National and state/territory estimates of capital expenditure and capital consumption for 2007–08 were derived from the GFS series published by the ABS. The system of GFS provides details of revenues, expenses, cash flows and assets and liabilities of the Australian public sector and comprises units which are owned by the Commonwealth, state and local governments. The Australian system of GFS is designed to provide statistical information on public sector entities in Australia classified in a uniform and systematic way. The system of GFS is based on international standards set out in the System of National Accounts 1993 (SNA93) and the International Monetary Fund's Government Finance Statistics Manual 2001 (GFSM 2001). The main influence on the accuracy of the ABS Government Finance Statistics data is non-sampling error. Non-sampling error arises from inaccuracies in collecting, recording and processing the data. The most significant of these errors are misreporting of data and processing errors. Every effort is made by the ABS to minimise error by working closely with data providers, training processing staff and having efficient data processing procedures. For practical reasons the ABS does not attempt to cover all economic activity of the public sector. Under-coverage can arise because units are omitted or because some activities are not covered. This only occurs when the economic activity of these units is relatively insignificant. Revisions are made as required as a result of new and updated information available from providers. |