‘So stingy’: Why Australia is sliding on this vital global ranking

March 28, 2026 — 10:30am

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Imagine the federal budget was $100. More than a third of that, about $37, would be spent on social security and welfare including the aged pension, assistance for families and support for the disabled.

Health would take up another $16 – most of it allocated to Medicare and the federal government’s contribution to public hospitals.

Other big-ticket items are federal education funding at $7 and defence on $6.60. The remaining $33 is spent on a host of other purposes. But one item stands out for its stinginess: overseas aid, just 65 cents.

Labor came to power promising to “rebuild” Australia’s aid program following deep cuts made by the previous Coalition government. But the share of federal spending devoted to assisting poorer nations keeps shrinking.

When the Howard government left office in 2007, overseas aid accounted for $1.12 of every $100 spent by the federal government. By the time the Albanese government took office in 2022, that share had been slashed to 75 cents, and it is forecast to be just 60 cents by the end of the decade.

A telling illustration of the extent of the downgrade is to contrast overseas aid and defence spending, which speaks volumes about national priorities.

Between 1960 and 2015, defence spending was between five to eight times greater than overseas aid; in that period,........

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