According to the Report on government services 2006, government expenditure on justice in Australia totalled $8.4 billion in 2004-05. Justice expenditure includes federal and state government expenditure on corrective services, civil courts, criminal courts and police services. This amounts to approximately nine percent of total spending by all Australian governments, a slight decrease on the 12 percent recorded in 1996-97, when the current format of reporting on government expenditure was adopted. Other major areas of government expenditure include education (37% of total expenditure in 2004-05), health (31%) and community services (16%). Overall, the proportion of total government expenditure devoted to each of the different sectors, including health, education, community services, justice, housing and emergency management, has changed relatively little over the past nine years.
Government expenditure by sector, 2004–05 [see attached PDF for pie chart]
Source
- Steering Committee for the Provision of Government Services 2006. Report on government services 2006. Canberra: Productivity Commission