Economic Indicators and Past Budget Stances (Unit 4 Topic 2)  

How to use the interactive

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Every year, the Australian Government spends money and collects revenue. The gap between the two is the underlying cash balance — a surplus when revenue exceeds spending, a deficit when it doesn't. This tool tracks that balance across 27 years, from the Howard surpluses through the GFC and COVID to today.

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Tap any year card, or click a bar on the chart, to open that year up. The sidebar shows you the numbers — the balance in dollars, its size relative to GDP, unemployment and growth — while the panel below explains what was happening and why the government took the stance it did.

 

Why two measures? The dollar figure tells you the raw size; the percentage of GDP tells you whether it was actually large for the economy at the time. A $27bn deficit in 2008–09 and a $27.6bn deficit in 2024–25 look almost identical in dollars — but the economy has more than doubled, so the second is far smaller in real terms. Toggle the % of GDP line on and off to see the difference.

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Watch for the pattern: surpluses when the economy is strong, deficits when it isn't. That's countercyclical fiscal policy — and it's the concept this whole chart is built around.