University funding 1996 - 2010

This paper examines time series data on Commonwealth Government funding for universities from 1996 to 2010. It draws on annual and triennial higher education funding reports released by DIISRTE’s predecessors, research income data, Science, Research and Innovation Budget Tables and annual Higher Education Finance Statistics. The paper examines recurrent grants, research funding and capital funding over time in both nominal and real terms, and presents figures for aggregate funding and average funding per Commonwealth-supported EFTSL. Over the period covered, there were major changes in university funding. As a result, there is little consistency in funding programs or in reporting and data definitions over the years. Time series constructed for this paper represent the best available estimate of broad funding aggregates according to consistent definitions