 2006 Work Choices legislation impacted a wide range of industries. The Capital Monitor team in Canberra was able to deliver the legislation in a matter of minutes and send it to our customers before it was uploaded onto the Parliament House website, meaning that customers were at the forefront of the legislative changes.”

Capital Monitor also publishes a number of specialist topic e-newsletters throughout the year. Topics for 2008 include Industrial relations, Corporations Law, Anti-Money Laundering, Climate Change, and Federal Budget 2008.

Capital Monitor customers can receive budget updates next week via email and organisation-wide Intranets. Subscribers can also source information from the Capital Monitor online database, which currently contains about two million documents, providing them with a single source of information on parliamentary developments.

For further information on Capital Monitor, visit www.capmon.com.