Editing Australian Defence Force (section)

==Defence expenditure and procurement==
[[File:HMAS Hobart under construction April 2015.JPG|thumb|alt=Colour photograph of a large ship out of the water|The ''Hobart''-class destroyer {{HMAS|Hobart|DDG 39|6}} under construction in 2015]]

===Current expenditure===
{{See also|Australian federal budget}}
The Australian Government allocated {{AUD|34.7 billion}} to the Australian Defence Organisation in the 2017–18 financial year. This level of expenditure is equivalent to approximately 1.9% of Australian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 7.28% of total Australian Government expenditure. This was an increase in nominal terms from the {{AUD|32 billion}} allocated in the 2016–17 financial year which represented approximately 1.83% of GDP.{{sfn|Thomson|2016|pp=51–52}} In broad terms the Defence budget is divided into expenditure on personnel, operating costs and capital investment; in 2016–17 37% of expenditure was on personnel, 36% on operational costs and 27% on capital investments.{{sfn|Thomson|2017|p=42}} It is expected that by 2030 defence spending will account for 2.4% of GDP.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lyons |first=Kate |date=2024-02-20 |title=Australian navy overhaul to double surface fleet and add 'optionally crewed' warships |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/20/australian-navy-warship-surface-combatant-fleet-double-hunter-class-losv |access-date=2024-02-20 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Australia's defence expenditure is much larger in dollar terms to that of most countries in Australia's immediate region.{{sfn|Thomson|2017|p=180}} The share of GDP Australia spends on defence is also larger than that in most developed economies and major South-East Asian countries.<ref name="SIPRI GDP 31 Dec 2016" /> China allocates approximately the same proportion of GDP to Defence as Australia does, and has been rapidly increasing its nominal expenditure.{{sfn|Thomson|2017|pp=174–175}} The [[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]] has estimated that Australia's defence spending in 2017 was the 13th highest of any country in real terms.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.sipri.org/publications/2019/sipri-fact-sheets/trends-world-military-expenditure-2018|title=Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2018 &#124; SIPRI|website=www.sipri.org|date=April 2019|access-date=27 November 2019|archive-date=8 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200308193539/https://www.sipri.org/publications/2019/sipri-fact-sheets/trends-world-military-expenditure-2018|url-status=live|last1=Wezeman|first1=Siemon T.|last2=Tian|first2=Nan|last3=Fleurant|first3=Aude|last4=Kuimova|first4=Alexandra|last5=Wezeman|first5=Pieter D.}}</ref> As a proportion of GDP Australia's defence spending ranks as 49th of the countries for which data is available.<ref name="SIPRI GDP 31 Dec 2016">{{cite web|title=SIPRI Military Expenditure Database|url=https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex|website=Share of GDP table|publisher=Stockholm International Peace Research Institute|access-date=31 December 2016|archive-date=2 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502184705/https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Long term procurement projects===

The 2016–17 budget forecasts that defence expenditure will increase to $42&nbsp;billion in 2020–21, which is estimated to represent 2.03% of GDP.{{sfn|Thomson|2016|pp=51–52}} This reflects a bipartisan commitment to increase defence expenditure to 2% of GDP.{{sfn|Thomson|2017|p=7}} The ''2016 Defence White Paper'' included a commitment to further increases in spending beyond this time, with nominal expenditure being projected to be around $58.8&nbsp;billion in 2020–25; the [[Australian Strategic Policy Institute]] has estimated that this would represent about 2.16% of GDP.{{sfn|Thomson|2016|pp=139–140}}

The ''Integrated Investment Program'' that was released alongside the ''2016 Defence White Paper'' sets out the ADF's long term capital programs.{{sfn|Thomson|2016|p=141}} This document is the successor to the ''Defence Capability Plans'' which were regularly produced from 2000.<ref>Thomson (2011), p. vi</ref> The total value of the projects in the Integrated Investment Program over the period to 2025–26 is $162&nbsp;billion.{{sfn|Thomson|2016|p=141}}