Nationally, based on spending by function, health ranked 3rd at $106.538 billion behind social security and welfare ($250.280 billion) and expenses for other purposes ($133.743 billion) in 2023–24. This was 15.6% of Australian Government’s expenses.1

In 2023–24, health expenditure ranked 1st for general Queensland government sector expenses at 28.8% followed by education at 23.5%.2

Understanding areas of health expenditure, costs per person and spending by health condition identifies the drivers of health spending.

This section includes:

  • Health expenditure by source and broad area including COVID-19 spending
  • Expenditure by condition, per person and by risk factor
  • Expenditure for First Nations peoples
  • General population results for a health-related quality of life measure used in health economics.

National healthcare expenditure information in also available for selected health conditions in Our Health and for risk factors in Our Lifestyle.

References

  1. Commonwealth of Australia. 2023. Budget Paper No. 1 Budget Strategy and Outlook, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, ACT, https://budget.gov.au/content/bp1/index.htm, accessed 22 March 2024.
  2. Queensland Treasury. 2023. Queensland Budget 2023-24: budget strategy and outlook, Queensland Government, Brisbane, https://www.treasury.qld.gov.au/resource/state-budget-2023-24/, accessed 29 February 2024.

Last updated: August 2024

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