The Cost of Defence Public Database
Note: Information in this database has been derived from sources reliable and accurate at the time of last update (February 2023). Readers should note that circumstances may change after a document is published, including as a consequence of changes to government policy or industry practice resulting from a document’s publication. The information is provided on the basis that readers are responsible for making their own assessment of the matters contained or discussed on this site.
This database makes available much of the data relating to the defence budget and defence spending that ASPI has accumulated since it was established in 2001. It aims to help researchers and organisations to develop their own analysis and visualisations of the defence portfolio.
The database amalgamates historical data from a broad range of sources including:
- Department of Defence portfolio budget statements (PBS) and portfolio additional estimates statements (PAES)
- Department of Defence annual reports
- Defence policy documents such as white papers and strategic updates
- Australian government budget papers
- Australian National Audit Office reports, in particular the annual Major Projects Report
The data is presented in Microsoft Excel files which are available for download. Some pre-made charts and graphics have also been generated as supplementary material.
Much of this data is presented and analysed in ASPI’s annual The Cost of Defence budget brief. You can read this year’s The Cost of Defence report here.
ASPI will update the data at key milestone during the year, such as publication of the PBS (usually May), PAES (January) and Defence annual report (October).
The following categories of data are available for download:
- Defence funding
- The Capital Program
- The Sustainment Program
- Personnel
- Flying Hours and Costs
- The Cost of Operations
- Defence Cooperation Program
- Shipbuilding
- External Data Sources
We will be progressively adding to the database and will include unclassified documents that may no longer be available online.
1Defence Funding
The following datasets are available for download:
- Total defence funding in nominal and real terms
- Total defence funding as a percentage of GDP
- Annual percentage growth in defence funding
Defence Funding: 2006-07 to 2029-30
Defence spending as share of government spending
- Total defence funding as a percentage of GDP
- Defence spending as a share of government expenses
- Defence spending as a share of government payments
- Historical breakdown between acquisition, sustainment and personnel spending
2The Capital Program
The following datasets are available for download:
- Contains the top-level funding for the main capital programs (e.g. equipment, facilities, ICT)
Project budgets and expenditure
- Contains all the data from Defence annual reports on project expenditure
3The Sustainment Program
The following datasets are available for download:
- Contains historical top-level sustainment spending broken down by group/service
Top 20/Top 30 sustainment products
- Contains the annual sustainment spend for the most expensive capabilities.
4Personnel
The following datasets are available for download:
- Total cost of Defence’s people
- Personnel numbers broken down by service
- The number of women in Defence broken down by service
- The number of indigenous personnel broken down by service
5Flying Hours and Costs
The following datasets are available for download:
6The Cost of Operations
The following datasets are available for download:
- Spending on operations, 1999-present
7Defence Cooperation Program
The following datasets are available for download:
Defence Cooperation Program budget
- Spending on the DCP broken down by region
8Shipbuilding
The following datasets are available for download:
- Annual spend on domestic shipbuilding programs
- Defence data on predicted workforce on domestic shipbuilding, broken down by program and state
9Defence Exports
External Data Sources
Department of Defence
- Defence Budget home page, link
- Portfolio Budget Statements
- Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements
- Defence Annual Reports, link
- Personnel statistics
- Actual expenditure on projects and sustainment lines
- Flying hours
- Financial statements
- Defence Freedom of Information disclosures: https://www.defence.gov.au/FOI/Decisions/DisclosureLog.asp
- 2020 Defence Strategic Update and 2020 Force Structure Plan: https://www.defence.gov.au/StrategicUpdate-2020/
Other government data
- Historical Australian Government Data (GDP, CPI etc… ), Department of Treasury: https://budget.gov.au/2019-20/content/bp1/index.htm
- Australian trade statistics, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: https://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/resources/trade-statistics/Pages/trade-statistics
- Australian National Audit Office reports on the Defence portfolio: https://www.anao.gov.au/work-program/portfolio/defence
Parliament
- Senate estimates hearings, link
- Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works, link
- Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, link
- Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, link
- Conducts inquiries that follow up Australian National Audit Office reports
Global economic indicators
- Time series data on IMF economic and financial indicators, International Monetary Fund: https://www.imf.org/en/Data
- World Bank data on economic and financial indicators, World Bank: https://data.worldbank.org/
Regional and global defence spending
- Trends in defence spending in the Asia-Pacific region, Defence Intelligence Organisation Defence Economic Trends: https://www.defence.gov.au/dio/publications.shtml
- Time series data on military spending of countries from 1949-2019, SIPRI Military Expenditure Database: https://sipri.org/databases/milex
- IISS Military Balance+ online database: https://www.iiss.org/publications/the-military-balance-plus
US Department of Defense budget documentation
- DoD Budget requests, Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller): https://comptroller.defense.gov/Budget-Materials/
- Includes all services
- Includes historical data
Defence exports/imports
- Stockholm International Peace Research Institute arms transfer database: https://sipri.org/databases/armstransfers
Author
About ASPI
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute was formed in 2001 as an independent, non-partisan think tank. Its core aim is to provide the Australian Government with fresh ideas on Australia's defence, security and strategic policy choices. ASPI is responsible for informing the public on a range of strategic issues, generating new thinking for government and harnessing strategic thinking internationally. ASPI's sources of funding are identified in our Annual Report, online at www.aspi.org.au and in the acknowledgements section of individual publications. ASPI remains independent in the content of the research and in all editorial judgements. It is incorporated as a company, and is governed by a Council with broad membership. ASPI's core values are collegiality, originality & innovation, quality & excellence and independence.
ASPI's publications - including this paper are not intended in any way to express or reflect the views of the Australian Government. The opinions and recommendations in this paper are published by ASPI to promote public debate and understanding of strategic and defence issues. They reflect the personal views of the author(s) and should not be seen as representing the formal position of ASPI on any particular issue.