Australia’s High Fiscal Spending ‘Unsustainable,’ Report Shows

Australian governments are spending at an “unsustainable” pace and public debt is set to rise further, leaving the economy more vulnerable to future shocks, a report by the e61 Institute and McKinnon found.

As a share of gross domestic product, state and federal government expenditure swelled to 38.2% in 2024 from 34.7% in the early 2000s, according to the authors, led by former Productivity Commission chair Michael Brennan.