The Australian Government subsidises palliative care through the MBS for palliative medicine attendance and case conference services provided by palliative medicine physicians/specialists.
In 2024–25:
- $6.8 million was paid for Medicare-subsidised palliative medicine case attendance and case conference services, equivalent to an average of $430 per patient.
- Palliative medicine attendances accounted for 82% ($5.6 million) of Medicare-subsidised palliative medicine case attendance and case conference services, while case conferences made up the remaining 18% ($1.2 million).
- Benefits paid for Medicare-subsidised palliative medicine attendance and case conference services accounted for 0.2% of the total benefits paid for all Medicare-subsidised specialist attendances ($3.3 billion).
Figure EXP 3 also highlights variations across the states and territories in benefits paid and benefits per patient for these services.
Trends
Between 2023–24 and 2024–25, there was an increase of 13% in the benefits paid for palliative care attendance and case conference services (from $6.1 million to $6.8 million), after a previous 5 year decline by an average annual rate of 7.1% (from $8.7 million in 2018–19, in real terms).
Benefits paid per patient for these services followed a similar pattern, increasing by 3.1% in the last year (from $417 to $430 per patient, in real terms), after declining at an average annual rate of 4.7% over the previous 5 years (in real terms).
In contrast, total benefits paid and benefits per patient (in real terms) for all specialist attendances (including palliative medicine physicians/specialists) fluctuated over this period with no clear trend.
For further details on these MBS-subsidised services and people receiving them, see Medicare-subsidised palliative medicine attendance and case conference services chapter.
