Latest release

Government Finance Statistics, Australia

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

Reference period

December 2021

Released

1/03/2022

Key statistics

In the December quarter 2021:

taxation revenue rose 24.9% to $178.5b
general government net operating balance rose $39.1b to -$5.4b
general government borrowing was $16.1b
total public demand is expected to detract -0.1ppt from the quarterly change in GDP

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

One article is included in this release:

Insights into Government Finance Statistics, key insights and analysis from December quarter 2021

Government finance statistics fiscal measures

Government finance statistics fiscal measures, original
		Mar Qtr 2021	Jun Qtr 2021	Sep Qtr 2021	Dec Qtr 2021	Sep Qtr 2021 to Dec Qtr 2021
		$m	$m	$m	$m	% change
Taxation revenue
	General government	145,131	171,227	142,996	178,537	24.9%
Total revenue
	General government	177,404	207,039	178,747	210,918	18.0%
	Public non-financial corporations	23,358	26,197	24,714	23,787	–3.8%
Total expenses
	General government	197,862	204,708	223,283	216,348	–3.1%
	Public non-financial corporations	24,223	27,592	25,184	24,659	–2.1%
GFS Net Operating Balance
	General government	-20,457	2,332	-44,536	-5,430	np
	Public non-financial corporations	-865	-1,395	-470	-872	np
GFS Net Lending (+)/Borrowing (-)
	General government	-30,038	-15,294	-51,832	-16,130	np
	Public non-financial corporations	-552	-4,734	-2,109	-3,825	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 (a)
	Revenue ($b)	Expenses ($b)	Net Operating Balance ($b)
Dec-20	180.5	-218.6	-38.1
Mar-21	177.4	-197.9	-20.5
Jun-21	207.0	-204.7	2.3
Sep-21	178.7	-223.3	-44.5
Dec-21	210.9	-216.3	-5.4

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

[["Dec-20","Mar-21","Jun-21","Sep-21","Dec-21"],[[180.5],[177.40000000000001],[207],[178.69999999999999],[210.90000000000001]],[[-218.59999999999999],[-197.90000000000001],[-204.69999999999999],[-223.30000000000001],[-216.30000000000001]],[[-38.100000000000001],[-20.5],[2.2999999999999998],[-44.5],[-5.4000000000000004]]]

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original, current prices

National accounts public sector measures

The table below includes the key public sector aggregates for the December quarter 2021 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:

public sector demand is expected to detract -0.1 percentage points from the change in GDP in December quarter 2021.
general government final consumption expenditure increased by $104m or 0.1% and is expected to contribute 0.0 percentage points to the change in GDP in December quarter 2021.
general government gross fixed capital formation decreased by -$733m or -3.2%.
public corporations gross fixed capital formation increased by $160m or 2.8%.
total public gross fixed capital formation decreased by -$572m or -2.0% and is expected to detract -0.1 percentage points from the change in GDP in December quarter 2021.

Quarterly national accounts public sector measures, seasonally adjusted
			Mar Qtr 2021	Jun Qtr 2021	Sep Qtr 2021	Dec Qtr 2021	Sep Qtr 2021 to Dec Qtr 2021
			$m	$m	$m	$m	% change
CURRENT PRICES
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National-defence		9,344	9,452	9,816	9,422	-4.0
	National-non-defence		39,819	40,976	42,716	42,775	0.1
	Total national		49,163	50,428	52,532	52,197	-0.6
	State and local		61,409	62,070	65,116	66,333	1.9
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		110,571	112,498	117,648	118,531	0.8
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National-defence	2,419	2,512	3,024	2,379	-21.3
		National-non-defence	2,204	2,188	2,758	2,622	-4.9
		Total national	4,623	4,700	5,782	5,001	-13.5
		State and local	16,050	17,959	16,637	17,237	3.6
		Total general government	20,673	22,659	22,418	22,238	-0.8
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	1,529	1,611	1,420	1,531	7.8
		State and local	4,153	4,318	4,466	4,570	2.3
		Total public corporations	5,682	5,929	5,885	6,101	3.7
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		26,355	28,588	28,304	28,339	0.1
Total public demand			136,926	141,086	145,952	146,870	0.6
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second hand assets by public sector (c)		417	1,219	482	543	np

CHAIN VOLUME (b)
General government final consumption expenditure
	National-defence		9,367	9,413	9,678	9,204	-4.9
	National-non-defence		39,366	40,076	41,578	41,397	-0.4
	Total national		48,733	49,489	51,256	50,602	-1.3
	State and local		60,566	61,108	63,595	64,354	1.2
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		109,300	110,597	114,852	114,956	0.1
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National-defence	2,683	2,790	3,320	2,492	-24.9
		National-non-defence	2,225	2,200	2,799	2,579	-7.9
		Total national	4,908	4,990	6,119	5,071	-17.1
		State and local	16,206	18,013	16,524	16,840	1.9
		Total general government	21,114	23,002	22,643	21,910	-3.2
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	1,513	1,565	1,367	1,467	7.3
		State and local	4,109	4,197	4,277	4,337	1.4
		Total public corporations	5,622	5,762	5,644	5,804	2.8
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		26,736	28,765	28,287	27,715	-2.0
Total public demand			136,035	139,361	143,139	142,670	-0.3
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second hand assets by public sector (c)		413	1,197	467	517	np

— nil or rounded to zero
np indicates this value not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) See Explanatory Notes for the relationship between general government final consumption expenditure and GFS aggregates
(b) Reference year for chain volume measures in 2019-20 = 100.0

Public expenditure contribution to GDP growth

Public expenditure, contribution to GDP growth (a) (b)
	Government final consumption expenditure (ppt)	Government gross fixed capital formation (ppt)
Dec-18	0.4	-0.1
Mar-19	0.2	0
Jun-19	0.6	0.1
Sep-19	0.3	0
Dec-19	0.3	0
Mar-20	0.4	0
Jun-20	0.5	-0.1
Sep-20	0.4	0
Dec-20	0.2	0.2
Mar-21	0	0.1
Jun-21	0.3	0.4
Sep-21	0.8	-0.1
Dec-21	0	-0.1

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

[["Dec-18","Mar-19","Jun-19","Sep-19","Dec-19","Mar-20","Jun-20","Sep-20","Dec-20","Mar-21","Jun-21","Sep-21","Dec-21"],[[0.40000000000000002],[0.20000000000000001],[0.59999999999999998],[0.29999999999999999],[0.29999999999999999],[0.40000000000000002],[0.5],[0.40000000000000002],[0.20000000000000001],[0],[0.29999999999999999],[0.80000000000000004],[0]],[[-0.10000000000000001],[0],[0.10000000000000001],[0],[0],[0],[-0.10000000000000001],[0],[0.20000000000000001],[0.10000000000000001],[0.40000000000000002],[-0.10000000000000001],[-0.10000000000000001]]]

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Chain volume measures seasonally adjusted
using the GDP series as published in the Sep 2021 release of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product

Revisions and changes

Accounting standard changes

The following Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) standard changes have been introduced in government financial reporting for periods from 1 July 2019 onwards, leading to increased divergence in certain circumstances between economic statistics publications and government financial reporting:

Leases (AASB 16): The standard removes the distinction between operating and finance leases on the lessee side of financial reporting. The conceptual distinction between operating and finance leases remains in economic statistics. GFS outputs are consistent with the historical treatment.
Revenue recognition (AASB 15 & 1058): The standard requires revenue to be recognised when performance obligations are met in certain circumstances. In GFS the change primarily affects grant revenue received by state and territory governments from the Commonwealth. Recognition of grant revenue in GFS remains consistent with the historical treatment which is based on when jurisdictions have access to the funding as reported by the Commonwealth.
Service Concession Arrangements (AASB 1059): The standard impacts ownership of non-financial assets. It applies a control concept to determine non-financial asset ownership. Non-financial asset ownership in GFS is determined based off a risk-reward concept consistent with the historical treatment which has been maintained in economic statistics.

Revisions

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

Divergences with government fiscal reporting

Divergences between state and commonwealth fiscal reporting and Government Finance Statistics may occur as a result of conceptual determinations and timing recognition differences, to ensure alignment with economic activity as measured across ABS macroeconomic statistics. These differences primarily impact on measures of government subsidies and other support payments to businesses and households, non-employee expenses and change in inventories.

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

COVID-19 impacted a range of Government Finance Statistics series over the preceding two years. As new government policies were announced, the key policies and conceptual determinations were discussed in articles such as Economic measurement during COVID-19: Selected issues in the Economic Accounts, with a quarterly update series, such as Classifying COVID-19 policy interventions during September quarter 2021 in macroeconomic statistics.

Given that the volume of new policies in December quarter 2021 has slowed, this article has been discontinued. The ABS continues to work with GFS data providers on all relevant policy and conceptual determinations.

The roll out of government purchases of Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) did not materially affect government final consumption expenditure this quarter.

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