Appendix B: Specific Purpose Payments
This appendix provides information on Australian Government Specific Purpose Payments (SPPs) to and through the States and direct to local government. This includes SPPs for current and capital purposes, together with details of Australian Government advances (loans) to the States, including new advances, interest on advances, and repayments by the States. Most of these advances were funded from borrowings made on behalf of the States under previous Australian Loan Council arrangements.
Data in this appendix have been prepared on an accrual basis. The tables report payments made by the Australian Government general government sector.
Table B1 presents SPPs on a functional basis for the period 2003-04 to 2007-08. Payments are aggregated according to like objectives and purposes. Payments are further divided into those paid to the States and those paid through the States to be passed on to local government and others. Payments through the States are indicated in the table with an (*) and separate totals for payments to the States and payments through the States are presented in the summary at the end of the table.
Tables B2 and B3 present estimates of the state-by-state distributions of the SPPs listed in Table B1, for the years 2003-04 and 2004-05 respectively. Again, payments through the States are indicated with an (*) and separate totals for payments to the States and payments through the States are presented in the summary at the end of the table.
As in previous years, distribution of some payments depends on state governments participating in particular programmes or approving particular projects. For a few programmes, final decisions on the distribution of payments among the States have still to be taken by the Australian Government; for others, the final distribution for 2004-05 will not be settled until further data becomes available. In most cases, provisional or notional estimates of the distribution are included. This does not commit the Australian Government to a particular project or indicate that a State has agreed to participate in the programme.
Tables B4, B5 and B6 present estimates of Australian Government SPPs direct to local government authorities. Table B4 presents estimates on a functional basis for the period 2003-04 to 2007-08. Tables B5 and B6 present estimates of state-by-state distributions of payments direct to local government for 2003-04 and 2004-05.
Aged care services purchased by the Australian Government from local government agencies were reported as current and capital payments direct to local government in Tables B4, B5 and B6 in 2003-04 and previous years. Following a review of the nature of these payments, they are no longer classified as SPPs and, from 2004-05, are reported as Australian Government own purpose expenses (see Budget Paper No 1, Budget Strategy and Outlook 2004-05, Statement 6, Social Security and Welfare function, Assistance to the Aged sub-function). This reclassification does not represent a reduction in Australian Government assistance to local government.