Government Finance Statistics, Australia

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

Reference period

September 2023

Released

5/12/2023

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Key statistics

In September quarter 2023:

general government net operating balance fell $42.1b to -$9.8b, since June quarter 2023
taxation revenue fell 20.4% to $178.2b, since June quarter 2023
general government borrowing was $21.2b
total public demand is expected to contribute 0.3 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 are two articles:

Insights into Government Finance Statistics, September 2023, which presents observations and analysis of the the September quarter 2023 Government Finance Statistics data
Classifying material government policies in macroeconomic statistics, which examines key government policies and programs that affected September quarter 2023.

Government Finance Statistics measures

Government Finance Statistics fiscal measures
		Dec Qtr 2022	Mar Qtr 2023	Jun Qtr 2023	Sep Qtr 2023	Jun Qtr 2023 to Sep Qtr 2023
		$m	$m	$m	$m	% change
Taxation revenue
	General government	189,366	181,039	223,962	178,207	-20.4%
Total revenue
	General government	228,489	222,868	265,802	219,840	-17.3%
	Public non-financial corporations	24,480	26,653	27,736	27,352	-1.4%
Total expenses
	General government	216,710	216,271	233,546	229,687	-1.7%
	Public non-financial corporations	24,850	25,447	27,661	27,088	-2.1%
GFS Net Operating Balance
	General government	11,779	6,598	32,256	-9,847	na
	Public non-financial corporations	-370	1,206	75	265	na
GFS Net Lending (+)/Borrowing (-)
	General government	-1,499	-5,514	9,683	-21,227	na
	Public non-financial corporations	-4,839	-2,227	-5,064	-3,550	na

na 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)
Sep-22	200.0	-214.7	-14.7
Dec-22	228.5	-216.7	11.8
Mar-23	222.9	-216.3	6.6
Jun-23	265.8	-233.5	32.3
Sep-23	219.8	-229.7	-9.8

Net operating balance of all levels of general government

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

[["Sep-22","Dec-22","Mar-23","Jun-23","Sep-23"],[[200],[228.5],[222.90000000000001],[265.80000000000001],[219.80000000000001]],[[-214.69999999999999],[-216.69999999999999],[-216.30000000000001],[-233.5],[-229.69999999999999]],[[-14.699999999999999],[11.800000000000001],[6.5999999999999996],[32.299999999999997],[-9.8000000000000007]]]

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National accounts public sector measures

The table below includes the key public sector aggregates for September 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 0.3 percentage points to the change in GDP in September quarter 2023
general government final consumption expenditure rose $1,477m (up 1.1%) and is expected to contribute 0.3 percentage points to the change in GDP in September quarter 2023
general government gross fixed capital formation fell $502m (down 2.0%)
public corporations gross fixed capital formation rose $737m (up 8.9%)
total public gross fixed capital formation rose $234m (up 0.7%) and is expected to contribute 0.0 percentage points to the change in GDP in September quarter 2023

Contributions may not be additive due to rounding

Quarterly national accounts public sector measures, seasonally adjusted
			Dec Qtr 2022	Mar Qtr 2023	Jun Qtr 2023	Sep Qtr 2023	Jun Qtr 2023 to Sep Qtr 2023
			$m	$m	$m	$m	% change
CURRENT PRICES
General government final consumption expenditure (b)
	National-defence		11,572	11,624	11,882	12,602	6.1
	National-non-defence		51,709	53,050	53,800	55,218	2.6
	Total national		63,281	64,674	65,682	67,820	3.3
	State and local		72,174	72,690	73,859	75,668	2.4
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		135,455	137,364	139,541	143,488	2.8
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National-defence	2,713	2,732	3,199	2,923	-8.6
		National-non-defence	2,520	2,541	2,613	2,828	8.2
		Total national	5,233	5,273	5,813	5,751	-1.1
		State and local	18,598	19,769	21,609	21,263	-1.6
		Total general government	23,831	25,042	27,421	27,014	-1.5
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	2,489	2,401	2,719	3,171	16.6
		State and local	5,408	5,807	6,258	6,695	7.0
		Total public corporations	7,896	8,208	8,977	9,866	9.9
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		31,727	33,250	36,398	36,880	1.3
Total public demand			167,182	170,614	175,939	180,368	2.5
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second hand assets by public sector		305	429	1,253	660	-47.3
	Public authorities changes in inventories (c)		1,610	817	239	-1,196	na

CHAIN VOLUME (d)
General government final consumption expenditure
	National-defence		10,963	10,863	11,000	11,516	4.7
	National-non-defence		50,518	50,936	51,394	51,540	0.3
	Total national		61,480	61,799	62,394	63,056	1.1
	State and local		69,203	68,728	68,972	69,786	1.2
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		130,683	130,527	131,366	132,843	1.1
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National-defence	2,482	2,517	2,874	2,619	-8.8
		National-non-defence	2,395	2,432	2,454	2,653	8.1
		Total national	4,877	4,950	5,328	5,272	-1.0
		State and local	17,280	18,171	19,594	19,147	-2.3
		Total general government	22,157	23,121	24,922	24,420	-2.0
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	2,339	2,250	2,521	2,912	15.5
		State and local	5,078	5,412	5,782	6,129	6.0
		Total public corporations	7,417	7,663	8,304	9,041	8.9
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		29,574	30,784	33,226	33,460	0.7
Total public demand			160,257	161,311	164,591	166,303	1.0
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second hand assets by public sector		280	389	1,127	590	-47.7
	Public authorities changes in inventories (c)		1,232	302	743	-1,529	na

na 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 2021-22 = 100.0

Public demand contribution to GDP growth

Public demand, contribution to GDP growth (e) (f)
	Gov final consumption expenditure (ppt)	Gov gross fixed capital formation (ppt)
Sep-20	0.6	0.1
Dec-20	0.3	0.2
Mar-21	0	0
Jun-21	0.3	0.4
Sep-21	0.8	-0.1
Dec-21	0.3	-0.1
Mar-22	0.6	0.1
Jun-22	-0.2	0.2
Sep-22	0	-0.1
Dec-22	0.2	0
Mar-23	0	0.2
Jun-23	0.2	0.4
Sep-23	0.3	0

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

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

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

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Chain volume measures seasonally adjusted
using the GDP series as published in the June 2023 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.

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 September quarter 2023 GFS publication.

The ABS recognise:

CAC as an other tax on production revenue, with an equal and offsetting non-payable tax credit.
Total CAC tax revenue will therefore have a value of zero and not be visible in Government Finance Statistics and Macroeconomic accounts.

Under the previous classification, CAC was classified as an equal and offsetting sale of goods and services revenue received from the PNFC sector, and a subsidy on products expense paid to the PNFC sector.

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

This reclassification was also applied in the GFS 2021-22 annual release and the National Accounts 2022-23 release.

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 September quarter 2023 GFS publication.

AUSTRAC undertakes intelligence activities to monitor financial transactions in Australia for government purposes and imposes an ICL on large reporting entities (banks, insurance companies, stockbrokers, and casinos).

The ABS recognise:

From 2012-13 to 2013-14, the ICL is classified as sales of goods and services (administrative fees) revenue to Commonwealth General Government from private financial corporations. During this period the ICL was designed to recover the cost of AUSTRAC's regulatory functions.
From 2014-15 onwards, the ICL is classified as taxes on income. During this period the ICL is charged based on earnings of large reporting entities, is compulsory, and payers of the ICL do not receive regulatory services or a licence in return for paying the ICL.

Under the previous classification, the ICL was classified as other revenue for all time periods.

This reclassification was also applied in the GFS 2021-22 annual release and the National Accounts 2022-23 release.

Divergences with government fiscal reporting

Divergences between Commonwealth and state 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