Access to health services

• 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

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.

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 2022-23:

• 7% of people aged 15 years and over delayed or did not see a GP when needed due to cost, an increase from 4% in 2021-22, and 5% in 2013‑14
• 11% of people aged 15 years and over delayed or did not see a medical specialist when needed due to cost, an increase from 8% in 2021-22 and 2013‑14.

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

In 2022-23:

• 30% of people aged 15 years and over waited longer than they felt acceptable for an appointment with a GP, an increase from 23% in 2021-22 and 2013-14
• 28% of people aged 15 years and over waited longer than they felt acceptable for an appointment with a medical specialist, similar to 2021-22 (27%) and an increase from 25% in 2013-14.

In 2022-23, differences across groups were observed in the likelihood of delaying or not using health services when needed due to cost.

Females were more likely to delay or not use the following health services when needed due to cost than males:

• medical specialists (12% compared to 8%)
• GPs (8% compared to 5%).

The following people were more likely to delay or not see a GP when needed due to cost:

• those with a long-term health condition than those without a long-term health condition (8% compared to 6%)
• those living in areas of most socio-economic disadvantage than those living in areas of least disadvantage (8% compared to 6%).

People living in areas of most socio-economic disadvantage were more likely to delay or not see a medical specialist when needed due to cost than those living in areas of least disadvantage (13% compared to 9%). 

In 2022-23, the following people 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 than those living in major cities (38% compared to 28%)
• females than males (33% compared to 26%)
• those with a long-term health condition than those without a long-term health condition (32% compared to 27%).   

In 2022-23, the following people were more likely to report waiting longer than they felt acceptable for a medical specialist appointment:

• those with a long-term health condition than those without a long-term health condition (30% compared to 23%)
• females than males (29% compared to 26%).

Further information on access to health services is available at ABS Patient Experiences, 2022-23.

Disaggregation available includes:

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