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How much is currently spent on health in Australia?

Expenditure on health in Australia was estimated to be $130.3 billion in 2010–11, 9.3% of  gross domestic product (GDP) or $5,796 per Australian.


How do we compare with other countries?

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) definitions, Australia’s health expenditure as a proportion of GDP was 8.8%, which was 0.6 percentage points lower than the median in 2010 for member states of the OECD. Australia spent a similar proportion of GDP on health as Finland, Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic. United States health expenditure as a proportion of GDP in 2010 was the highest at 17.6%.


Which areas of health have the highest spending?

Spending on public hospital services in 2010–11 was estimated at $38.9 billion or 31.5% of total recurrent health expenditure. Expenditure on medical services at $22.5 billion, or 18.2% of recurrent expenditure, and medications, at $18.4 billion (14.9%), were other major contributors to total recurrent health spending.


Which areas of health spending are growing the fastest?

Increased spending on public hospital services of $2.2 billion in real terms was the largest component of the overall increase in spending in 2010–11, accounting for just over one-third (35.4%) of the increase in recurrent funding that year, followed by spending on medications which grew by $2.1 billion.


How does government health spending compare with that of non-government spending?

Governments funded 69.1% of total health expenditure during 2010–11. The non-government sector (households, private health insurance funds and other private sector organisations) funded 30.9%


How much is spent on the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and how does this compare with spending on other Australians?

In 2008–09, health expenditure for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was estimated at $3,700 million, amounting to 3.5% of Australia’s total health expenditure in that year. Average health expenditure per Indigenous Australian was $6,787, compared with $4,876 for each non-Indigenous Australian. This represents a per person ratio of 1.39—that is, $1.39 was spent on health per Indigenous Australian for every $1.00 spent per non-Indigenous Australian.


How much is spent on public health?

In 2010–11, spending on public health programs was estimated as $1.9 billion or 1.6% of recurrent health expenditure.


How much is currently spent on welfare?

In 2008–09, total welfare spending was $136.6 billion, of which $94.4 billion (69%) was cash payments and $42.2 billion (31%) was for welfare services.