Health spending per Indigenous Australian highest in remote areas

In remote and very remote areas of Australia, health spending on selected health services per person is around $2.41 for Indigenous Australians for every $1.00 spent on non-Indigenous Australians, according to a report released yesterday by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

This is considerably higher than the $1.39 to $1.00 Indigenous to non-Indigenous health expenditure per-person ratio for health services in Australia.

The report, Expenditure on health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2008-09: an analysis by remoteness and disease, looks at selected categories of health spending: patients admitted to public and private hospitals, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs), the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

'The higher spending per person on Indigenous Australians is not surprising given their overall poorer health,' said AIHW spokesperson Nigel Harding.

Contacts

Mr Nigel Harding
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)
Ph: (02) 6244 1025
Mobile: 0409 307 671

Links

• View abstract: HealthInfoNet's bibliographic entry for this report
• View news item: Canberra Times - Gap in Indigenous health costs in remote Australia widens
• View media release: AIHW - Health spending per Indigenous Australian highest in remote areas