Cost per National Weighted Activity Unit (NWAU)

The NWAU is a measure of health service activity expressed as a common unit, against which the National Efficient Price is determined. Cost per National Weighted Activity Unit (NWAU) indicates a significant reduction in the rate of growth in costs since 2011–12, to a sustained growth rate of 1.6%.

Cost per National Weighted Activity Unit (NWAU)

National Efficient Price

The National Efficient Price represents the average cost of a hospital admission across Australia, and is a determinant (along with the volume of services delivered) of the Australian Government’s funding contribution to public hospitals. National Efficient Price 2012–2019, below, is an indicator of the success of activity based funding in controlling costs.

As required under the National Health Reform Agreement (cl A40), IHPA back-casts the National Efficient Price whenever significant changes to the methodology or underlying data occurs to enable the fair calculation of the Australian Government’s growth funding.

National Efficient Price 2012–2019