Australian Government general government sector
Whole of government
$833.3bn
2026-27 Budget estimate
+$21.2bn (+2.6%) on 2025-26 estimated actual
Treasury$237.4bn+7.0%
Health, Disability and Ageing$191.1bn+4.9%
Social Services$165.6bn+4.8%
Defence$98.1bn+0.9%
Education$70.7bn−12.9%
Finance$23.2bn−0.9%
Change on 2025-26
−10% or more
−2 to −10%
within ±2%
+2 to +10%
+10% or more, or new
How the total is built
$965.3bn in program lines, less amounts counted twice and adjustments, gives $833.3bn. Show each step
- Program line items, as published$965.3bn
- less tax bad and doubtful debts 1 line−$9.6bn
- less Medicare Guarantee Fund credits 1 line−$59.5bn
- less funding already counted at the paying department 79 lines−$50.4bn
- Program spending shown below$845.7bn
- Whole-of-government adjustments reconciliation−$12.5bn
- Total expenses, 2026-27 Budget Paper No. 1 – Estimates of expenses by function$833.3bn
The adjustments are the difference between the published total and the sum of program lines, after removing amounts counted twice. They are −1.5% of the total. What they are likely to include.
Not in this total: a further $32.5bn paid out in 2026-27 as loans and equity investments, which are not expenses. Loans and investments.
Major project cost estimates
- Snowy 2.0 $2.0bn 2017 → $22.2bn–$25.0bn 2026 11.1–12.5× not like for like
- Hunter Power Project (Kurri Kurri power station) $600m 2021 → $1.3bn 2024 2.2×
- Marinus Link $3.5bn 2019 → $3.9bn 2025 1.1× not like for like
- Inland Rail $4.4bn 2010 → $45.0bn 2026 10.2× not like for like
- National Broadband Network $43.0bn 2009 → $51.0bn 2018 1.2× not like for like
All major projects · first and latest published estimates, in dollars of the day
Traced to named suppliers and grant recipients
$77.4bn falls in 2026-27, equal to 9.3% of this total: $55.2bn in contracts and $22.1bn in grants. estimate: annualised
From AusTender contract notices and GrantConnect grant awards published since 2022-07-01. Each contract’s or grant’s value is spread evenly from its start to end date. These values are commitments, not payments, and records published before 2022-07-01 are not included yet.
By portfolio
| Portfolio | 2025-26 estimated actual |
2026-27 Budget estimate |
Change | Share | Contracts and grants 2026-27 est. |
Removed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Treasury | $221.8bn | $237.4bn | +$15.6bn +7.0% | 28.1% | $2.2bn 0.9% | $69.7bn |
| Health, Disability and Ageing | $182.1bn | $191.1bn | +$9.0bn +4.9% | 22.6% | $17.8bn 9.3% | $42.9bn |
| Social Services | $158.0bn | $165.6bn | +$7.6bn +4.8% | 19.6% | $2.0bn 1.2% | – |
| Defence | $97.2bn | $98.1bn | +$905m +0.9% | 11.6% | $29.4bn 29.9% | $1.1bn |
| Attorney-General's | $2.3bn | $2.4bn | +$15m +0.6% | 0.3% | $469m 19.9% | $60m |
| Parliament | $367m | $381m | +$14m +3.7% | 0.0% | $139m 36.6% | – |
| Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry | $3.9bn | $3.9bn | −$8.5m −0.2% | 0.5% | $1.0bn 26.6% | $58m |
| Industry, Science and Resources | $3.3bn | $3.2bn | −$75m −2.3% | 0.4% | $1.4bn 44.8% | $1.5bn |
| Finance | $23.4bn | $23.2bn | −$219m −0.9% | 2.7% | $2.9bn 12.6% | – |
| Home Affairs | $11.5bn | $11.0bn | −$510m −4.4% | 1.3% | $5.2bn 47.6% | – |
| Prime Minister and Cabinet | $5.2bn | $4.6bn | −$623m −12.0% | 0.5% | $2.2bn 47.3% | $186m |
| Employment and Workplace Relations | $8.0bn | $6.4bn | −$1.6bn −19.5% | 0.8% | $2.7bn 41.6% | $59m |
| Foreign Affairs and Trade | $11.1bn | $9.2bn | −$1.9bn −17.3% | 1.1% | $2.7bn 29.9% | $161m |
| Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water | $11.7bn | $8.2bn | −$3.5bn −30.2% | 1.0% | $2.7bn 32.4% | $325m |
| Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts | $14.0bn | $10.4bn | −$3.6bn −25.5% | 1.2% | $1.8bn 17.7% | $3.5bn |
| Education | $81.2bn | $70.7bn | −$10.5bn −12.9% | 8.4% | $2.6bn 3.7% | $28m |
By function
Budget Paper No. 1 also splits the total by purpose. These figures sum to the published total. Open a function to see its sub-functions, which sum to it in turn.
Social security and welfare$308.7bn +3.7%
Assistance to the aged$115.6bn +5.1%
Assistance to people with disabilities$98.1bn +5.1%
Assistance to families with children$53.9bn +4.1%
Assistance to the unemployed and the sick$18.3bn +3.8%
Assistance to veterans and dependants$11.4bn −15.4%
General administration$6.1bn +2.6%
Assistance for Indigenous Australians nec$3.5bn −10.1%
Other welfare programs$1.9bn +2.9%
Other purposes$163.6bn +9.7%
General purpose inter-government transactionsUntied payments to state, territory and local governments, which they spend as they choose. Payments tied to a purpose, such as hospitals or schools, are counted under that function instead.$111.1bn +2.9%
GST entitlement Budget Paper No. 3The states' share of GST revenue plus the Australian Government's top-up to the GST pool.$104.2bn +7.2%
HFE transition payments Budget Paper No. 3The "No Worse Off" guarantee: top-ups so that no state receives less GST than it would have under the previous distribution system. Extended to 2029-30.$5.6bn +9.9%
Financial Assistance Grant program Budget Paper No. 3Untied grants to local councils, paid through the states. $2.9 billion of the 2026-27 funding was paid early, in 2025-26.$724m −84.4%
Other general revenue assistance Budget Paper No. 3ACT municipal services and royalty payments.$482m +1.5%
Not itemised in Budget Paper No. 3 reconciliationThe difference between this sub-function in Budget Paper No. 1 and the amounts Budget Paper No. 3 lists for it.$37m
Public debt interestInterest on Australian Government Securities. Budget Paper No. 1 expects it to rise each year to 2029-30 as debt servicing costs grow.$31.9bn +15.4%
Nominal superannuation interestInterest that accrues on the unfunded superannuation owed to current and former Australian Government employees, including the military. It is an accounting expense, calculated at a 5.0% discount rate from 2026-27.$15.9bn +7.3%
Contingency reserveAmounts not yet assigned to an entity: an allowance for estimates being revised up, decisions taken but not yet announced, items kept confidential for commercial or national security reasons, and an offset for expected underspends.$3.9bn –
Natural disaster reliefPayments to the states under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, mostly for disasters that have already happened. No provision is made for future disasters, so the estimate falls each year.$865m −70.5%
Health$136.9bn +7.8%
Medical services and benefits$47.2bn +5.4%
Assistance to the states for public hospitals$37.5bn +10.5%
Pharmaceutical benefits and services$24.6bn +5.7%
Health services$19.1bn +13.8%
General administration$5.5bn −3.5%
Hospital servicesMostly Australian Government funding to the states and territories for veterans' hospital services.$1.6bn +27.8%
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health$1.4bn +10.3%
Education$57.3bn −11.7%
Schools$34.4bn +4.2%
Non-government schools$21.4bn +4.2%
Government schools$13.0bn +4.3%
Higher education$12.7bn +5.1%
Student assistance$6.1bn −61.6%
Vocational and other education$2.9bn +5.6%
School education - specific funding$936m −1.0%
General administration$351m −0.3%
Defence$52.1bn −1.5%
General public services$32.5bn −7.0%
Financial and fiscal affairs$10.4bn +1.6%
Foreign affairs and economic aid$8.3bn −18.1%
Government superannuation benefits$5.9bn −0.6%
General research$4.5bn −1.9%
Legislative and executive affairs$2.0bn −6.0%
General services$1.4bn −28.0%
Transport and communication$15.3bn −9.4%
Road transport$9.9bn +8.7%
Rail transport$2.7bn −46.2%
Communication$1.3bn +3.7%
Sea transport$654m +1.2%
Air transport$426m −20.2%
Other transport and communication$348m −2.5%
Fuel and energy$15.2bn −20.6%
Other economic affairs$13.8bn −6.1%
Immigration$4.0bn −12.0%
Other economic affairs nec$3.8bn +0.4%
Labour market assistance to job seekers and industry$2.8bn +10.1%
Vocational and industry training$1.9bn −24.4%
Industrial relations$1.1bn −1.0%
Tourism and area promotion$189m −4.5%
Housing and community amenities$11.5bn +29.7%
Housing$7.2bn +64.9%
Environment protection$2.6bn +9.4%
Urban and regional development$1.6bn −21.5%
Public order and safety$9.7bn +1.1%
Other public order and safety$7.5bn +0.5%
Courts and legal services$2.2bn +3.3%
Recreation and culture$6.3bn +5.1%
Arts and cultural heritage$2.3bn +0.6%
Broadcasting$1.9bn +2.2%
Sport and recreation$1.2bn +30.9%
National estate and parks$821m −4.4%
Mining, manufacturing and construction$5.6bn +3.8%
Agriculture, forestry and fishing$4.7bn +0.7%
General administration$1.5bn −2.1%
Natural resources development$1.3bn +2.8%
Fishing, horticulture and other agriculture$551m −10.1%
Rural assistance$434m −2.0%
Grains industry$387m +17.6%
Cattle, sheep and pig industry$326m +3.8%
Wool industry$73m +30.4%
General assistance not allocated to specific industries$65m +22.6%
Dairy industry$58m −1.7%
Sub-functions: Budget Paper No. 1, Statement 6, Appendix A. Where a sub-function is itemised from Budget Paper No. 3, any part it doesn’t cover is shown as its own row.
2025-26: budgeted and spent
Total expenses in 2025-26 were $812.1bn, against $785.7bn estimated in the 2025-26 Budget: a difference of +$26.4bn (+3.4%). By the next Budget, the estimate for the year was $812.1bn.
| Function | Budget 2025-26 Budget |
Revised next Budget |
Actual Final Budget Outcome |
Difference actual less Budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social security and welfare | $291.0bn | $297.8bn | $294.4bn | +$3.4bn +1.2% |
| Other purposes | $149.7bn | $149.2bn | $153.5bn | +$3.8bn +2.5% |
| Health | $124.8bn | $127.0bn | $128.0bn | +$3.2bn +2.6% |
| Education | $54.0bn | $65.0bn | $64.6bn | +$10.6bn +19.5% |
| Defence | $51.5bn | $52.9bn | $54.1bn | +$2.6bn +5.1% |
| General public services | $31.4bn | $35.0bn | $34.5bn | +$3.1bn +9.9% |
| Fuel and energy | $19.2bn | $19.2bn | $20.2bn | +$1.0bn +5.3% |
| Transport and communication | $16.6bn | $16.9bn | $17.9bn | +$1.3bn +8.1% |
| Other economic affairs | $13.6bn | $14.7bn | $14.1bn | +$577m +4.3% |
| Public order and safety | $9.1bn | $9.6bn | $9.4bn | +$256m +2.8% |
| Housing and community amenities | $9.0bn | $8.8bn | $7.6bn | −$1.3bn −14.8% |
| Recreation and culture | $5.9bn | $6.0bn | $6.0bn | +$84m +1.4% |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | $4.4bn | $4.7bn | $4.0bn | −$403m −9.1% |
| Mining, manufacturing and construction | $5.5bn | $5.4bn | $3.7bn | −$1.8bn −33.2% |
| Total expenses | $785.7bn | $812.1bn | $812.1bn | +$26.4bn +3.4% |
Budget estimates of other purposes include the contingency reserve, an allowance for decisions not yet announced and for spending that tends to come in under estimate. Outcomes have no such allowance, because spending is recorded under the function where it happened. The Final Budget Outcome reports actuals for the whole of government only, so portfolio and entity pages show estimates. Sources: 2025-26 Budget Paper No. 1 – Estimates of expenses by function; 2026-27 Budget Paper No. 1 – Estimates of expenses by function; Final Budget Outcome 2025-26 – Table A.1, expenses by function. How these compare.