GSTInterest on the debt
Projected by GST from Finance and Budget figures; not a government figure.
Interest paid by year
Cash interest paid by the general government sector, each financial year.
Year to date from each Monthly Financial Statement, compared with the same point last year. There is no June statement.
Interest compared
Context
Who borrowed when
Interest paid this year is on every bond still on issue, whichever government issued it. Many bonds run for 10 years or more. The table shows the government in office and the face value of Australian Government Securities (AGS) on issue at the 30 June nearest each change of government.
Who sets the rate
The Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) sells bonds by tender, so the interest rate on each new bond is set by what investors bid. Market yields follow the expected path of the Reserve Bank's cash rate, inflation expectations, global rates and the term premium, the extra investors ask to lend for longer. A Treasury Bond pays a fixed rate until it matures, so changes in rates flow through slowly as old bonds are replaced. Treasury Notes are short-term and reprice sooner, and the cost of indexed bonds moves with inflation. More on the RBA.
Cash compared with accrual
Interest paid (cash) is counted when coupons are actually paid, so it jumps in the months most bonds pay. Interest expense (accrual) is counted as the cost builds up, and also includes other financing costs such as the cost of student loans not expected to be repaid and interest on leases. That is why the accrual figure is higher.
States and territories
State and territory interest costs are not on this page yet. Each state's figure is in its own Budget papers and has to be read by hand.
- It starts at the latest Monthly Financial Statement's year-to-date interest paid, then adds the Budget's full-year estimate spread across the year by the average monthly pattern of 2021-22 to 2025-26. This is the same method as the main spending counter; the rules are on Assumptions.
- Cash interest is lumpy: most bond coupons are paid in a few months (October, November, April, May), so the counter speeds up and slows down through the year.
- Every projected figure is labelled. Actual figures come from the Department of Finance and the Final Budget Outcome; estimates from the 2026-27 Budget. Sources and downloads: Data and interest_paid_v2.csv, interest_expense_v2.csv.