The latest Australian Healthcare Index has found that although we’re feeling more positive about healthcare, rising costs are still forcing patients to delay treatment, skip appointments, and go without medication.
In good news, we’re feeling more positive about healthcare in Australia, the latest Australian Healthcare Index (AHI) has found. But affordability, emergency department wait times, and worker shortages continue to be some of our biggest concerns.
The eighth AHI, released by Healthengine and Patients Australia, surveyed 6,244 Australian adults during June 2026, with responses weighted against Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census benchmarks to better reflect the Australian population.
It found Australians rated their overall satisfaction with the healthcare system at 7.4 out of 10, which was the highest level since 2021 and the second consecutive increase. Much of this confidence came from improved access to GP bulk billing, with over two-thirds (67%) of Australians bulk billed at their most recent GP visit.
“For people who rated Australian healthcare between 8 and 10, availability of bulk billing (45%) was the most cited reason for satisfaction,” the AHI report said.
Other reasons for satisfaction included the general quality of Australian healthcare (40%), personal experiences with the healthcare system (34%), the view that healthcare was better than other countries (32%), and accessibility of healthcare (32%).
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Despite improving satisfaction, emergency department waiting times remained Australians’ biggest healthcare concern (36%), followed by out-of-pocket specialist costs (33%), private health insurance value for money (26%), healthcare workforce shortages (25%), and out-of-pocket GP costs (21%).
Affordability concerns were up there as the main reason for low satisfaction in Australian healthcare, as well as a lack of GPs who bulk-billed.
“What these survey results point towards – and what resonates throughout this report – is an Australian public that generally appreciates the quality of healthcare available to them but is often frustrated by services not being as affordable, convenient or quick to access as they would hope,” the AHI report said.
It was the 3rd straight AHI survey where more than 70% of respondents said that increases in cost of living were shaping their healthcare decisions. Of those whose healthcare decisions had been affected by cost-of-living pressure, half had missed or delayed dental care, 43% missed or delayed a specialist visit, and 39% missed or delayed a GP appointment due to cost.
Younger people were particularly affected, with 35% of participants aged 18-34 and 41% of those aged 35-54 going to the GP less often. Six percent of people aged 18-34 and 6% of those aged 35-54 went without food to afford GP care, which were higher rates than other age groups.
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Private health insurance in particular was a cost concern.
It received a net promoter score of -13, with the top reasons why people weren’t willing to recommend their PHI being out-of-pocket costs being too high (66%), premiums increasing too much (62%), the unaffordable price of insurance (58%), and poor value for money (57%).
Patients Australia CEO Lisa Robins said cost was still forcing too many people to skip appointments, medication, and other essentials.
“This is obviously terrible for the people needing care, but it also creates cost pressures for the healthcare system in the long-term.
“Treating illness early is always the most effective and cheapest, and both costs and health outcomes worsen whenever care is delayed,” she said.
The AHI included AI-focused questions for the first time and found 36% of participants had used or interacted with AI tools over the past 12 months. Fifty-one percent of those used AI for general health information and 28% for symptom checks or self-diagnosis.
Many people see value in the technology, with 43% saying it provided useful and accurate advice, but more than half of AI users were concerned about AI making mistakes.
Healthengine CEO Dan Stinton said that with AI adoption widespread and cost-of-living pressures increasing, it was easy to see why Australians were turning to chatbots for health information.
“But a bot can make mistakes and typically doesn’t know a patient’s medical history the way their GP does. If this becomes a trend, we risk that cost could create a two-tiered experience, where those under the greatest financial pressure rely more heavily on AI instead of a trusted clinician,” he said.
In their closing statement, Mr Stinton and Ms Robins said it was clear the healthcare system had many strong attributes.
“But it must continue to adapt to the evolving circumstances of people around Australia.
“Collaboration is vital to ensuring Australian healthcare is as accessible, effective and affordable as possible.”
