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This release contains statistics on expenditure on education by the general government sector for the period 2002–03 to 2011–12. 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 2006–07 to 2011–12.

Operating expenditure on education by all levels of general government increased by $189m (0.2%), from $75,666m in 2010–11 to $75,855m in 2011–12. Total expenditure on education by the Commonwealth Government was $28,728m, with expenditure by the state and local governments totalling $51,026m. Intra–sector transfers were $25,198m.

Of the total operating expenditure on education in 2011–12, $38,737m (51%) was spent on primary and secondary education and $27,441m (36%) on tertiary education (universities and TAFEs). Employee expenses of $39,130m accounted for 52% of total educational expenses with the remaining 48% being on non–employee expenses ($17,490m), depreciation ($3,233m), and transfer expenses ($16,001m).

GOVERNMENT OPERATING EXPENSES ON EDUCATION, By level of government
	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
Commonwealth Government	16 416	18 694	21 905	35 709	33 794	28 728
State and Local Governments	37 382	39 595	43 322	49 118	49 959	51 026
Multi–jurisdictional (a)	14 208	15 600	17 748	18 515	19 996	21 299
Less: Intra–sector transfers	16 049	18 370	20 609	31 872	28 083	25 198
All Levels of Government	51 957	55 519	62 366	71 469	75 666	75 855
(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
	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
Primary and secondary education	29 078	30 496	33 106	39 102	40 167	38 737
Tertiary education	18 778	20 559	23 022	24 197	26 183	27 441
Pre–school & education not definable by level	2 287	2 439	2 983	3 089	3 325	4 216
Transportation of students	1 106	1 261	1 326	1 352	1 381	1 401
Education n.e.c.	708	763	1 930	3 729	4 610	4 060
Total	51 957	55 519	62 366	71 469	75 666	75855

GOVERNMENT OPERATING EXPENSES ON EDUCATION, By economic transaction, All levels of government
	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
Employee expenses	28 257	30 172	32 934	35 050	37 231	39 130
Non–employee expenses	12 189	13 146	14 810	15 710	16 200	17 490
Depreciation of fixed assets	2 097	2 262	2 442	2 657	2 892	3 233
Current transfer expenses	9 137	9 611	11 663	15 656	17 087	15 644
Capital transfer expenses	276	328	518	2 396	2 256	357
Total	51 957	55 519	62 366	71 469	75 666	75 855