Hospitals
Hospital resources
These pages present information about hospitals in Australia – covering expenditure on hospitals, funding of hospitals, and hospital staffing. They also describe public hospitals in terms of the number and types of hospitals, availability of beds, and the types of specialised services provided.
Based on the latest available data:
Sources: AIHW Health Expenditure Australia 2022–23 & AIHW NPHED 2023–24
Spending on hospital services
In 2022–23, an estimated $107.1 billion was spent on hospital services in Australia – $85.6 billion was spent providing public hospital services and $21.5 billion was spent on private hospital services.
A high proportion of expenditure on public hospital services (95%) came from state/territory governments and the Australian government.
By contrast, 63% of private hospital funding came from non‑government sources (including health insurance and individuals).
Hospitals and average available beds
In 2023–24, there were 704 public hospitals in Australia, with 67,300 available beds.
From 2022–23 to 2023–24, the number of available beds per 1,000 people in public hospitals increased slightly from 2.50 to 2.52 per 1,000 people. The number of available beds per 1,000 people has remained relatively stable over the previous 5 year period, from 2019–20 to 2023–24.
As of 10 September 2025, there were 633 private hospitals in Australia according to the List of declared hospitals, and in 2016–17 (the most recent year for which comprehensive data are available), 34,300 beds were provided.
Hospital workforce
Nationally, 467,000 full-time equivalent staff (FTE) were employed in providing public hospital services in 2023–24. About 42% of staff were Nurses (194,000) and 13% were Salaried medical officers (59,600).
For private hospitals in Australia, in 2016–17 (the most recent year for which data are available), 69,300 FTE staff were employed.
Specialised service units
Public hospitals provide a range of specialised units that deliver specific types of services for admitted and non-admitted patients.
In 2023–24, the most common specialised service units in public hospitals were Domiciliary care units (home-based care, provided by 332 hospitals), followed by Nursing home care units (281 hospitals). There were 89 Intensive care units (level III and above) and 30 Neonatal intensive care units (level III and above).