Health expenditure Australia 2021-22

During 2021–22, $25.1 billion was spent on services where a person had been referred by a general practitioner or medical specialist to another non-hospital specialist or allied health professional (this includes services provided in hospitals as discussed in earlier sections of this report). Three in every four dollars were funded by the Australian Government (76.7%, or $19.2 billion) mainly through the MBS, and the remainder by non‑government entities (23.3%, or $5.8 billion). State and territory governments do not contribute funding to this area (Figure 28). 

Figure 28: Spending on referred medical services, by source of funds, constant prices ^(a), 2011–12 to 2021–22

^⁽ᵃ⁾ Constant price health spending is in 2021–22 prices. 

Notes:

1. Non-government expenditure consists of individual and health insurance spending only.
2. There was no state and territory government spending on referred medical services.

Source: AIHW Health Expenditure Database (Table 33).

In 2021–22, spending on referred medical services increased by 1.7% from 2020–21 in real terms. Spending by the Australian Government increased by 2.4% ($0.5 billion) while non-government entities decreased by 0.7% ($38 million) in 2021–22.

Over the decade, referred medical expenses increased by an average of 3.6% each year. This was as a result of 3.6% average annual growth by the Australian Government and 3.8% by non-government funding. 

Note that when the full in-hospital MBS spending has been allocated to public and private hospital areas in future reports, the spending on referred medical services will be potentially reduced to $21.9 billion (for Australian Government, Private health insurance providers, and Individuals). See MBS in hospitals for more details.