The Productivity Commission has released its Report on Government Services 2012, finding a ‘number of improvements’ in the contents of the seventeenth edition of the report.

 

“Everyone relies on government services at different stages of their lives, and the services in this Report are particularly important for the more disadvantaged members of society. Improving government services is important socially, but also economically. Governments spent over $164 billion on the services covered in this year's Report, equivalent to around 12.5 per cent of Australia’s national income,” Chairman of the Commission, Gary Banks, said.

 

There are a number of improvements in this year's Report, including the introduction of sector summaries in all broad reporting areas (Early childhood, education and training, Justice, Emergency management, Health, Community services, and Housing and homelessness), further data quality information, extended time series data for many indicators, and inclusion of brief case studies for selected service areas.

 

Reporting on the delivery of mainstream services to Indigenous Australians is a priority for this Report. For example, this edition includes additional school education reporting on learning outcomes for recent student cohorts, by Indigenous status.

 

The full report can be found here