After a strong recovery last year, business investment has faltered, with education and trading, arts and recreation, and retail trade falling furthest.
According to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data on private new capital expenditure, capex of A$33.6 billion in the March quarter was down 0.3 per cent compared with the December quarter.
There were falls in both the mining and non-mining sectors over the quarter.
New capex rose 4.5 per cent year-on-year.
Of the total, expenditure of $17.3 billion on buildings and structures was down 1.7 per cent over the quarter, while expenditure of $16.2 billion on equipment, plants and machinery was up 1.2 per cent.
Investment in buildings and structures has not recovered to pre-COVID levels, while investment in equipment, plant and machinery is now above pre-COVID levels.
Among industry sectors, the biggest falls over the quarter were in education and training (down 17.1 per cent), arts and recreation services (down 16.3 per cent), retail trade (down 11.4 per cent) and construction (down 7.1 per cent).
The sectors where capex increased include electricity, gas, water and waste (up 9.9 per cent), financial and insurance services (up 7 per cent), wholesale trade (up 6.1 per cent) and professional, scientific and technical services (up 5.4 per cent).