This release contains statistics on expenditure on education by the general government sector for the period 2000-01 to 2005-06. Government operating expenses on education by all levels of general government totalled $49,741m in 2005-06, $27,477m of which was spent on primary and secondary education and a further $18,415m on tertiary education (universities and TAFE). This release contains statistics on expenditure on education by the general government sector for the period 2000-01 to 2005-06. These data are presented on an accrual accounting basis and are taken from the system of Government Finance Statistics (GFS).

Government expenditure on education refers to expenditure on all levels of education, such as pre-school, primary, secondary, university, and technical and further education (TAFE), by the general government sector. It excludes expenditure on courses provided by non-educational institutions, such as the vocational training programs of private businesses.

The summary tables included present government operating expenses on education by level of government, by purpose (i.e. by type of education), and by economic transaction (i.e. by type of expenditure) for the period 2000-01 to 2005-06.

Government operating expenses on education by all levels of general government totalled $49,741m in 2005-06, $27,477m of which was spent on primary and secondary education and a further $18,415m on tertiary education (universities and TAFE). Employee expenses of $27,383m accounted for 55.1% of total educational expenses with the remaining 44.9% being on non-employee expenses ($11,402m), depreciation ($1,963m), and transfer expenses ($8,993m).