Privatization takes on a number of meanings, including the full or partial sale of public sector corporations, the sale of government-owned assets, the opening of certain markets to private-sector competition, and government/private sector joint ventures in infrastructure projects. The term Government Business Enterprise (GBE) describes a statutory body, corporation, government-owned company, and is an important representation of the public sector when discussing the privatization issue. In recent years, there has been a privatization boom, particularly in countries facing fiscal difficulties. Australia is no exception with a large amount of privatization occurring in a number of industries including telecommunications, transport, utilities, and alike. Although the revenue generated by privatization is a dominant factor behind the push for privatization, other issues such as public enterprise efficiency, capital expenditure priorities, and union curbing can also have a great influence.
             There is a large amount of support for the view that private enterprises under a system of rules and laws will maximize efficiency in the delivery of infrastructure and associated services for the community (BIE 1992 p42). However, the efficiency of the public sector is often hindered by a number of factors including; the lack of clear methods of measuring performance, the assignment of multiple goals which often conflict, lack of incentives to minimize costs, lack of managerial accountability, and vulnerability to political interference.
             The presence of important political and social functions makes the conventional assessment of public enterprise performance a difficult task. Performance indicators are necessary in order for businesses to produce gains in productive efficiency and improvements in responsiveness to the community's needs. Problems in performance monitoring arise since Government Business Enterprises are not subject to take-overs ...