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MAIN FEATURES

This release contains statistics on expenditure on education by the general government sector for the period 2000-01 to 2005-06. These data are presented on an accrual accounting basis and are taken from the system of Government Finance Statistics (GFS).

Government expenditure on education refers to expenditure on all levels of education, such as pre-school, primary, secondary, university, and technical and further education (TAFE), by the general government sector. It excludes expenditure on courses provided by non-educational institutions, such as the vocational training programs of private businesses.

The summary tables below present government operating expenses on education by level of government, by purpose (i.e. by type of education), and by economic transaction (i.e. by type of expenditure) for the period 2000-01 to 2005-06.

Government operating expenses on education by all levels of general government totalled $49,741m in 2005-06, $27,477m of which was spent on primary and secondary education and a further $18,415m on tertiary education (universities and TAFE). Employee expenses of $27,383m accounted for 55.1% of total educational expenses with the remaining 44.9% being on non-employee expenses ($11,402m), depreciation ($1,963m), and transfer expenses ($8,993m).

GOVERNMENT OPERATING EXPENSES ON EDUCATION, BY LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT
	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
Commonwealth Government	11,432	12,253	12,599	13,523	14,319	15,807
State and Local Governments	25,309	27,459	29,266	30,851	33,538	35,469
Multi-jurisdictional (a)	9,374	10,029	10,989	11,739	12,640	13,870
Less: Intra-sector transfers	10,849	11,630	12,087	12,906	13,889	15,405
All Levels of Government	35,265	38,110	40,767	43,208	46,608	49,741

GOVERNMENT OPERATING EXPENSES ON EDUCATION, BY PURPOSE, ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT
	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
Primary and secondary education	19,493	21,013	22,482	23,798	25,743	27,477
Tertiary education	12,968	14,234	15,097	15,989	17,014	18,415
Pre-school & education not definable by level	1,356	1,352	1,609	1,813	2,018	2,149
Transportation of students	859	940	868	900	1,074	1,061
Education n.e.c.	590	572	711	709	759	639
Total	35,265	38,110	40,767	43,208	46,608	49,741

GOVERNMENT OPERATING EXPENSES ON EDUCATION, BY ECONOMIC TRANSACTION, ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT
	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
Employee expenses	19,750	20,841	22,650	23,735	25,501	27,383
Non-employee expenses	8,148	9,115	9,535	10,243	10,837	11,402
Depreciation of fixed assets	1,630	1,668	1,838	1,878	1,964	1,963
Current transfer expenses	5,575	6,318	6,560	7,112	8,018	8,649
Capital transfer expenses	163	169	185	239	287	344
Total	35,265	38,110	40,767	43,208	46,608	49,741