Big dip in government ad spending

A new report shows a sharp drop in federal government spending on campaign advertising.

Federal government campaign advertising spending has dropped to its lowest level in 13 years.

The Department of Finance reported on Friday a total of $100.1 million was spent in 2016/17.

The biggest cost was the $34.8 million defence force recruiting campaign, followed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics' 2016 Census campaign, which was worth $19.2 million.