Government expenditure on education in Australia
This release contains statistics on expenditure on education by the general government sector for the period 2008-09 to 2017-18. 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-primary, 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. In this release, school education collectively refers to pre-primary, primary and secondary education.
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 2012-13 to 2017-18.
Operating expenditure on education by all levels of general government increased by $4,258m (4.5%), from $95,359m in 2016-17 to $99,617m in 2017-18. Total expenditure on education by the Commonwealth Government was $37,257m, with expenditure by the state and local governments totalling $65,183m. Intra-sector transfers were $32,260m.
Of the total operating expenditure on education in 2017-18, $51,496m (51.7%) was spent on school education and $36,194m (36.3%) on tertiary education (universities and TAFEs). Employee expenses of $49,925m accounted for 50.1% of total educational expenses with the remaining 49.9% being on non-employee expenses ($24,222m), depreciation ($4,275m), and transfer expenses ($21,195m).
Government operating expenses on education, by level of government
| 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $m | $m | $m | $m | $m | $m | |
| Commonwealth Government | 32 703 | 33 291 | 34 294 | 34 655 | 36 148 | 37 257 |
| State and local governments | 53 600 | 55 576 | 57 300 | 59 501 | 62 266 | 65 183 |
| Control not further defined (a) | 22 885 | 23 584 | 25 575 | 26 636 | 28 008 | 29 437 |
| Less: Intra-sector transfers | 25 475 | 26 670 | 28 659 | 29 539 | 31 063 | 32 260 |
| All levels of government | 83 712 | 85 781 | 88 510 | 91 253 | 95 359 | 99 617 |
a. The Control not further defined (n.f.d) sector contains units where jurisdiction is shared between two or more governments, or the classification of a unit to a jurisdiction is otherwise unclear. For education the only type of units falling into this category are public universities.
Government operating expenses on education, by purpose, all levels of government
| 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2014-15 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $m | $m | $m | $m | $m | $m | |
| School education | 41 836 | 43 080 | 44 645 | 46 748 | 48 899 | 51 496 |
| Tertiary education | 29 954 | 30 542 | 32 005 | 33 028 | 34 540 | 36 194 |
| Other education | 11 922 | 12 159 | 11 860 | 11 477 | 11 920 | 11 927 |
| Total by purpose | 83 712 | 85 781 | 88 510 | 91 253 | 95 359 | 99 617 |
Government operating expenses on education, by economic transaction, all levels of government
| 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2014-15 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $m | $m | $m | $m | $m | $m | |
| Employee expenses | 41 480 | 42 309 | 43 762 | 45 696 | 47 732 | 49 925 |
| Non-employee expenses | 20 175 | 20 864 | 21 721 | 21 944 | 23 034 | 24 222 |
| Depreciation | 3 541 | 3 726 | 3 854 | 4 020 | 4 185 | 4 275 |
| Current transfer expenses | 18 119 | 18 447 | 18 954 | 19 354 | 20 152 | 20 951 |
| Capital transfer expenses | 398 | 436 | 219 | 240 | 257 | 244 |
| Total by economic transactions | 83 712 | 85 781 | 88 510 | 91 253 | 95 359 | 99 617 |
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