End of 50-50 hospital funding deal with states to have ‘devastating’ impact, Australia’s peak bodies say

The split state-commonwealth funding to Australia’s hospitals will end at the end of 2022 even as hospitals prepare for another wave of Covid feared to arrive in coming weeks. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

The Albanese government’s decision to allow a 50-50 Covid-related health funding deal with the states to expire will have a “devastating” impact on hospitals, Australia’s peak medical bodies say.

And those at the coalface warn burnout among medical professionals has reached the point that the country’s medical system may never return to its pre-pandemic state.