GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE ON EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA


This release contains statistics on expenditure on education by the general government sector for the period 2006-07 to 2015-16. 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 2010-11 to 2015-16.

Operating expenditure on education by all levels of general government increased by $3,286m (3.9%), from $84,571m in 2014-15 to $87,857m in 2015-16. Total expenditure on education by the Commonwealth Government was $32,312m, with expenditure by the state and local governments totalling $58,352m. Intra-sector transfers were $29,485m.

Of the total operating expenditure on education in 2015-16, $45,236m (51.5%) was spent on primary and secondary education and $31,643m (36.0%) on tertiary education (universities and TAFEs). Employee expenses of $45,235m accounted for 51.5% of total educational expenses with the remaining 48.5% being on non-employee expenses ($19,855m), depreciation ($3,988m), and transfer expenses ($18,780m).

GOVERNMENT OPERATING EXPENSES ON EDUCATION, By Level of Government
	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
Commonwealth Government	33 794	28 728	29 334	30 049	31 375	32 312
State and local governments	49 958	51 017	52 695	54 507	56 191	58 352
Multi-jurisdictional (a)	19 977	21 302	22 942	23 629	25 609	26 678
Less: Intra-sector transfers	28 052	25 188	25 466	26 644	28 604	29 485
All levels of government	75 677	75 859	79 506	81 540	84 571	87 857
(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
	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
Primary and secondary education	40 166	38 736	40 645	41 785	43 270	45 236
Tertiary education	26 195	27 446	29 015	29 326	30 626	31 643
Pre-school & education not definable by level	3 325	4 216	4 454	4 786	5 091	5 337
Transportation of students	1 381	1 401	1 354	1 547	1 575	1 535
Education n.e.c.	4 610	4 060	4 036	4 097	4 010	4 106
Total by purpose	75 677	75 859	79 506	81 540	84 571	87 857

GOVERNMENT OPERATING EXPENSES ON EDUCATION, By Economic Transaction, All Levels of Government
	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
Employee expenses	37 233	39 131	41 009	41 848	43 306	45 235
Non-employee expenses	16 305	17 544	18 131	18 679	19 350	19 855
Depreciation of fixed assets	2 892	3 233	3 523	3 668	3 815	3 988
Current transfer expenses	16 992	15 592	16 395	16 867	17 847	18 501
Capital transfer expenses	2 255	359	447	478	252	279
Total by economic transactions	75 677	75 859	79 506	81 540	84 571	87 857

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