Jurisdictions’ technical notes
Care must be exercised when comparing estimates of expenditure on public health across jurisdictions, because different jurisdictions often need to direct more effort and resources to particular activities to meet needs that are of primary concern to their populations. These are sometimes determined or influenced by factors outside their control, by ‘non-public health’ factors, such as:
- location and population demographics (that is, age–sex structure and geographic distribution)
- relative economies of scale in the delivery of particular activities
- the need to cater for some populations in other states and territories
- the roles assigned to other agencies, such as local government authorities, within jurisdictions.
Furthermore, while every effort has been taken to minimise differences in the methods used to estimate expenditure, there remain some methodological differences that render comparisons across jurisdictions and within a jurisdiction over time to be considered with caution. These include:
- some differences arising from the different data collection processes across jurisdictions and within jurisdictions over time
- differences in the treatment of some overheads in the health expenditure estimates
- potential inconsistencies in the way in which jurisdictions have classified similar programs and the associated expenditure to the core public health activities.
Role of local government authorities within each jurisdiction
As stated elsewhere in this report, funding for public health activities provided by local governments is outside the scope of this project. However, the type and number of public health services funded by local governments within each jurisdiction will affect the need for similar services to be funded by higher levels of government. Because of this, it is important to consider the role and scope of local government expenditure when comparing the expenditure results of states and territories. While local government involvement in public health activities varies greatly between states and territories, it is possible to recognise some functions that are common to the majority of local governments in Australia.