03 February 2016

To assess Australia’s fiscal sustainability and budget challenges it is important to look at the budget position of not only the Commonwealth but also states and territories. This report examine the revenue, expenditure, net capital investment, net financial worth and the net debt position across all levels of Australian government over the forward estimates period. Providing an update to the national fiscal outlook based on Commonwealth and state government budget updates.

Foreword 

  • This report provides an update to the national fiscal position based on the recently released Commonwealth and state government mid-year updates.
  • It focusses on changes in the fiscal balance and net debt since the release of 2015–16 Commonwealth and state budgets. The report focusses on the general government sector.
  • The data underlying it are available from the PBO website.
  • To allow for the most consistent comparison across jurisdictions, data are sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) from 2002–03 to 2013–14 (the most recent ABS observation). From 2014–15 to 2018–19 data are sourced from Commonwealth, state and territory budgets and mid-year updates. As Tasmania’s Revised Estimates Report for 2015–16 has not been released it has not been incorporated in the analysis. 

Download the full report above.