Mental health
Disease and injury related spending on mental illness
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Mental health conditions and substance use disorders ranked 7th in terms of disease-related spending ($11.9 billion)
Over half (52%) of total spending on mental health conditions and substance use disorders was on public hospitals ($6.1 billion)
The Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia 2022–23 report provides estimates of Australia’s national health spending to provide additional detail about the people receiving care and the conditions and diseases being treated. These statistics differ from other mental health-related expenditure estimates on this website in that they represent spending that can be allocated to specific conditions. In 2022–23, spending on Mental health conditions and substance use disorders accounted for almost 7% ($11.9 billion) of total spending by broad disease groups (AIHW 2024c). In 2023, Mental health conditions and substance use disorders as a broad disease group accounted for almost 15% of the burden of disease in Australia (AIHW 2023).
Please note that all prices stated in this report are constant prices.
Figure DE.1 Expenditure on mental health conditions and substance use disorders by areas of expenditure and year, from 2013–14 to 2022–23 (constant prices)
Line graph showing the total expenditure by area of expenditure per year from 2013–14 to 2022–23 on Mental health conditions and substance use disorders. Graph shows that Public hospital admitted patient has consistently reported the highest total expenditure per year.
Over half (52%) of total spending on mental health conditions and substance use disorders in 2022–23 was estimated to be for public hospitals (admitted patients, emergency departments and outpatients), with 41% spent on public hospital admitted patients (Figure DE.1). The second highest area of spending was pharmaceuticals (10%) followed by allied health and other services (10%).
The amount of spending for mental health conditions and substance use disorders varies by sex and area of spending. The estimated total spending for mental health conditions and substance use disorders in 2022–23 was higher for females than males, $6.2 billion (52%) and $5.5 billion (46%) respectively. Public hospital admitted patients was the highest area of spending for both males and females, accounting for almost half of the total estimated spending for males (47%) and just over a third for females (36%).
Trends in spending on mental health conditions and substance use disorders over time
Spending on mental health conditions and substance use disorders between 2013–14 to 2022–23 showed overall growth in all service areas except for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), which decreased by 19% overall during the same time period.
The service area which experienced the greatest increase in spending was public hospital admitted care, which increased by 79% in real terms (adjusted for inflation).
From 2013–14 to 2022–23 spending on mental health conditions and substance use disorders as a disease group increased by 43% in real terms from $8.3 billion to $11.9 billion. This increase coincides with increases in mental health service use over the same period. For more information, refer to Expenditure on mental health services.
Between 2013–14 and 2022–23, the volume of overnight mental health-related public hospitalisations increased by 22%, from around 169,000 to 206,000 (AIHW 2024a). Over the same period spending on public hospital admitted patient hospitalisations increased from $2.7 billion to $4.8 billion, an increase of 79% in real terms (AIHW 2024c). For more information about mental health-related admitted patient care, refer to Admitted patients.
Between 2013–14 and 2022–23, the number of people receiving Medicare mental health services increased from 1.9 million (8% of the population) to 2.7 million (10% of the population). Over the same period, the total number of these services provided by general practitioners increased significantly from almost 2.7 million to 3.5 million services (AIHW 2024d). Spending on general practitioner services also increased during this period, from $946.9 million to almost $1.2 billion (AIHW 2024c). For more information about mental health-related MPS data, refer to Medicare mental health services.
Between 2013–14 and 2022–23, there was a 19% decrease in Australian Government spending on mental health-related prescriptions under the PBS (from around $1.5 billion to $1.2 billion) (AIHW 2024c). Medication prices can reduce due to a variety of factors (for example, Price Disclosure, statutory price reductions due to patent changes or legislation mandated by the Government to reduce the PBS listed price of drugs). Over the period 2013–14 to 2022–23 the volume of total mental health-related prescriptions dispensed increased by 37% (from 33.2 million to 45.6 million prescriptions), and the volume of subsidised prescriptions dispensed increased by 12% (from 24.3 million to 27.3 million) (AIHW 2024e). The decline in PBS spending can be attributed to some commonly-used psychotropic medicines coming off patent and the additional incentives for the use of generic medicines since 2011–12. For more information about mental health-related PBS data, refer to Mental health prescriptions.
Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia, 2022–23
Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia, 2022–23 reports estimates of spending from the AIHW’s Disease expenditure database. Data presented on this page were extracted using the data tables: Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia. For more information, see Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia, 2022–23, Technical notes.
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2023), Australian Burden of Disease Study 2023, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 12 March 2025.
AIHW (2024a), Admitted patients, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 12 March 2025.
AIHW (2024b) Australian Burden of Disease Study 2024, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 12 March 2025.
AIHW (2024c) Health system spending on disease and injury in Australia 2022–23, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 12 March 2025.
AIHW (2024d) Medicare mental health services, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 12 March 2025.
AIHW (2024e) Mental health prescriptions, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 12 March 2025.