GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE ON EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA


This release contains statistics on expenditure on education by the general government sector for the period 2007-08 to 2016-17. 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 2011-12 to 2016-17.

Operating expenditure on education by all levels of general government increased by $3,419m (3.9%), from $87,852m in 2015-16 to $91,271m in 2016-17. Total expenditure on education by the Commonwealth Government was $33,368m, with expenditure by the state and local governments totalling $60,870m. Intra-sector transfers were $30,987m.

Of the total operating expenditure on education in 2016-17, $47,345m (51.9%) was spent on primary and secondary education and $33,071m (36.2%) on tertiary education (universities and TAFEs). Employee expenses of $47,287m accounted for 51.8% of total educational expenses with the remaining 48.2% being on non-employee expenses ($20,609m), depreciation ($4,133m), and transfer expenses ($19,242m).

GOVERNMENT OPERATING EXPENSES ON EDUCATION, By Level of Government
	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
Commonwealth Government	28 728	29 334	30 049	31 375	32 312	33 368
State and local governments	51 017	52 695	54 514	56 200	58 362	60 870
Multi-jurisdictional (a)	21 303	22 942	23 628	25 609	26 675	28 019
Less: Intra-sector transfers	25 188	25 466	26 652	28 620	29 497	30 987
All levels of government	75 859	79 506	81 540	84 564	87 852	91 271
(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
	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
Primary and secondary education	38 709	40 645	41 785	43 270	45 236	47 345
Tertiary education	27 461	29 015	29 326	30 619	31 639	33 071
Pre-school & education not definable by level	4 228	4 454	4 786	5 091	5 337	5 670
Transportation of students	1 401	1 354	1 547	1 575	1 535	1 471
Education n.e.c.	4 060	4 036	4 097	4 010	4 106	3 713
Total by purpose	75 859	79 506	81 540	84 564	87 852	91 271

GOVERNMENT OPERATING EXPENSES ON EDUCATION, By Economic Transaction, All Levels of Government
	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
Employee expenses	39 131	41 009	41 848	43 306	45 235	47 287
Non-employee expenses	17 544	18 131	18 679	19 350	19 853	20 609
Depreciation of fixed assets	3 233	3 523	3 668	3 815	3 988	4 133
Current transfer expenses	15 592	16 395	16 867	17 841	18 498	18 968
Capital transfer expenses	359	447	478	252	279	274
Total by economic transactions	75 859	79 506	81 540	84 564	87 852	91 271

INQUIRIES

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