Australia

As the 19th-richest country in the world, Australia has a per capita income of $31,600 and universal access to healthcare. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Reports, Australia has the third highest standard of living in the world. Funding for healthcare is derived from a number of sources that include national, state, and territorial governments; private health insurers; and individuals. Government spending on health is high, with 14 percent of total expenditures targeted for this area. Just under 10 percent (9.5 percent) of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is used for healthcare, and the government allots $2,874 (international dollars) per capita to cover the costs of healthcare. Government [Page 184]spending on health accounts for 67.5 percent of total spending. The private sector provides 32.5 percent of health expenses, and 67.80 percent of that amount comes from out-of-pocket payments. There are 2.47 physicians, 9.71 nurses, 1.10 dentists, and 0.72 pharmacists per 1,000 population in Australia.

Government commitment to healthcare is strong in Australia. Between 1960 and 1990, the government nearly doubled medical spending in response to advancing medical and pharmaceutical technologies. Medicare was introduced in 1984. This program, which is funded through tax revenue, covers all Australians. Medicare includes a pension plan, and the cost of all doctor visits is reimbursed. Treatment in public hospitals is entirely free. Critics contend that in the 1990s, services to the poor were cut after the election of John Howard as prime minister. Dental services, which had been free for the disadvantaged, were shifted to dental clinics. Critics also contend that lifestyles of the elderly declined, creating a group of newly poor individuals.

Healthcare in Australia is the joint responsibility of state and territorial governments, which provide community and public healthcare that focuses on women's and children's health, oral health, occupational health, and disease control. Services include home care, immunization programs, and preventive care. Oversight of issues affecting public health is the responsibility of local governments, and inspections of facilities, training, waste disposal, and water supplies are regularly conducted. At the national level, funding is also available for medical services and pharmaceuticals, aged care, education of medical professionals, and health research.

Australia's population of 20,264,082 people enjoys a life expectancy of 80.5 years, the ninth highest ranking among the world's nations. Literacy is almost universal, and only 1 percent of the population over the age of 15 is unable to read and write. Enrollment in school in both the primary and secondary levels is higher than 100 percent. Australia has no identifiable poverty rate, but 5.1 percent of the labor force is unemployed. There is some income disparity in Australia, which ranks 35.2 on the Gini Index of Human Inequality. While the poorest 10 percent of the population share only two percent of resources, the richest 10 percent claims 24.4 percent. The entire population has access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation.

Some 76 percent of Australian women use some form of birth control. On the average, women give birth to 1.76 children each. All births are attended by skilled professionals, and all women receive antenatal care. The adjusted maternal mortality rate is eight deaths per 100,000 live births. Rising interest in women's health concerns in the 1960s and 1970s focused attention on reproductive issues and on other factors that affect women's health. Women were reeducated to see pregnancy, menopause, and other bodily functions as normal occurrences rather than medical conditions. In the 1990s, the interest in women's health spawned a men's health movement, which focused on the fact that life expectancy for Australian males is 77.64 years as compared to 83.52 years for females. A new body of literature emerged focusing dealing with male involvement in industrial and traffic accidents and on the typical male reluctance to visit physicians.

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