Flexible funding for states and territories

The Government will provide $200 million over four years to increase hospital capacity and improve services to patients through a flexible funding pool for the states and territories to allocate funds for emergency departments, elective surgery or sub-acute care within their jurisdiction.

Flexible funding for states and territories fact sheet (PDF 36 KB)

How will the flexible funding pool work?
What has the Australian Government done so far to reduce pressure on hospitals?

Many patients are waiting too long to be treated at our public hospital emergency departments, are waiting too long for elective surgery or are unnecessarily admitted to hospital due to a lack of appropriate sub-acute care services.

The Australian Government is taking action through its National Health and Hospitals Network. The Government will provide $200 million over four years to increase hospital capacity and improve services to patients through a flexible funding pool for the states and territories to allocate funds for emergency departments, elective surgery or sub-acute care within their jurisdiction.

How will the flexible funding pool work?

The Government will allocate $200 million in capital and recurrent funding to be used flexibly to drive improvements in emergency departments, elective surgery and sub-acute care. This flexible funding will start from the middle of 2010. This funding will ensure that immediate capacity is delivered into the public hospital system and will provide further assistance to states and territories in meeting elective surgery and emergency department targets. States and territories will have the flexibility to use this funding to address
particular problem areas.

What has the Australian Government done so far to reduce pressure on hospitals?

Since 2007, the Government has made investments to help ease the pressure on public hospitals around emergency departments, elective surgery and sub-acute care by providing:

$750 million to boost funding for emergency departments
$600 million to improve elective surgery
$500 million in sub-acute funding, which is expanding sub-acute care services by 20%; and
$293 million for an additional 2,000 transition care places (698 places already allocated) – helping patients leave hospital sooner and receive follow up care in the community and closer to home and freeing up hospital beds.