Phillips Consulting revises 2026 index using latest state accounts

Phillips Consulting Limited has released a revised 2026 State Performance Index, incorporating newly available FY2025 audited financial statements and changes to the assessment methodology. The revised index supersedes the edition published on July 23, 2026, and is now the definitive 2026 version. The initial assessment had used FY2024 audited accounts, which were the latest available when it was prepared.

The company said a subsequent review identified areas where the model and interpretation of results could be strengthened. It said the model was audited, the issues corrected and the results recalculated. The revised assessment replaces the previous single Momentum Index with two measures.

A Performance Snapshot shows a state’s current position, while Rank Trajectory records how its ranking has changed across the 2024, 2025 and 2026 editions. Phillips Consulting said movement was now measured through changes in performance rank rather than differences in scores because the editions used different score scales. The financial assessment now uses FY2025 accounts.

Debt sustainability is assessed using both debt per capita and debt relative to state revenue. The treatment of financial transparency has also changed: the index considers when audited accounts were published in relation to the statutory deadline. States without qualifying audited accounts are left unscored rather than assigned zero.

The company said this prevents missing data from being interpreted as a performance result. Phillips Consulting said future editions would be published after July 31 each year, allowing them to use audited accounts for the immediately preceding financial year when expected to be available.