People, skills & work
The capability to grow, build, teach, care and innovate. Paid work and unpaid care both sustain the country.
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Understand it. Question it. Shape it.
An open-source platform for Australians to understand how our country works, examine how it’s managed and use evidence and shared expertise to build better plans together.
Explore AustraliaAssets & capability
People, natural systems, infrastructure and investment give Australia the capacity to produce, provide services and build for the future.
The capability to grow, build, teach, care and innovate. Paid work and unpaid care both sustain the country.
Minerals, energy resources, agricultural land, water and living ecosystems. Extraction creates income and can leave costs and obligations.
Roads, ports, energy networks, water systems, schools and hospitals. Their ownership may be public, private or shared.
Businesses produce and sell; households and institutions save, lend and invest here and overseas. These funds have different owners.
Products & customers
Australian businesses supply customers here and overseas with resources, food, manufactured goods and services. Export receipts go first to the selling businesses and institutions.
Calendar 2025 · DFAT, June 2026 · goods and services
The $6.9b difference is the trade balance, not government profit. These totals cover international trade, not all sales within Australia.
Income & accounts
Follow income through businesses, households and public accounts to see how it becomes wages, investment, services and returns.
People, businesses and public bodies pay for goods and services.
Revenue helps meet wages, supplies, investment, finance and tax obligations.
Taxes, royalties, fees and other receipts enter public accounts.
Budgets fund services, infrastructure and payments to people and organisations.
Includes $839.0b in taxes and $183.4b in other revenue, after transfers within the sector are removed. This is the public account, not the income of the entire economy.
Source: ABS Government Finance Statistics, accrual accountsRecipients & returns
Follow the money to households, businesses, public services and investors. Ask who receives the returns and how they are shared.
Wages, business earnings, investment income, pensions and other government payments support household incomes.
Payments for goods and services become business revenue, which also has to cover costs and obligations.
Taxes, royalties, fees and other income fund public spending.
Shareholders receive dividends and lenders receive interest. These recipients can be Australian or overseas, including through investment and superannuation funds.
Capital & connections
Australia draws on domestic savings, public investment and overseas finance. It also relies on traded goods, services and supply networks.
Households, superannuation funds, businesses, governments and overseas investors hold different assets and financial interests.
Explore investors and ownershipFuel, equipment, technology and services connect Australia to overseas suppliers. Understanding those dependencies helps us examine resilience and plan ahead.
Explore capacity and dependenciesManagement & accountability
Authority is shared across governments, public institutions and private organisations. Start with the role and level of government, then identify the people responsible.
Elected representatives, parliaments and governments make laws, set policy and authorise public spending across federal, state and local responsibilities.
Departments, agencies, councils and service providers administer and deliver. Company boards and operators make decisions within private businesses.
Parliamentary committees, auditors, regulators, courts and ombudsmen have distinct oversight roles. Responsibility must be tied to the decision and its date.
Outcomes for people
The national picture includes living standards, access to services, opportunity and the condition of our environment. Compare results across people and places to see where Australia is doing well and where it needs to improve.
Income, housing costs, wealth and financial stress shape what households can afford.
Households and living standardsHealth, housing and education matter through who can access them and what they deliver.
Services and unmet needPay, useful skills, employment and unpaid care affect people’s ability to participate.
Work, skills and careExamine First Nations rights, participation and influence over the decisions that affect communities.
First Nations and decision-makingWater, ecosystems, energy and future obligations affect wellbeing now and over time.
Natural systems and obligationsAsk which people and places a measure covers, how it changes over time and what remains missing.
Examine the reported resultsRead the collected accounts on money, trade, ownership, taxes, households, work, services, natural assets and national capacity. Each keeps its dates, sources and unanswered questions.