The Statement this year includes information on the allocation of Commonwealth funds to the various functions of government. The GFS framework is a specialised statistical system designed to support economic analysis of the public sector. The framework allows comprehensive assessments to be made of the economic impact of government. The functional classification system brings together expenses and net capital investment directed towards like objectives or purposes. It facilitates presentation of information on the basic purposes of government activities and of the resources devoted by the Commonwealth to those purposes.
Expenses represent the full costs of an activity, as opposed to the direct cash costs.
Recording estimated expenses is in accord with international practice in government budgeting and consistent with worldwide private sector practices.