Australia's $290.7 billion health spending: where does it go?

Australia spent an estimated $290.7 billion on health in 2024–25, according to provisional AIHW figures. That covers hospitals, GPs, medicines, dental care and more, paid for by governments, insurers and individuals. The video compares spending with disease burden, which measures healthy years lost through illness or early death. Mental health conditions and substance use disorders ranked second for disease burden in 2024, but fifth for standard spending in 2024–25. When disease-related community and public health programs are included, they rise to third. That reflects wider counting, not new funding.

A gap between spending and burden raises questions, but it does not prove underfunding. Treatment costs, prevention and action outside health care also matter. The new report also compares spending by remoteness, area disadvantage and First Nations hospitalisations. Those differences do not tell us who missed care or could not afford it. The real public health question is whether spending meets need.