Australians pay among the lowest taxes of all developed nations and what’s more, when it comes to healthcare, we’re getting excellent value for money.
When it comes to self-belief, Australians are funny. We have no doubt that Australia punches well above its weight in almost every sport. And our Diggers are braver and more dependable than the rest. In other departments, however, we don’t rate ourselves highly.
But that doesn’t in any way confirm our belief that we’re highly taxed. It may have been true last year, but it will be far from true this year as the huge stage 3 tax cuts take effect in July.Nor is it confirmed by the repeated assertion that we are more dependent on income tax than any of the other OECD countries. This is literally true, but only because, unlike almost all the others, we don’t impose separate social security contribution taxes on the incomes of workers and employers.
In principle, the system covers all our spending on healthcare: public and private; hospitals, GPs and specialists, whether paid for by taxpayers, health insurance or directly out of our pockets. These account for about a third of healthcare spending. The study found that, after allowing for changes in quality, the “multifactor” productivity of this care improved by about 3 per cent a year over the six years to 2017-18.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why young Australians are flocking to US shares to build wealthBy the year’s end, American and global shares could account for a combined 70 per cent of younger investors’ portfolios.
Read more »
Why young Australians are flocking to US shares to build wealthBy the year’s end, American and global shares could account for a combined 70 per cent of younger investors’ portfolios.
Read more »
Thousands of Australians at risk of losing weight loss medicationsMore than 20,000 Australians face being immediately shunted off their weight loss medications in June if the drug regulator proceeds with its telegraphed plans to ban replica versions of Ozempic and Mounjaro. The pending move sets up a fight with online healthcare start-ups Eucalyptus and NIB’s Midnight Health, which offer the medications that are in short supply around the country. But it would be a huge boon to the multibillion-dollar drug giants Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly that developed the blockbuster weight loss drugs only to have their monopoly undermined.
Read more »
'A nation of waders': Why Australians keep drowning at record ratesDespite huge efforts in water safety education, Australia's drowning statistics are as high as ever.
Read more »
Anthony Albanese tells Israeli prime minister Australians angry about Zomi Frankcom's deathPrime Minister Anthony Albanese says he has spoken with the Israeli prime minister following an Israeli air strike that killed an Australian aid worker in central Gaza.
Read more »
Albanese tells Netanyahu Australians ‘outraged’ by Zomi Frankcom’s death and demands ‘full accountability’Aid worker among seven people from World Central Kitchen charity killed in an Israeli drone attack
Read more »