Government Finance Statistics, Australia

Latest release

Statistics about finances of the general government and public non-financial corporations sectors for the various levels of government in Australia

Reference period

March 2023

Released

6/06/2023

Key statistics

In March quarter 2023:

taxation revenue fell 4.4% to $180.9b
general government net operating balance fell $6.2b to $6.1b
general government borrowing was $5.9b
total public demand is expected to contribute 0.2 ppt to the quarterly change in GDP

Unless indicated, all Government Finance Statistics figures presented in this publication are current prices, original series.

Included in this publication is an Insights into Government Finance Statistics, March 2023, which examines the key stories and economic narratives of the March quarter 2023 Government Finance Statistics data.

Government finance statistics fiscal measures

Government finance statistics fiscal measures
		Jun Qtr 2022	Sep Qtr 2022	Dec Qtr 2022	Mar Qtr 2023	Dec Qtr 2022 to Mar Qtr 2023
		$m	$m	$m	$m	% change
Taxation revenue
	General government	192,954	160,764	189,338	180,947	-4.4%
Total revenue
	General government	234,231	200,941	229,666	223,595	-2.6%
	Public non-financial corporations	28,827	26,659	25,137	27,381	8.9%
Total expenses
	General government	220,218	215,326	217,347	217,505	0.1%
	Public non-financial corporations	28,646	27,245	25,395	25,996	2.4%
GFS Net Operating Balance
	General government	14,013	-14,385	12,319	6,090	np
	Public non-financial corporations	181	-587	-258	1,385	np
GFS Net Lending (+)/Borrowing (-)
	General government	-7,658	-25,227	-991	-5,946	np
	Public non-financial corporations	-3,670	-2,495	-4,778	-2,164	np

np indicates this value not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated

Net operating balance of all levels of general government
	Revenue ($b)	Expenses ($b)	Net Operating Balance ($b)
Mar-22	204.5	-206.1	-1.6
Jun-22	234.2	-220.2	14.0
Sep-22	200.9	-215.3	-14.4
Dec-22	229.7	-217.3	12.3
Mar-23	223.6	-217.5	6.1

Net operating balance of all levels of general government

["","Revenue","Expenses","Net Operating Balance"]

[["Mar-22","Jun-22","Sep-22","Dec-22","Mar-23"],[[204.5],[234.19999999999999],[200.90000000000001],[229.69999999999999],[223.59999999999999]],[[-206.09999999999999],[-220.19999999999999],[-215.30000000000001],[-217.30000000000001],[-217.5]],[[-1.6000000000000001],[14],[-14.4],[12.300000000000001],[6.0999999999999996]]]

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National accounts public sector measures

The table below includes the key public sector aggregates for March quarter 2023 which will be included in the Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product. The key figures shown include Total Public Demand, Government Final Consumption Expenditure for total general government and Gross Fixed Capital Formation for total general government and total public corporations, seasonally adjusted in current prices and chain volume terms.

The following are the seasonally adjusted chain volume measures based on the previous quarter (a):

public sector demand is expected to contribute 0.2 percentage points to the change in GDP in March quarter 2023
general government final consumption expenditure rose $147m (up 0.1%) and is expected to contribute 0.0 percentage points to the change in GDP in March quarter 2023
general government gross fixed capital formation rose $674m (up 3.2%)
public corporations gross fixed capital formation rose $151m (up 2.3%)
total public gross fixed capital formation rose $825m (up 3.0%) and is expected to contribute 0.1 percentage points to the change in GDP in March quarter 2023

Contributions may not be additive due to rounding

Quarterly national accounts public sector measures, seasonally adjusted
			Jun Qtr 2022	Sep Qtr 2022	Dec Qtr 2022	Mar Qtr 2023	Dec Qtr 2022 to Mar Qtr 2023
			$m	$m	$m	$m	% change
CURRENT PRICES
General government final consumption expenditure (b)
	National-defence		11,361	11,542	11,515	11,522	0.1
	National-non-defence		49,805	49,529	50,980	52,490	3.0
	Total national		61,166	61,071	62,495	64,011	2.4
	State and local		68,512	70,563	70,375	70,892	0.7
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		129,678	131,634	132,869	134,903	1.5
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National-defence	3,090	2,908	2,763	2,729	-1.2
		National-non-defence	2,778	2,596	2,604	2,642	1.4
		Total national	5,868	5,503	5,368	5,371	0.1
		State and local	18,276	18,050	18,167	19,080	5.0
		Total general government	24,144	23,554	23,535	24,451	3.9
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	1,672	1,825	1,927	1,874	-2.7
		State and local	5,135	5,300	5,572	5,847	4.9
		Total public corporations	6,808	7,125	7,499	7,721	3.0
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		30,952	30,679	31,034	32,172	3.7
Total public demand			160,630	162,313	163,903	167,074	1.9
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second hand assets by public sector		1,290	551	506	536	np
	Public authorities changes in inventories (c)		1,650	-476	1,610	825	np

CHAIN VOLUME (d)
General government final consumption expenditure
	National-defence		10,694	10,750	10,625	10,532	-0.9
	National-non-defence		48,452	48,083	49,187	49,714	1.1
	Total national		59,146	58,833	59,812	60,246	0.7
	State and local		65,733	66,281	66,067	65,779	-0.4
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		124,880	125,114	125,879	126,026	0.1
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National-defence	2,909	2,632	2,401	2,384	-0.7
		National-non-defence	2,633	2,437	2,394	2,453	2.5
		Total national	5,543	5,068	4,794	4,837	0.9
		State and local	17,022	16,413	16,112	16,743	3.9
		Total general government	22,564	21,482	20,906	21,580	3.2
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	1,558	1,665	1,740	1,690	-2.9
		State and local	4,719	4,774	4,939	5,140	4.1
		Total public corporations	6,277	6,439	6,679	6,830	2.3
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		28,841	27,921	27,585	28,410	3.0
Total public demand			153,721	153,035	153,464	154,435	0.6
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second hand assets by public sector		1,193	489	441	461	np
	Public authorities changes in inventories (c)		854	-161	1,135	261	np

— nil or rounded to zero
np indicates this value not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated

See Explanatory Notes for the relationship between general government final consumption expenditure and GFS aggregates
Includes general government, public non-financial corporations, and public financial corporations
Reference year for chain volume measures in 2020-21 = 100.0

Public demand contribution to GDP growth

Public demand, contribution to GDP growth (e) (f)
	Government final consumption expenditure (ppt)	Government gross fixed capital formation (ppt)
Mar-20	0.4	0.0
Jun-20	0.6	-0.1
Sep-20	0.5	0.1
Dec-20	0.2	0.2
Mar-21	0.0	0.0
Jun-21	0.2	0.4
Sep-21	0.8	-0.1
Dec-21	0.3	-0.1
Mar-22	0.6	0.1
Jun-22	-0.2	0.3
Sep-22	0.0	-0.2
Dec-22	0.1	-0.1
Mar-23	0.0	0.1

Public demand, contribution to GDP growth (e) (f)

["","Government final consumption expenditure","Government gross fixed capital formation"]

[["Mar-20","Jun-20","Sep-20","Dec-20","Mar-21","Jun-21","Sep-21","Dec-21","Mar-22","Jun-22","Sep-22","Dec-22","Mar-23"],[[0.40000000000000002],[0.59999999999999998],[0.5],[0.20000000000000001],[0],[0.20000000000000001],[0.80000000000000004],[0.29999999999999999],[0.59999999999999998],[-0.20000000000000001],[0],[0.10000000000000001],[0]],[[0],[-0.10000000000000001],[0.10000000000000001],[0.20000000000000001],[0],[0.40000000000000002],[-0.10000000000000001],[-0.10000000000000001],[0.10000000000000001],[0.29999999999999999],[-0.20000000000000001],[-0.10000000000000001],[0.10000000000000001]]]

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Chain volume measures seasonally adjusted
using the GDP series as published in the December 2022 release of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product

Revisions and changes

Revisions

Statistical revisions are conducted regularly in Government Finance Statistics to reflect the most current information and data available.

Upcoming Victorian Capital Asset Charge historical revision

The ABS has reclassified payments and receipts related to the Victorian Capital Asset Charge (CAC) across impacted sectors in the 2021-22 annual GFS publication. This reclassification will be applied in quarterly GFS and the National Accounts from September quarter 2023.

The Victorian Department of Treasury & Finance and VicTrack have removed CAC transactions in all budgetary and fiscal reporting from 1 July 2021.

For more information refer to 2021-22 GFS annual revisions and changes.

Upcoming AUSTRAC Industry Contribution Levy historical revision

The ABS has reclassified revenue related to the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) Industry Contribution Levy (ICL) in the in the 2021-22 annual GFS publication. This reclassification will be applied in quarterly GFS and the National Accounts from September quarter 2023.

For more information refer to 2021-22 GFS annual revisions and changes.

Divergences with government fiscal reporting

Divergences between state and commonwealth government financial reporting and GFS may occur because of conceptual determinations and timing recognition differences, to ensure alignment with economic activity as measured across ABS macroeconomic statistics.

These differences primarily impact:

measures of government subsidies and other support payments to businesses and households
non-employee expenses
change in inventories.

Following the introduction of several Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) standard changes from 1 July 2019, divergences between economic statistics publications and government financial reporting due to accounting standard changes relate to:

Leases (AASB 16)
Revenue recognition (AASB 15 & 1058)
Service Concession Arrangements (AASB 1059).

GFS outputs are consistent with the historical treatments, which has resulted in increased divergences between economic statistics publications and government financial reporting.

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 5519.0.55.001.

Data downloads