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released: 21 Nov 2007 media release

'Welfare expenditure Australia' 2005-06 provides estimates of welfare expenditure in Australia for the period 1998-99 to 2005-06.Welfare expenditure comprises cash payments and expenditure for services specifically directed to families and children, older people, people with disabilities, and other groups such as widows, refugees and migrants. In 2005-06 this expenditure totalled $90 billion, $61 billion being for cash benefits and the remaining $29 billion for welfare services. Funding of welfare services by the eight state and territory governments are compared.This publication also contains estimates of social tax expenditures by the Australian Government and a special chapter on residential aged care expenditure. This report is an important reference for policy makers and those working in the community services sector.

ISSN 1323-5850; ISBN 978 1 74024 735 1; Cat. no. HWE 38; 84pp.; $29.00

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Full publication

Publication table of contents

  • Preliminary material (176KB PDF)
    • Half title and verso pages
    • Title page and verso
    • Contents
    • Preface
    • Acknowledgments
    • Abbreviations
    • Symbols
    • Executive summary
  • Sections (306KB PDF)
    1. Introduction
      • Background
        • Scope
        • Data sources
      • Revisions to previously published estimates
        • Australian Government
        • State, territory and local governments
        • Concessions
        • Non-government sector
        • Child care
    2. Welfare expenditure by welfare service categories
    3. Expenditure and funding for welfare services
      • Expenditure on welfare services
      • Funding of welfare services
        • Government funding by welfare service categories
        • Funding by the non-government sector
    4. Concessions to households
      • Concessions through state and territory governments and local government authorities
      • Australian Government tax expenditures
        • Concessional taxation of superannuation
        • Other tax expenditures for older people
        • Tax expenditures for families and children
    5. Classification of residential aged care expenditure
      • Background
      • History
      • Residential aged care expenditures: estimating the distribution of expenditure across different service needs
        • Method of calculation
      • Rationale for and implications of classifying all residential care expenditure as welfare services
    6. Technical notes
      • Government Purpose Classification
        • Welfare services
        • Cash benefits
      • Eligibility for Pensioner Concession, Health Care, and Commonwealth Seniors Health Cards
        • Pensioner Concession Card
        • Health Care Card
        • Commonwealth Seniors Health Card
      • Key data sources for state and territory government expenditure and funding
      • 1998-99 to 2003-04 data revisions
  • End matter (194KB PDF)
    • Appendixes
      • Welfare services expenditure
      • Residential Classification Scale questions and weightings
      • Population data
    • References
    • List of tables
    • List of figures

Recommended citation

AIHW 2007. Welfare expenditure Australia 2005-06. Cat. no. HWE 38. Canberra: AIHW.