Access to health services

Equitable access to quality health and care services

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Release date and time
15/09/2025 11:30am AEST

Released 15/09/2025

Metrics

  • Cost: proportion of people who delayed or did not see a General Practitioner (GP) when needed due to cost at least once in the last 12 months
  • Cost: proportion of people who delayed or did not see a medical specialist when needed due to cost at least once in the last 12 months
  • Wait times: proportion of people who waited longer than they felt acceptable for an appointment with a GP at least once in the last 12 months
  • Wait times: proportion of people who waited longer than they felt acceptable for an appointment with a medical specialist at least once in the last 12 months

Why this matters

Health services are those which prevent, diagnose, treat, and manage health conditions.

While many factors determine accessibility, health service cost and wait times are two measures that provide an insight into how effectively Australia’s health services are operating.  

Other factors that can inhibit access include distance, availability of services, time pressures, language difficulties and a person’s understanding of their health care needs.

Progress

Delaying or not using health services when needed due to cost

The proportion of people who reported that cost was a reason for delaying or not seeing a GP or medical specialist when needed has increased over the last 10 years.

In 2023-24:

  • 9% of people aged 15 years and over delayed or did not see a GP when needed due to cost, an increase from 7% in 2022-23, and 5% in 2013‑14
  • 10% of people aged 15 years and over delayed or did not see a medical specialist when needed due to cost, similar to 2022-23 (11%) and an increase from 8% in 2013‑14.

Wait times

The proportion of people who reported waiting longer than they felt acceptable for a GP or medical specialist appointment has also increased over the last 10 years.

In 2023-24:

  • 28% of people aged 15 years and over reported waiting longer than they felt acceptable for a GP appointment, a decrease from 30% in 2022-23, and an increase from 23% in 2013-14
  • 29% of people aged 15 years and over reported waiting longer than they felt acceptable for a medical specialist appointment, similar to 2022-23 (28%), and an increase from 25% in 2013-14.
  1. Medical specialists provide services which are covered, at least in part, by Medicare (e.g. dermatologists, cardiologists, neurologists and gynaecologists).
Data Source
ABS Patient Experiences - Tables 4 and 10

Differences across groups

Delaying or not using health services when needed due to cost

In 2022-23, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey found that in the previous 12 months, 19% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people did not see a GP when they needed to due to cost.

In 2023-24, the Patient Experiences Survey found that differences across groups were observed for those delaying or not using health services when needed due to cost:

  • 12% of females delayed or did not see a medical specialist when needed due to cost, compared with 7% of males
  • 11% of females delayed or did not see a GP when needed due to cost, compared with 6% of males
  • 10% of those with a long-term health condition delayed or did not see a medical specialist when needed due to cost, compared with 8% of those without a long-term health condition
  • 10% of those with a long-term health condition delayed or did not see a GP when needed due to cost, compared with 7% of those without a long-term health condition.

Wait times

In 2022-23, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey found that in the previous 12 months, 47% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people did not see a GP when they needed to as the waiting time was too long or an appointment was not available at the time required.

In 2023-24, the Patient Experiences Survey found that following groups were more likely to report waiting longer than they felt acceptable for a GP appointment:

  • those living in outer regional, remote or very remote areas (36% compared with 26% of those living in major cities)
  • females (32% compared with 24% of males)
  • those with a long-term health condition (31% compared with 24% of those without a long-term health condition)
  • people living in areas of most socio-economic disadvantage (30% compared with 24% of people living in areas of least disadvantage).   

The Patient Experiences Survey also found that the following groups were more likely to report waiting longer than they felt acceptable for a medical specialist appointment:

  • females (31% compared with 26% of males)
  • people living in areas of most socio-economic disadvantage (31% compared with 26% of people living in areas of least disadvantage)
  • those with a long-term health condition (30% compared with 24% of those without a long-term health condition).

Disaggregation

Further information on access to health services is available at ABS Patient Experiences, 2023-24 and ABS National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, 2022-23.

Disaggregation available includes:

  • Age
  • Sex
  • Self-assessed health
  • Whether has a long-term health condition
  • Index of relative socio-economic disadvantage
  • Remoteness.