There was a $57 million increase on the previous year, when $100.1 million was spent on government advertising campaigns. That year included $19.2 million on the 2016 census.

Defence was again the biggest spender, with $30.1 million going to recruitment advertising and $16 million spent on "defence industry skills and jobs".

Outside of Defence, the postal survey was the big ticket item, with an advertising budget of $19 million, of which $1.3 million was on ethnic media and $400,000 on Indigenous media.

The government spent $11.1 million advertising its new national child care plan, in a campaign that informed parents and child care providers that subsidies would change from being paid directly to families to providers. Families were required to register to be eligible for the new system.

Keeping energy prices down and providing "fair dinkum power" have been key tenets of the Coalition government's pitch to voters, with $6.9 million spent on the "Energy for the Future" campaign.

According to the report from the Department of Finance the campaign was "developed to inform Australians about the energy challenges facing the nation, and provide practical information to consumers on how they can better manage their energy and reduce their energy bills".

Some $7.4 million was spent on advertising "quality schools reform," part of the government's fraught Gonski 2.0 reforms.

Home Affairs spent $4.7 million on advertising its strict border controls, including $1.7 million on the "You Will be Turned Back" campaign, almost half of which was spent on ethnic media.

While the $157 million price tag is an increase on the year before, it is below the $174.7 million spent in 2015-16, with $43 million spent on the last election. The two years before that recorded advertising spends of $107.1 million and $106.5 million.

Encouraging Australians to exercise also cost the government a lot, with $8 million spent on a campaign targeted at people older than 45 "to plan and act for a healthy future".

The Girls Make Your Move campaign, focused on women between 12 and 21 years old, cost $4.5 million.

Domestic violence was targeted through the Stop It At The Start campaign, where $8 million was spent on the message that started in April 2016.

Advertising spend on government policies, as opposed to political advertising paid for from party coffers, is reported annually, including the types of advertising.

The report shows the changing ways governments are communicating with the public - in 2011-12, digital advertising made up just 14 per cent of the overall government advertising spend, while television was 42 per cent.

This year digital spending made up 35 per cent of the budget, while television dropped to 38 per cent.

Only $600,000 was spent on magazine advertising, less than any other form of advertising.

Overall $8.5 million was spent on advertising in ethnic media sources while $3.9 million was spent on advertising in Indigenous media sources.