QUALITY DECLARATION - SUMMARY
INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT
For the Commonwealth Government and all individual state and territory governments the statistics shown in this release are based on information provided in, or underlying, the published budget projections for the financial year. For the local government and multi-jurisdictional sectors, statistics are based on ABS estimates.
For information on the institutional environment of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), including the legislative obligations of the ABS, financing and governance arrangements, and mechanisms for scrutiny of ABS operations, please see ABS Institutional Environment.
RELEVANCE
The term 'Government Finance Statistics' refers to statistics that measure the financial activities of governments and reflect the impact of those activities on other sectors of the economy. The Australian system of Government Finance Statistics (GFS), is designed to provide statistical information on public sector entities in Australia classified in a uniform and systematic way.
GFS enables policy makers and users to analyse the financial operations and financial position of the public sector by the level of government, institutional sector or set of transactions. The system of GFS is based on international standards set out in the System of National Accounts 1993 (SNA93) and the International Monetary Fund's Government Finance Statistics Manual 2001 (GFSM 2001). The System of National Accounts has been updated and the System of National Accounts 2008 (SNA08) was endorsed by the United Nations Statistical Commission in February 2009. SNA08 was implemented in Australia's National Accounts from September quarter 2009 and this has resulted in two changes to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) compilation of GFS. Defence Weapons Platforms (DWP) have been capitalised to align with the SNA08 from September quarter 2009 and time series have been revised. This change affected the Commonwealth General Government Operating Statement, Cash Flow Statement and Balance Sheet. The alignment of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to the SNA08 treatment was introduced in the 2009-10 year and time series have been revised. This change has affected the Commonwealth General Government Balance Sheet. The Australian System of Government Finance Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat. no. 5514.0) has been updated to reflect these changes. The GFSM 2001 will be revised to reflect the SNA08. Although the IMF review of the GFSM has commenced, the timing of the release of GFSM is unknown at this stage. ABS GFS will be updated to reflect the new international standard after the revised IMF GFSM is available.
The system of GFS provides details of revenues, expenses, cash flows and assets and liabilities of the Australian public sector and comprises units which are owned and/or controlled by the Commonwealth, state and local governments.
Government Financial Estimates (GFE) measure the financial activities of each jurisdiction for the general government sector based on initial budget forecasts or ABS estimates rather than final audited data. The key statements presented are the operating statement and the cash flow statement.
TIMELINESS
Annual Government Financial Estimates Statistics are released within 2 months from the start of the financial year subject to the release of government budgets.
ACCURACY
The main influence on the accuracy of GFS data is non-sampling error. Non-sampling error arises from inaccuracies in collecting, recording and processing the data. The most significant of these errors are misreporting of data and processing errors. Every effort is made to minimise error by working closely with data providers, training of processing staff and efficient data processing procedures.
Where the economic activity of some units are relatively insignificant, undercoverage can arise. These few units are either omitted or some of their activities are not covered by the collection methodology.
Data for local governments and the multi-jurisdictional sector are estimated by applying a growth factor to the latest published financial year data, which is for the reference period two years earlier than these estimates.
COHERENCE
In 1998-99, the ABS adopted an accrual basis of recording for its GFS. Prior to this the ABS GFS was cash based. In addition to the information published, some GFS data are available back to 1961-62. However, due to the different compilation and data sources, data from 1998-99 onwards are not directly comparable with earlier cash data. The ABS has not established a quantitative measure of this break in series because the existing data sources do not permit this. Data on a pure accruals basis are only available from 1998-99.
In 1992-93 the Commonwealth and state governments implemented the uniform presentation framework (UPF) in their budget documents to introduce uniformity into the presentation of GFS.
From 2008-09 onwards, Australian Accounting Standard Board 1049 Whole of Government and General Government Sector Financial Reporting (AASB 1049) replaced Australian Accounting Standard 31 Financial Reporting by Government (AAS 31) as the standard Governments should follow in the preparation of their financial statements. A key feature of AASB 1049 is that where the Government Finance Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat. no. 5514.0) differs from the accounting standards, a reconciliation to the key GFS aggregates and an explanation for these must be presented in a reconciliation statement. Data presented in this publication may differ from data published by Treasuries where Treasuries have not adjusted their data to a GFS basis, where ABS have a different view on classification treatments or where ABS employ a different consolidation methodology.
The statistics in this release have been compiled using standard definitions, classifications and treatment of government financial transactions to facilitate comparisons between levels of government and between states within a level of government. However, the statistics also reflect real differences between the administrative and accounting arrangements of the various jurisdictions and these differences need to be taken into account when making interstate comparisons. For example, only a state level of government exists in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The ACT government performs a number of functions which are undertaken by local government authorities in other jurisdictions.
To compile statistics about the financial activities of a particular level of government, or any other grouping of public sector units, transactions and debtor/creditor relationships between units within the chosen grouping (sector or subsector) have to be matched and eliminated to avoid double counting. The process of matching and eliminating these items within the chosen group is known as 'consolidation'.
While GFS and Australian System of National Accounts (ASNA) share the same conceptual framework (SNA), there are methodological differences between GFS and ASNA analytical measures (for example net worth and net lending/borrowing). Descriptions of GFS/ASNA reconciliations are outlined in Chapter 7 of Australian System of Government Finance Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat. no. 5514.0).
INTERPRETABILITY
The publication Government Financial Estimates, Australia (cat. no. 5501.0.55.001) contains detailed Explanatory Notes and Glossary that provide information on the data sources, terminology, classifications and other technical aspects associated with these statistics
Detailed information on the concepts, sources and methods used in compiling GFS can be found in Australian System of Government Finance Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat. no. 5514.0.55.001) electronic version or (cat. no. 5514.0) PDF version.
ACCESSIBILITY
The spreadsheets present all the available detail for Government Financial Estimates; but further detail is available for Government Finance Statistics. Inquiries should be made to the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070, email <client.services@abs.gov.au> or Larissa Fischer on Canberra (02) 6252 5392, email <public.finance@abs.gov.au>.
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