The thirteenth edition of the Report on Government Services is being released.
The Report examines the performance of all Australian governments providing education, justice, emergency management, health, community services and housing services. These services account for $120 billion in government expenditure - almost 13 per cent of Australia's gross domestic product. The Report promotes open and informed debate about comparative performance, to help identify scope for improvement, and encourage the spread of information on how best to provide services.
The Report is produced by a Steering Committee of senior officials from Australian, State and Territory governments. It is chaired by Gary Banks, Chairman of the Productivity Commission.
Mr Banks drew attention to significant improvements in this year's Report, including the development of a new 'Early childhood, education and training' section, recognising the links between children's services and education. Other improvements include more information on the age profile of nursing and medical practitioner workforces, jurisdictional data on younger people with a disability in residential aged care, and preliminary information on long term aged care in public hospitals.
Reporting on services to Indigenous Australians remains a priority. This report includes for the first time school learning outcomes information for Indigenous students by remoteness area. There has also been significant improvement in the reporting of health data by Indigenous status.
Further information on each service covered by the Report is summarised in the attached Fact Sheets. The most recent data and any errata will appear on the Review's web page.