How we calculate every number
One definition, one denominator, official sources, no double-counting. Download everything.
Definition
“Cost of government” = Total GFS expenses (accrual basis) of the general government sector, from the ABS Government Finance Statistics, Australia (cat. 5512.0). It covers operating expenses: employee costs, goods and services, depreciation, interest, subsidies, grants and social benefits. It excludes public trading enterprises (e.g. utilities) and capital purchases (which enter expenses through depreciation).
Population
We divide by ABS Estimated Resident Population at 31 December — the middle of each financial year. For 2024-25: 27,391,125. State figures use each state’s own ERP.
Real versus nominal
Nominal = dollars of the day. Real = adjusted with the ABS Consumer Price Index (financial-year average) and expressed in 2024-25 dollars. Example: 2015-16 $24,952 nominal = $32,313 real.
No double-counting
The national headline uses the ABS all-levels consolidated series (55120DO021), which removes transfers between governments. We never add Commonwealth ($745.0 billion) and state totals, because $152.2 billion of Commonwealth spending is grants that states and councils then spend.
Household figures are user-calculated
We do not publish an official average-household or average-family cost of government, because household size, income and tax paid vary widely. Our calculators multiply the national per-person figures by the number of people you enter. The ABS Census 2021 average household size (2.5 people) is offered only as an optional, labelled illustration.
Where it goes
Purpose shares = purpose expenses ($m) ÷ total GFS expenses, from 55120DO021 Table 4. Per-person lines = purpose $m ÷ ERP.
What we never do
- Estimate or interpolate a missing year
- Use non-official data
- Show ticking “real-time” counters
- Label spending as waste
Caveats
- GFS can diverge from governments’ own budget reporting (accounting standards, timing). See the ABS release notes.
- ABS revises past years; we badge revisions in the changelog.
- State spending per resident reflects Commonwealth grants, cost of service delivery and, for the ACT, municipal functions.
- Rounded to the nearest dollar; totals may not sum exactly.
Sources
- ABS Government Finance Statistics, Annual, 2024-25 (released 21 Apr 2026; accessed 5 Nov 2026) — workbooks 55120DO002–011, 55120DO021
- ABS Estimated Resident Population (ERP_Q dataflow)
- ABS Consumer Price Index
- ABS Census 2021 QuickStats (household size)