Wednesday 14 October 2026

Australian governments are spending over $6,000 less on healthcare per person in rural towns than those in metropolitan Australia, the National Rural Health Alliance reports, with the data showing double that – over $12,000 – invested in the metropolitan area.

Across all regional areas, the underspend is $1,218 less per person per year, with the spending gap widening by $138 in just one year.

The rural town spending gap extended to aged care, with spending at $790 per person, almost half of what is spent in metropolitan areas $1,507 per person.

Shadow Minister for Regional Health, Dr Anne Webster MP, said federal and state Labor governments stand condemned for the aggregate government underspend on regional healthcare now exceeding $9 billion.

“How is this justifiable? The NRHA’s report should be a wakeup call for all Governments,” Dr Webster said.

“The Prime Minister and his colleagues like to wave around their Medicare card like it is a magic wand, but a Medicare card, NDIS plan or aged care approval is no more than a promise on paper because – in too many cases – there is no doctor, specialist, allied health professional, care provider or service for regional Australians.

“Commonwealth and State Governments simply have not designed, from the ground up, a healthcare model that works for regional Australians, which is not just about our dire health workforce situation, but lack of investment in infrastructure, equipment and training, all resulting in poorer mortality and morbidity.

The latest Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data shows outer regional Australians are dying years earlier than those in major cities, with 678 deaths per 100,000 males – and 476 per 100,000 females – compared to 576 males and 411 females in major cities. Very remote area rates are even worse, at 829 males and 665 females per 100,000.

Dr Webster said she had organised summits in Mildura on the regional health workforce and aged care needs in 2023, followed up by a successful regional aged care forum recently where participants and providers alike found the care system difficult to navigate and unable to meet their needs in a timely fashion.

“Regional Australians are beyond despair about the lack of government investment in their healthcare – they are angry, and rightly so.  We should not be dying prematurely due to government neglect.  

“Regional Australians are not asking for retrofitted, remotely delivered metropolitan medicine. They want - and deserve – access to in-person, high-quality care in their communities and homes.

“While Labor plays politics with healthcare, regional Australians are getting sicker, dying earlier, with a lack of primary and preventative care support, hoping they don’t end up airlifted to capital city emergency departments.

“The true measure of a so called ‘universal’ healthcare system is not whether care exists on paper – it is whether patients, no matter what their postcode, can see a health professional and receive the care they need, where they live.”

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