Health care in Australia provides a wide range of services from surgery to rehabilitation and from pre-natal to aged care. Australia’s government is largely responsible for the oversight of health care in Australia and aims to provide equity of access to these facilities and services.
Australia has begun to increase their expenditure on early intervention and prevention, but still spend the large majority of funding in health care. Emerging treatments such as MRI and drug development impact health care by increasing cost and reducing access, while increasing health outcomes. While there are plenty of incentives to have private health insurance, Medicare still funds most Australians who use the health care system.
Syllabus
Students learn about:
- health care in Australia
- range and types of health facilities and services
- responsibility for health facilities and services
- equity of access to health facilities and services
- health care expenditure versus expenditure on early intervention and prevention
- impact of emerging new treatments and technologies on health care, eg cost and access, benefits of early detection
- health insurance: Medicare and private
Students learn to:
- evaluate health care in Australia by investigating issues of access and adequacy in relation to social justice principles. Questions to explore include:
- how equitable is the access and support for all sections of the community?
- how much responsibility should the community assume for individual health problems?
Past HSC PDHPE exam questions
2011 Question 22
Identify FOUR different types of health facilities or services in Australia. 2 Marks
2012 Question 21
Describe the advantages of Medicare for Australian citizens. 3 Marks
2014 Questions 22
What are the responsibilities of each of the three levels of government for the delivery of health services in Australia? 4 Marks
2015 Question 21
What are the advantages to Australians of having a public health care system? 3 Marks
2015 Questions 24
To what extent is access to health care facilities and services equitable for all Australians? 8 Marks
2018 Question 23
Discuss the impact of emerging new treatments and technologies in relation to health care in Australia. Use examples to support your answer. 5 Marks
2020 Question 25
Describe the advantages and disadvantages of having private health insurance for the individual. 5 Marks
2021 Question 26
Explain how the application of social justice principles can help improve access to health care in Australia. Provide examples to support your answer. 8 Marks