In 2017–18:

  • There were 693 public hospitals and 657 private hospitals in Australia.
  • The Australian Government provided 41% of public hospital funding and 24% of private hospital funding.
  • Recurrent expenditure on public hospitals was $71 billion, with about 62% of this spent on salaries, wages and superannuation.
  • Cat. no: HSE 233
Findings from this report:

  • There was $71 billion in recurrent expenditure on public hospitals in 2017–18

  • There were 693 public hospitals and 657 private hospitals in Australia in 2017–18

  • 41% of public hospital funding and 24% of private hospital funding was provided by the Australian Government

  • About 42% of public hospital staff were Nurses (157,000) and 12% were Salaried medical officers (46,000)