INTRODUCTION:

Differences in health service utilisation between States are noted in publicly reported data. The national averages for health service usage and health related actions in Australia may mask differences in the management and provision of health services among the states and territories. Although the utilisation of health services tends to rise with age, the extent of this and other factors has not been determined at the state level. This study will analyse these differences for the two largest states in Australia, New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria.

OBJECTIVES:

The purpose of the study is to examine specific features of health service provision and its management in New South Wales and Victoria. Using publicly available data the study analysed differences in the organisation, management, and expenditures of health services.

DESIGN:

The study uses data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), focusing on the 2021 census.

FINDINGS:

The study highlights differences in health service utilisation and management between New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria. Victoria had higher hospital service use and more health service employees. Victoria also had higher health service expenditure per capita. The findings underscore the need for tailored strategies in policy development, resource allocation, and health service planning to address the unique needs of each state.

IMPLICATIONS:

The study highlights differences in health service management and utilisation between NSW and Victoria. These findings are relevant for policy development, resource allocation, and planning of health services. The study provides a basis for further research, particularly of a qualitative nature, to explore the identified differences in more detail.

PURPOSE

Aged care Australia is going through a transformation reform to respond to the growing number of aged people in need of support in daily living. In this context, this article provides analyses of the number and characteristics of managers of aged care residential services in relation to number of aged people, residents of aged care facilities and people employed in them.

METHODOLOGY/DESIGN

Design of the analyses follows specifications provided by the authors for tabulations prepared by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) from the censuses of population conducted by ABS in 2006 and 2016.

ANALYSIS

ANALYSIS of changes of the number of managers of aged care residential facilities against the number of aged people, residents of aged care facilities, and people employed in them. Further, the analyses examine changes in the age and sex of managers, their category, field and level of education, weekly income, hours worked, marital status, country of birth and indigenous status.

FINDINGS

There was a large increase in the number of employees and managers per resident, and a stable ratio of managers per employees. While the proportion of female managers declined, the average age of managers increased slightly. Both the fields and level of education remained similar in the decade. The average income of managers was similar as that in all industries in 2016, with a larger increase during the decade than in all industries. Average hours worked remained about the same. The same applied to marital status. The proportion of Australia-born managers declined while that of managers born in Asia rose substantially. The proportion of indigenous managers about doubled during the decade.

IMPLICATIONS

Relevance to those concerned with the evolving transformation of aged care in Australia and those interested with management training of the growing number of managers of aged care residential services.

Practice and research show the importance of the human dimension of health service management and related skills/competences. However, a review of curriculum content of postgraduate courses in Australia showed a lack of content in this area. It was in this context, an enquiry was undertaken to assess the perceptions of senior health service managers in Australia in this field. To provide a contrast with Australian perceptions, senior health service managers in Brazil were also asked for their understandings. Findings from this enquiry in the two countries show similar but some variance in nuance, possibly due to differences in culture and corporate environment. The result of the enquiry points to the importance given by these senior managers to skills/competences in this area, and perceptions of shortfalls, in contrast with the lack of importance given to postgraduate training in this field.

A decade ago, APJHM published an editorial that referenced Janus, from Roman mythology as follows:

‘Janus is the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings’, [1] and is depicted as having two faces, looking in opposite directions, looking into the future and the past. This description of Janus includes being patron of ‘concrete and abstract beginnings of the world, the human life, new historical ages and economical enterprises.’ [1] Importantly, to the theme of this editorial, Janus was frequently utilised ‘to symbolise change and transitions such as the progression of past to future, of one condition to the other, of one vision to the future’ . . . and was ‘representative of the middle ground’. [1,2]