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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS


TOTAL GOVERNMENT EXPENSES AND TOTAL PRIVATE EXPENDITURE ON EDUCATION


For education, total operating expenses increased by $2.6 billion. As a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), total expenses on education increased from 5.2% in 2000-01 to 5.3% in 2001-02.

Private expenditure (final consumption expenditure plus gross fixed capital formation) on education increased by $737 million.


TOTAL GOVERNMENT EDUCATION EXPENSES


For education, the largest component of total operating expenses in 2001-2002 was employee expenses of $20.7 billion. This comprised 55.1% of total expenses on education.


TOTAL GOVERNMENT EDUCATION EXPENSES BY EDUCATION FUNCTION


For all Australian governments in 2001-2002, primary and secondary education operating expenses were $21.3 billion which accounted for 56.7% of total education expenses. Total operating expenses on tertiary education were $13.6 billion accounting for 36.3% of total education expenses with university education accounting for 71.3% of the total amount spent on tertiary education.


COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT EDUCATION EXPENSES


Total operating expenses on education by the Commonwealth Government in 2001-2002 were $11.7 billion with $11.0 billion (94.1%) made up of current transfer expenses. The next largest component of Commonwealth education expenses was capital transfer expenses of $370 million which accounted for 3.2% of total Commonwealth Government expenses on education.


EXPLANATORY NOTES


INTRODUCTION


1 This Special Data Service (SDS) entitled Government Finance Statistics, Education, Australia (Cat. no. 5518.0.55.001) contains education statistics for the period 1998-99 to 2001-2002. These data are presented on an accrual accounting basis. Summary information relating to private expenditure on education for the period 1998-99 to 2001-2002 is also included.

2 The emphasis in this SDS is largely on public sector expenses which reflects, in part, the relative importance of that sector in the provision of education services.

3 The data relating to the public sector are taken from the system of Government Finance Statistics (GFS), which is designed to provide statistical information on public sector entities classified in a uniform and systematic way. GFS enable policy makers and other users to analyse the financial operations and the financial position of the public sector at either the level of a specific government, sector or a particular set of transactions. The system is based on international standards set out in the System of National Accounts 1993 (SNA93) and the draft accrual version of the International Monetary Fund's Government Finance Statistics Manual 2001.

4 In relation to education, GFS include the following for the various components of the Australian public sector:

• details of transactions in GFS operating revenues and GFS operating expenses; and

• expenditure on non-financial assets (net).

• operating expenses;

• net acquisition of non-financial assets and

• sales of goods and services.

• Economic Type Framework for GFS (ETF): this classification is the main classification of stocks and flows. The ETF resembles a set of financial statements, with sections for an operating statement, a cash flow statement and a balance sheet. In addition, there are sections which cater for the reconciliation of accounting net operating result measures with cash flows from operating activities and to capture items like assets acquired under finance leases, intra-unit transfers, and revaluations and other changes in the volume of assets; and

• Government Purpose Classification (GPC): this classification is used to group expenses with similar functions to facilitate the study of the broad purposes of public sector spending.