5518.0.55.001 - Government Finance Statistics, Education, Australia, 2008-09 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/04/2010   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All

MAIN FEATURES

This release contains statistics on expenditure on education by the general government sector for the period 1999-00 to 2008-09. 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-school, 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.

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 2003-04 to 2008-09.

Expenditure on education by all levels of general government increased by $6,968 million (12.6%), from $55,362 million in 2007-08 to $62,330 million in 2008-09. Total expenditure on education by the Commonwealth Government reached $21,905 million, with expenditure by the state and local governments totalling $43,313 million.

Of the total expenditure on education, $33,217 million was spent on primary and secondary education and a further $22,933 million on tertiary education (universities and TAFE). Employee expenses of $32,897 million accounted for 52.8% of total educational expenses with the remaining 47.2% being on non-employee expenses ($14,837 million), depreciation ($2,443 million), and transfer expenses ($12,153 million).


GOVERNMENT OPERATING EXPENSES ON EDUCATION, BY LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
$m
$m
$m
$m
$m
$m

Commonwealth Government
13 523
14 319
15 813
16 416
18 694
21 905
State and Local Governments
31 023
33 581
35 463
37 267
39 579
43 313
Multi-jurisdictional (a)
11 738
12 589
13 745
14 114
15 467
17 721
Less: Intra-sector transfers
12 960
13 794
15 297
16 043
18 379
20 609
All Levels of Government
43 325
46 695
49 723
51 754
55 362
62 330

(a) The multi-jurisdictional 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

2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
$m
$m
$m
$m
$m
$m

Primary and secondary education
23 900
25 843
27 501
28 960
30 534
33 217
Tertiary education
16 020
17 000
18 301
18 675
20 387
22 933
Pre-school & education not definable by level
1 817
2 038
2 151
2 317
2 439
2 983
Transportation of students
900
1 055
1 124
1 095
1 239
1 273
Education n.e.c.
688
759
647
707
763
1 924
Total
43 325
46 695
49 723
51 754
55 362
62 330


GOVERNMENT OPERATING EXPENSES ON EDUCATION, BY ECONOMIC TRANSACTION, ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT

2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
$m
$m
$m
$m
$m
$m

Employee expenses
23 834
25 486
27 276
28 147
30 021
32 897
Non-employee expenses
10 249
10 847
11 413
12 194
13 140
14 837
Depreciation of fixed assets
1 858
1 969
2 009
2 095
2 259
2 443
Current transfer expenses
7 145
8 105
8 675
9 041
9 612
11 637
Capital transfer expenses
239
288
350
277
330
516
Total
43 325
46 695
49 723
51 754
55 362
62 330



For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070, email <client.services@abs.gov.au> or Glynis Orrell on Canberra (02) 6252 5735, email <public.finance@abs.gov.au>.