States & territories · 2024-25
What each state government spends per resident
State and territory general government expenses divided by each jurisdiction’s population. Same basis for every row. These are state-level figures only — Commonwealth spending in each state is on top and is not shown here.
Source: ABS Government Finance Statistics, Australia, 2024-25 (cat. 5512.0), 55120DO011 · outcomes to 2024-25 · accessed 5 Nov 2026Per resident, 2024-25
Darker = higher spending per person. Schematic tile map (not to geographic scale).
Source: ABS Government Finance Statistics, Australia, 2024-25 (cat. 5512.0) 55120DO003–010 · outcomes to 2024-25 · accessed 5 Nov 2026Ranked
State general government expenses per resident, 2024-25.
Source: ABS Government Finance Statistics, Australia, 2024-25 (cat. 5512.0) 55120DO003–011 · outcomes to 2024-25 · accessed 5 Nov 2026Why the Northern Territory, Tasmania and South Australia rank high. Much of their spending is funded by the Commonwealth through GST distributions and other grants, under horizontal fiscal equalisation, which directs more money to jurisdictions with higher costs of delivering services (remoteness, dispersed populations) or smaller tax bases. Grants received per resident in 2024-25: NT $22,903, Tasmania $9,169, SA $7,730, versus $6,384 across all states. High spending here is not paid by local taxpayers alone. The ACT figure includes municipal (council-type) functions, as the ACT has no separate local government.
League table — every metric per person
Tap a column heading to sort. “State + local” adds local councils within the state (ABS state-and-local consolidation). “Real 2015-16” is the same state’s 2015-16 per-person spending in 2024-25 dollars.
| # | Jurisdiction | Cost / person | State + local / person | State tax / person | Grants received / person | 2015-16 (real) | 10-yr real change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northern Territory | $34,153 | $35,502 | $3,137 | $22,903 | $30,522 | +11.9% | 55120DO009 |
| 2 | Australian Capital Territory | $18,718 | $18,718 | $5,722 | $6,614 | $15,834 | +18.2% | 55120DO010 |
| 3 | Tasmania | $16,631 | $17,997 | $3,198 | $9,169 | $12,900 | +28.9% | 55120DO008 |
| 4 | Queensland | $16,230 | $17,887 | $4,480 | $6,782 | $12,868 | +26.1% | 55120DO005 |
| 5 | Western Australia | $15,415 | $17,020 | $4,895 | $6,359 | $13,974 | +10.3% | 55120DO007 |
| 6 | South Australia | $14,352 | $15,774 | $3,829 | $7,730 | $12,443 | +15.3% | 55120DO006 |
| 7 | Victoria | $14,136 | $15,684 | $5,660 | $5,643 | $10,553 | +34.0% | 55120DO004 |
| 8 | New South Wales | $13,934 | $15,417 | $5,673 | $5,733 | $11,606 | +20.1% | 55120DO003 |
| All states & territories | $14,950 | $16,464 | $5,135 | $6,384 | $12,162 | +22.9% | 55120DO011 |
Ten-year real change by jurisdiction
2015-16 versus 2024-25 per-person spending, both in 2024-25 dollars.