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

September 2021

Released

30/11/2021

Key statistics

In the September quarter 2021:

taxation revenue fell -16.8% to $142.6b
general government net operating balance fell -$47.6b to -$45.4b
general government borrowing was $52.5b
total public demand is expected to contribute 0.7ppt to the quarterly change in GDP

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

Two articles are included in this release:

Insights into Government Finance Statistics, key insights and analysis from September quarter 2021
Classifying COVID-19 policy interventions in macroeconomic statistics, which examines key COVID-19 policies affecting September quarter 2021.

Government finance statistics fiscal measures

Government finance statistics fiscal measures, original
		Dec Qtr 2020	Mar Qtr 2021	Jun Qtr 2021	Sep Qtr 2021	Jun Qtr 2021 to Sep Qtr 2021
		$m	$m	$m	$m	% change
Taxation revenue
	General government	148,952	145,148	171,452	142,623	-16.8%
Total revenue
	General government	180,550	177,372	207,080	178,343	-13.9%
	Public non-financial corporations	24,579	23,356	26,188	25,227	-3.7%
Total expenses
	General government	218,641	198,035	204,813	223,710	9.2%
	Public non-financial corporations	26,791	24,235	27,608	25,192	-8.8%
GFS Net Operating Balance
	General government	-38,092	-20,664	2,267	-45,366	np
	Public non-financial corporations	-2,212	-880	-1,420	35	np
GFS Net Lending (+)/Borrowing (-)
	General government	-49,140	-30,052	-15,353	-52,549	np
	Public non-financial corporations	-3,199	-571	-4,631	-1,683	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)
Sep-20	160	-253	-93
Dec-20	181	-219	-38
Mar-21	177	-198	-21
Jun-21	207	-205	2
Sep-21	178	-224	-45

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

[["Sep-20","Dec-20","Mar-21","Jun-21","Sep-21"],[[160],[181],[177],[207],[178]],[[-253],[-219],[-198],[-205],[-224]],[[-93],[-38],[-21],[2],[-45]]]

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original, current prices

National accounts public sector measures

The table below includes the key public sector aggregates for the September 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 contribute 0.7 percentage points to the change in GDP in September quarter 2021.
general government final consumption expenditure increased by $3,956m or 3.6% and is expected to contribute 0.8 percentage points to the change in GDP in September quarter 2021.
general government gross fixed capital formation decreased by -$357m or -1.5%.
public corporations gross fixed capital formation decreased by -$139m or -2.4%.
total public gross fixed capital formation decreased by -$496m or -1.7% and is expected to detract -0.1 percentage points from the change in GDP in September quarter 2021.

Quarterly national accounts public sector measures, seasonally adjusted
			Dec Qtr 2020	Mar Qtr 2021	Jun Qtr 2021	Sep Qtr 2021	Jun Qtr 2021 to Sep Qtr 2021
			$m	$m	$m	$m	% change
CURRENT PRICES
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National-defence		9,153	9,355	9,478	10,072	6.3
	National-non-defence		40,465	39,886	41,150	42,749	3.9
	Total national		49,618	49,242	50,628	52,822	4.3
	State and local		60,956	61,455	62,052	64,705	4.3
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		110,574	110,696	112,681	117,527	4.3
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National-defence	2,873	2,424	2,508	2,972	18.5
		National-non-defence	2,135	2,195	2,176	2,757	26.7
		Total national	5,008	4,618	4,684	5,729	22.3
		State and local	15,313	16,064	18,004	16,750	-7.0
		Total general government	20,321	20,682	22,688	22,479	-0.9
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	1,667	1,529	1,611	1,409	-12.6
		State and local	4,063	4,150	4,311	4,449	3.2
		Total public corporations	5,730	5,679	5,922	5,857	-1.1
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		26,051	26,361	28,610	28,336	-1.0
Total public demand			136,625	137,058	141,291	145,863	3.2
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second hand assets by public sector (c)		523	415	1,240	511	np

CHAIN VOLUME (b)
General government final consumption expenditure
	National-defence		9,193	9,377	9,437	9,924	5.2
	National-non-defence		39,841	39,415	40,270	41,621	3.4
	Total national		49,034	48,792	49,707	51,545	3.7
	State and local		60,351	60,614	61,115	63,233	3.5
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		109,385	109,406	110,822	114,778	3.6
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National-defence	3,039	2,690	2,788	3,243	16.3
		National-non-defence	2,152	2,216	2,188	2,798	27.9
		Total national	5,192	4,906	4,976	6,041	21.4
		State and local	15,423	16,219	18,057	16,635	-7.9
		Total general government	20,614	21,125	23,033	22,676	-1.5
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	1,654	1,513	1,566	1,357	-13.4
		State and local	4,029	4,106	4,190	4,260	1.7
		Total public corporations	5,683	5,619	5,756	5,617	-2.4
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		26,297	26,743	28,789	28,293	-1.7
Total public demand			135,682	136,149	139,611	143,071	2.5
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second hand assets by public sector (c)		522	412	1,218	495	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)
Sep-18	0.2	0.1
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

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

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Chain volume measures seasonally adjusted
using the GDP series as published in the June 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. In addition to these regular revisions, a number of historical data changes have been implemented in the September quarter 2021 to align with statistical treatments as published in the most recent Government Finance Statistics and National Accounts annual publications. These revisions impact primarily on public investment measures to ensure alignment across macroeconomic statistics produced by the ABS.

The reclassification of visa application charges (VAC) from sales of goods and services to taxation revenue will be implemented in the National Accounts from September quarter 2021, bringing this treatment into alignment with Government Finance Statistics (as noted in previous publications).

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 during the September quarter 2021.

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