This paper presents an assessment of the development of fiscal federalism in Australia over the two
decades from 1972 to 1992. This period covers the administrations of four Prime Ministers, Whitlam, Fraser,
Hawke and Keating, which witnessed phenomenal change in the functioning of the Australian federal system.
It is argued that while fiscal dominance of the Commonwealth remained a feature throughout this period,
fiscal centralisation reached new heights during the Hawke-Keating period of 1983-1992.