Spending on hospitals

Expenditure on hospitals reflects the funds spent to pay for the clinical and non-clinical services they provide.

Both public and private hospitals receive funding from the Australian Government, state and territory governments, private health insurance funds and out-of-pocket payments by individuals. However, the relative contributions made by these sources of funds varies across the sectors, reflecting the types of patients they treat, the services they provide, and the administrative arrangements under which they operate.

How much was spent on hospitals?

Public hospitals

• In 2022–23, recurrent expenditure (excluding capital) on Australia’s public hospitals was $85.6 billion.
• State and territory governments and the Australian Government funded 95% of public hospital expenditure in 2022–23.
• Between 2018–19 and 2022–23, expenditure on public hospitals increased by an average of 5.3% each year in real terms (adjusted for inflation).

Private hospitals

• In 2022–23, recurrent expenditure on Australia’s private hospitals was $21.5 billion.
• Most private hospital care was funded by the non-government sector (63%, $13.6 billion) including private health insurance and out-of-pocket payments by patients.

Where do I find more information?

More information, Appendixes and caveat information, and data tables are available in Health Expenditure Australia 2022–23.

Definitions of the terms used in this section are available in the Glossary.