How many models of care are there?
Models of care are classified at the maternity service level and each model gets a unique model of care number.
Models of care are unique to a maternity service, however, the models available in different locations may be similar to each other with respect to their key characteristics. Every model can be grouped into one of 11 model categories making it possible to report on the range of models of care available to women using common terminology. See Major model category definitions.
About the data in this report
Some jurisdictions have a small number of services and models of care which are used as the denominators in this report. This should be considered when interpreting this data. Also, having a particular model of care at a maternity service may not mean this model is available to all women who want to access it. Some models may be subject to resourcing-driven caps and inclusion criteria.
Maternity models of care – at a glance
In 2025, around 1,100 maternity models of care were reported as being in use across 248 maternity services providing intrapartum care. In these services:
- over one-third (36%) have one model of care
- 12% have 2 models of care
- 23% have between 3 and 5 models
- 29% have 6 or more models of care.
This was similar to the distribution of models of care reported in 2024.
The median number of models across all maternity services was 3, the same as 2024. Public maternity services tend to have more models of care per service than private services, with a median of 4 models per service, compared with 1 in private services.
The interactive map below (Figure 1) summarises the models of care in use in Australia. Select a jurisdiction (state or territory) from the map or the dropdown menu to see its summary information.
Figure 1: Maternity models of care, by jurisdiction, Australia, 2025
The interactive map of Australia summarises the models of care in use in each state and territory. This includes a count of models and services; the range and median number of models; and the 3 most common models of care in each state and territory.
Common models of care
The most common model category is public hospital maternity care with around 460 models (42%) falling into this category; over half (57%) of all maternity services have at least one model of care in this category. This was similar to 2024 (42% of models at 56% of services). Models of care in this category typically have no continuity of carer (54% of these models) or some continuity of carer (either antenatal, antenatal/postnatal, antenatal/intrapartum or intrapartum/postnatal) (44% of these models).
The next most common model category is midwifery group practice caseload care, with around 170 models (16%) falling into this category. This type of model provides midwifery continuity of carer through the whole maternity period; just under half of maternity services (46%) have this model of care in place.
Other common maternity models of care include:
- shared care accounting for 14% of models and available at 51% of service in 2025. This was similar to 2024 (151 models in 2024 and 152 models in 2025).
- private obstetrician specialist care accounting for 8.7% of models and available at 37% of maternity services. The number of these models dropped from 102 in 2024 to 96 in 2025.
Continuity of carer
Around 29% of models have continuity of carer from the same named carer for the whole maternity period, compared with 28% in 2024. This reflects midwifery group practice caseload care (16%) and other models of care (13%), usually private obstetrician specialist care. Just over one-third of models (35%) have no continuity of carer in any stage of the maternity period (compared with 36% in 2024), while a similar proportion (37%) have continuity of carer for some part of the maternity period (compared with 35% in 2024).
Around three-quarters of maternity services (77%) have at least one model of care with continuity of carer for the whole maternity period (compared with 74% in 2024). Midwifery continuity of carer is available at 46% of maternity services, an increase from 42% in 2024. Around 7% of services (17) have no models of care with any continuity of carer, a decrease from 9.6% (24 services) in 2024.
The data visualisation below (Figure 2) summarises two model of care characteristics, the model category and the extent of continuity of carer.
Figure 2: Maternity models of care and maternity services, by model category and continuity of carer, Australia, 2021–2025
This line graph shows model category and extent of continuity of carer by proportion of services or models over time. After public hospital maternity care, shared care is the second most common model available to women in Australia.
