BEDS
The average number of beds available in Acute and psychiatric hospitals during 2009-10 was 24,926, 1.0% higher than in 2008-09 when there were 24,685 beds available.
Acute and psychiatric hospitals operated by religious or charitable institutions provided 42.8% (10,661) of available beds during 2009-10. Of these, 76.9% (8,193) were located within capital cities. Acute and psychiatric hospitals operated by religious or charitable institutions were more likely to be larger, in terms of number of beds, accounting for 62.5% of hospitals with over 200 beds, 41.1% of hospitals with 101-200 beds and 23.2% of the 112 hospitals with up to 50 beds.
Capital City Statistical Divisions accounted for 74.5% of all available beds in Acute and psychiatric hospitals in Australia in the 2009-10 cycle, similar to 2008-09. At the same time, over 15.1 million (68.6%) of Australia's population lived in these areas (see Regional Population Growth, Australia cat. no. 3218.0). Since the 2008-09 cycle, there has been an increase in the average number of beds available in the capital cities by 151 beds, while a smaller increase of 90 beds was reported in regional Australia.
The occupancy rate in Acute and psychiatric hospitals for 2009-10 was 83.3%, compared with 81.8% in 2008-09. The occupancy rate was higher in hospitals located in the Capital City Statistical Divisions (85.6%), compared with 76.5% in the rest of Australia. This was an increase on the previous cycle where 83.9% and 75.7% were recorded for Capital City Statistical Division and the Rest of Australia respectively.