The Hon Greg Hunt MP
Minister for Health and Aged Care
The Australian Government is providing an additional $9.8 billion in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) update to deliver ongoing Telehealth, COVID vaccinations, and to ensure Australians have access to world class health care and medicines.
The investment continues to deliver on the Government's aim to distinguish the health services as the world's best, underpinned by Australia's Long Term Health Plan.
Every single Australian has faced the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Government has committed $34 billion total health expenditure since the pandemic began.
The Government responded to the emergence of the new Omicron variant by investing a further $540 million to reinforce the health response, especially in vulnerable communities, including aged care, disability and remote communities, and ensuring the continued progress of the National Plan to Transition Australia's National COVID-19 Response.
These efforts over almost two years have helped prevent around 30,000 Australian deaths from COVID-19, when compared to the loss of life averaged across the OECD, and more than 45,000 lives saved compared to the US or the UK.
The pandemic brought forward the adoption of telehealth across Medicare, helping protect clinicians and their patients from unnecessary risk of COVID-19 exposure, now the Australian Government is making it a permanent part of Australia's health services.
