Over the period 2012–13 to 2014–15, the average cost of delivering care in major public hospitals decreased by 1 per cent, after adjusting for inflation. Over this period there was a 6 per cent increase in hospital activity but hospital spending only rose by 5 per cent. This indicates that as a group, major public hospitals have delivered care for less cost.
This publication was originally published by the National Health Performance Authority, which transferred its activities to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on 1 July 2016.