That figure is most likely hypothecated by Govt at birth when our parents sign our birth certificate, which is then registered as a human resource that is used as collateral for "public" debt. Like any big business, Govt has basically three sets of books, the budget, actual figures for the year, and the complete annual financial record that includes revenue from all sources, plus assets. The value of a life depends on various factors like whether they're married, age, sex, racial origin, etc. Basically all the stupid questions you have to answer when filling out Govt forms and censuses. Those factors enable Govt to keep a track of the value of all their assets which include you, me, and our kids. Businesses, pets and cars are also registered, probably for the same reason. Now, the really tricky part is that we are what you'd call plant, income producing assets, and we are registered as collateral for public debt that's incurred by Govt, supposedly on our behalf. Govt rack up mountains of public debt with us liable for repayment, while they shift profitable public assets over onto the Govt owned corporate books where the profits remain with the GOC, instead of going into consolidated revenue. So, in short, that's the highest value of a normal Australian, but I doubt it'd be the price they'd put on someone like Dick.