Comprehensive Analysis of Australia's Healthcare System (HWEL2002)

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the Australian healthcare system, analyzing its various components and organizational structures. It explores the roles of the public and private systems, detailing their funding mechanisms, services offered, and key features. The report examines the responsibilities of each level of government (national, state, and local) in the healthcare system, including funding allocation, regulation, and service delivery. It covers essential aspects like Medicare, public and private hospitals, primary health services, specialist services, and health promotion initiatives. Furthermore, the report highlights the use of complementary and alternative medicine within the Australian healthcare landscape. The document references key sources like the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the Department of Health to support its analysis and findings. This assignment fulfills the requirements of HWEL2002: Understanding Health Assessment, focusing on the principles of public health and the features of Australia's healthcare system.

Running head: HEALTH CARE
Health care
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

1HEALTH CARE
Australian health systems
Public health system
Private health system
Australian Government is responsible for:
Administering medicare
Funding health services and public health
hospitals
Funding prescription drugs through PBS
Regulate private health insurance
Funding community controlled primary
health care
Arranging health services for veterans
(Department of Health 2019)
Owned and managed privately such as
private hospitals, specialist medical and
allied health and pharmacies. It is funded
by combination of private and government
like:
Private health insurance
Government incentives on private health
insurance
Private health insurance
PBS
It covers:
Hospital treatment
General or ancillary treatment that
covers non-medical services not
covered by Medicare
Emergency
It is subsidised by government
It is part of the National Medicine
Policy (Department of Health
2020)
The public system
includes:
Public hospitals
Community based
service
Affiliated health
organization
Health care services
Health promotion:
Key activities include
governance, health
literacy and population
health
Examples include cancer
screening programs and
immunization programs
Primary health services:
It consists of general
practice,, allied services
and community health
services
These networks
coordinated with GPs and
hospitals too
Specialist services:
It consists of services
for complex health
issues like antenatal,
radiotherapy and mental
health services
It is mainly referred by
primary health care
providers
Hospitals:
It provides acute care and
long term care.
It is managed by both
public and private sectors
(AIHW 2018)
Complementary and
alternative medicine (CAM):
Use by two-third Australians
The expenditure of CAM
exceeds expenditure of PBS
It involves herbal as well as
practitioner based therapies
(von Conrady and Bonney
2017)

2HEALTH CARE
Each level of government in the health care system of Australia:
Levels of governments in health system
Australian government State and territory
government
Local governments
 Responsible for
development of
national health policy
 Providing funds to
states and territories
 Regulating Primary
health networks and
private health
insurance
 Funding medicines
through PBS
 Establishing
community-controlled
indigenous health
service (Australian
Institute of Health and
Welfare, 2018).
 The Australian
government funds
 Arranging funding for
public hospitals
 Regulating private
hospitals
 Ambulance service
 Health complain service
 Implementation of public
health services
 Delivery of preventive
services
 The state and territory
government funds 26%
of the total health
expenditure
 It mainly contribute to
funding for community
health services
 Both state government
and Australian
 Mostly involved in
environmental health
related services
 Waste disposal
 Water fluoridation
 Community and
home based health
services
 Health promotion
related activities
(AIHW, 2018)

3HEALTH CARE
41% of the total
health expenditure
 Medicare is funded by
Australian
government as it
contributes to taxation
revenue and Medicare
levy
 The funding is mainly
for medical services
and subsidised
medicines
 Australian
government is
responsible for
providing rebate to
people who hold
private insurance too
(AIHW, 2018)
government establishes
funding for public
hospital services
 All intergovernmental
agreements are
negotiated both by state
and Australian
government (AIHW,
2018)

4HEALTH CARE
References:
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2018. Australia’s health 2018. Retrieved from:
https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/63fe0895-b306-4375-95ff-162149ffc34b/aihw-aus-221-
chapter-2-1.pdf.aspx
Department of Health 2019. The Australian health system. Retrieved from:
https://www.health.gov.au/about-us/the-australian-health-system
Department of Health 2020. Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). Retrieved from:
http://www.pbs.gov.au/pbs/home
von Conrady, D.M. and Bonney, A., 2017. Patterns of complementary and alternative medicine
use and health literacy in general practice patients in urban and regional Australia. Australian
family physician, 46(5), p.315. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28472578/