Federal budget collapses into bureaucratic sink hole

Tuesday 7 January 2025

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the public sector pay bill rose by 8% nationally in 2023-24 to $232 billion.

The federal government’s wage bill rose by 10% to $37.3 billion in 2023-24, while the number of federal public servants grew by more than 4% to 365,400.

Growth in federal and state public service

Last financial year, only the ACT had a larger increase in public servant wages than the federal government, with expenses rising by a whopping 15%, owing primarily to increased staff.

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.