Yes. The parliamentary budget statements were converted to a program format in the mid-nineties.
The idea was that it would raise the sights of members of parliament—the House of Representatives and senators—to a higher level. They would debate the policy that lies behind the spending as opposed to how much was spent on potted plants in the finance minister's department—those juicy little items that MPs like to seize upon. It hasn't had that effect of changing the behaviour of members of parliament in the House of Representatives particularly; the senate committees are better at avoiding those questions.
But for a long time with Prime Minister Howard, the favourite question was, why did he have three residences paid for by taxpayers? He lived in Canberra, but he also had a residence in Sydney and one other residence. That was just fun and games and part of the partisan gamesmanship that goes on.
But those documents I think help MPs to think more broadly about the purposes of spending, as opposed to the line-by-line estimates items.