The Privatisation of Australia's Hospitals

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Home . . . . Australia . . . . General Practice
Entry ... Privatisation Background .... Overview of States
NSW ... Victoria ... South Australia -- W. Australia ... Queensland ... Tasmania
The many extracts on these pages are from copyright material. they are owned by the reference given or its owner. They are reproduced here for educational purposes and to stimulate public debate about the provision of health and aged care. I consider this to be "fair use" in the common interest. They should not be reproduced for commercial purposes. The material is selective and I have not included denials and explanations. I am not claiming that all of the allegations are true. The intention is to show the general thrust of corporate practices as well as the nature and extent of any allegations made.

The Privatisation of Australia's Hospitals

Entry Page

This page leads into a series of pages which address - the debate about, the process of, and the ultimate consequences of :-

privatisation of public hospitals and
the colocation of private hospitals on public campuses.

They address primarily the activity of the market listed for profit companies in these areas. The not for profit private sector has participated but they have not created problems.

The issues surrounding the privatisation of public hospitals was well reviewed in two articles in Health Issues, the journal of the Health Issues Centre in Victoria - September 1998.

PRIVATISATION AND AUSTRALIAN HOSPITALS by Fran Collyery (p12 )

CASE STUDIES OF PUBLIC HOSPITAL PRIVATISATION by Meredith Carter (p15)

Background and the Privatisation Process

The first page in this series examines the development of corporate medicine globally and in Australia. It explores global thinking and the application of economic rationalist theories to health care. It traces the interest in privatisation and colocation in Australia and describes in general terms the way in which the policy was introduced and the consequences. The recent abandonment of these policies by government and corporations is explained.

CLICK HERE for background and an overview of process.

The Individual Privatisations

The second page gives a summary of the privatisations and colocations in each state. The gradual abandonment of these policies in each state is recorded.

This page links to further pages which describe developments in each state in more detail. Extensive references and quotes from reference material are supplied. Victoria applied these policies most aggressively and the Victoria page links to pages and material describing the failure of individual privatisation projects.

This material gives an insight into the way in which the market and political forces impact on the provision of humanitarian services. It describes how politicians became disillusioned with privatisation, and how corporations were burnt by the process.

CLICK HERE to explore the privatisations.