Abstract
Since 1985, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has published 85 health expenditure publications. It has gradually extended the scope of these publications by extending the health accounts to detail expenditure by disease and age/sex, by State, Territory and remoteness and by Indigenous status. These enhanced health expenditure databases were then used to understand in detail the drivers of health expenditure. Understanding the drivers of health expenditure enables policy makers to understand where to intervene so as to maximise the health improvements that arise from health expenditure growth.
Highlights
Health Research Institute, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Canberra 2617, Australia; Abstract: Since 1985, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has published 85 health expenditure publications
Impact of Health Expenditure Data and Analysis on Health Policy in Health expenditure data have been influential in shaping debates about health policy in Australia and in shaping health policy itself
The health expenditure data that John Deeble collected and analysed in the 1960s were critical in shaping the policy recommendations from Deeble and Scotton that were crucial in the establishment of Medibank in 1975
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The health expenditure collection and publication function was transferred to the Australian Institute of Health (AIH) when it was established as a separate Division within the Commonwealth Department of Health in 1985. The AIH, or the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) as it became, has published 85 health expenditure publications [8]. The Australian health expenditure accounts are mostly collated according to the rules and classifications of the System of Health Accounts [9] Such classification systems have their inadequacies in that they have to classify expenditure into one category or another, so the multipurpose nature of most expenditure is not captured. Online Repository (METeOR) is a necessary first step in developing datasets which are consistent across jurisdictions, but much work needs to be carried out to encourage the Australian States and Territories and the Commonwealth Government to provide data according to these definitions
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